Milwaukee Housing Authority leader Willie Hines criticized for secrecy, high pay

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

June 10, 2024

In 2014, when many still expected him to run for mayor, Willie Hines abruptly left city politics and took a job with the Housing Authority of the City of Milwaukee.

At the time, his arrival at Milwaukee's public housing agency raised eyebrows in City Hall and serious concerns from federal officials.

A decade later, the Housing Authority is embroiled in controversy: Its rent assistance program, which has an annual budget of about $44 million, has been deemed a fraud risk; public housing residents have gone public with concerns over hazardous conditions inside Housing Authority buildings — and have accused management of retaliation.

That controversy is now putting pressure on Hines' political allies, including Mayor Cavalier Johnson. A story about Milwaukee public housing residents' disillusionment with Johnson and President Joe Biden recently ran on the front page of the Washington Post.

As calls for his ouster grow louder, the Journal Sentinel asked Hines to speak about his past and future at the Housing Authority. Through a spokesperson last week, Hines declined to be interviewed in person or over the phone.

In an email exchange, Hines also refused to answer any of the Journal Sentinel’s specific questions — including about his work for a now-defunct nonprofit, and his handling of auditor warnings years earlier.