For first time, women make up majority of Milwaukee County Board of Supervisors
History was made at the swearing-in ceremony of the Milwaukee County Board of Supervisors on Monday: With 10 of 18 members being women, the body has its first female majority.
The board also saw a slight reshuffling as four former supervisors — Liz Sumner, Anthony Staskunas, Peter Burgelis and Ryan Clancy — left at the end of their terms and new candidates were elected in. New to the board are:
District 1: Anne O'Connor, co-founder of Bay Bridge, a Whitefish Bay organization that works to raise awareness about racial and cultural bias, replaced Sumner. Sumner was elected county comptroller during the county race earlier this month.
District 4: Community organizer Jack Eckblad succeeds Clancy, who continues to serve in the state Assembly.
District 15: Sky Z. Capriolo, a senior marketing manager, assumed the seat vacated by Burgelis, who won an aldermanic seat on the city's Common Council.
District 16: Justin Bielinski, communications director for state Sen. Chris Larson, filled the supervisory position vacated by Staskunas.
Despite a challenge for her seat by veteran Supervisor Felesia A. Martin, the board re-elected Marcelia Nicholson as chairwoman for another four-year term in a 13-5 vote. Supervisors Martin, Deanna Alexander, Priscilla Coggs-Jones, Patti Logsdon and Vincent voted against Nicholson.
Supervisors Steven Shea and Priscilla Coggs-Jones were voted in as the new vice chair and second vice chair of the board. Shea was challenged by Supervisor Steve Taylor; Coggs-Jones ran unopposed after Supervisor Kathleen Vincent withdrew her candidacy ahead of the vote.
Contact Vanessa Swales at 414-308-5881 or [email protected]. Follow her on X @Vanessa_Swales.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: For first time, women make up majority of Milwaukee County Board