The controversy surrounding Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley, his wife Ericka Crowley, and millions of dollars in federal rental assistance funding has opened the door to a much larger question: How is Community Advocates spending all of its money, and are there any other conflicts of interest taxpayers should know about?
Those are fair questions when an organization receives substantial public and charitable funding while operating programs specifically intended to assist Milwaukee residents struggling with rent, homelessness, utilities, domestic violence, disability and other serious hardships.
The Heartland Post previously reported that Milwaukee County distributed $65.4 million in Emergency Rental Assistance funds through its partnership with Community Advocates and that another $15 million Treasury Department allocation announced in November 2022 was also directed through the partnership. That reporting also states that Ericka Crowley began working at Community Advocates in 2020 and later became director of the Rental Housing Resource Center. Coincidentally around the same time her husband took office as county executive.
Community Advocates told the Daily Caller, as quoted by The Heartland Post, that County Executive David Crowley ultimately approved the contract but “did not influence the decision making process for the ERA2 funding.” The same report says his campaign did not respond to questions concerning disclosure of a potential conflict of interest.
The relationship raises legitimate questions about transparency, disclosure and safeguards surrounding public money.
The organization’s 2024 IRS information provides a clearer picture.
According to ProPublica, Community Advocates reported $16,195,715 in revenue and $16,232,604 in expenses for fiscal year 2024.
Then there are the salaries.
- CEO Andrea Mallmann-Elliott: $190,004 compensation in other benefits and deferred compensation
- COO Maudwella Kirkendoll: $167,616 plus $9,534
- CFO William Koch: $145,062 plus $661
- HR Director Jennifer Patrick: $106,696 plus $16,203
ProPublica also reports $502,681 in executive compensation. It separately lists $6,029,727 in other salaries and wages and $91,433 in professional fundraising fees.
Are Those Salaries Appropriate? That’s the question taxpayers and donors should be asking. Six-figure nonprofit salaries are not, by themselves, proof of wrongdoing, corruption or misuse of grant money. But that doesn’t mean these salaries should escape public scrutiny.
Community Advocates already had an audit issue that led to the closing of its Center for Self-Sufficiency. Federal investigators launched an audit into the group’s use of $750,000 in government programming.
That group focused on supporting residents reentering society from the criminal justice system and strengthening families. The government audit found that the use of federal funds was unsupported by documentation.
When an organization’s mission centers on families struggling to keep the lights on, avoid eviction and escape homelessness, the public has every right to ask whether executive compensation reflects the organization’s mission and whether as much money as reasonably possible is reaching the people those programs were designed to serve. Taxpayers deserve and demand accountability.
The unanswered questions surrounding the intersection of Milwaukee County government, Community Advocates and the employment of the county executive’s wife deserve additional scrutiny.
Poverty agencies should never become an industry without accountability. Milwaukee taxpayers are constantly told about the enormous needs facing struggling families. That’s exactly why every dollar matters. And when politically connected individuals, government contracts and millions of dollars intersect, taxpayers should never be told to simply look the other way.
Open the books. Disclose the relationships. Explain the compensation packages. Show taxpayers the safeguards in place and finally answer the question as to Ericka Crowley’s salary.
