Two separate mistakes by City of Milwaukee Attorneys may cost Milwaukee taxpayers about $1.34 million in potential judgments.
Both incidents happened under City Attorney Evan Goyke’s leadership, during the city’s budget season.
The first error, which was brought to light in May, involved assistant city attorney Kyle Bailey. Bailey missed a court filing deadline in a major property tax lawsuit involving Regal Rexnord Corp.
The company has since requested a default judgment for $832,000. Attorney Bailey blamed the office’s new tech system but the judge called Bailey’s work “sloppy.” Bailey has since resigned in lieu of termination.
The second error revealed last week, involved Deputy City Attorney Naomi Sanders, who is in charge of the city attorney’s litigation division. Sanders failed to appear in court for the city.
The court hearing involves a contested 2024 property tax assessment by SP Milwaukee Propco 1 that owns downtown buildings at Schlitz Park.
No explanation was given and the missed appearance could cost Milwaukee $511,651.
City Attorney Evan Goyke told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, “A missed court deadline is a serious failure and the responsibility to fix it is mine. I am reviewing our office processes and how we track and manage litigation to ensure this does not happen again,”
Goyke also said he could not speak to each case because they were ongoing litigations.
“The people of Milwaukee are entitled to a City Attorney’s Office that meets a high standard on every matter it handles – and I am committed to holding this office to that standard.”
Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson publicly addressed the situation as “a preventable setback,” coming amid the city’s budget season.
“I am highly disappointed,” Johnson said. “As I work to assemble next year’s city budget, this represents a setback, a preventable setback. I will have additional discussions with the City Attorney to make certain this never happens again.”
