Ex-Milwaukee election chief, city reach separation agreement that calls for advisory role

Milwaukee's ousted Election Commission executive director will remain with the city in an advisory position through early August ― but with terms that include her working outside of the office she led since 2020 and not contacting staff there about election processes.

Mayor Cavalier Johnson opted not to reappoint Claire Woodall to the position leading the Election Commission and instead nominated her deputy, Paulina Gutiérrez, to the role overseeing the office that administers elections in the city. Gutiérrez's nomination will require Common Council approval.

“I think that under these conditions, I can continue to be useful to staff and support them with my decade of election knowledge,” Woodall told the Journal Sentinel on Thursday.

The change comes six months before the hotly contested November presidential election, when Milwaukee's tallying of ballots is again expected to be under close scrutiny.

Gutiérrez was appointed deputy director in early 2023, after the 2022 midterm election.

A separation agreement between Woodall and the city notes the "importance of a smooth transition of leadership before the upcoming 2024 presidential election."

The document, which the Journal Sentinel obtained through an open records request, allows Woodall to stay on for 90 days with a series of restrictions.

Under the agreement, Woodall received a temporary appointment to an "associate director" position at the city for a period from May 13 to Aug. 9, the Friday before the Aug. 13 partisan primary.

Woodall will work "from a remote location of her choosing" and is not allowed to be in contact about election processes with Election Commission staff besides Gutiérrez, whom she agreed she would communicate with and provide written guidance regarding election administration issues.

The document cites as the reason for the lack of contact "facilitating consistency in the transition process."

She will be paid $5,099 on a bi-weekly basis.

On Aug. 9, she is required to sign an official resignation form and mark her reason for resigning as "personal."

The city's resignation forms list a series of reasons an employee can choose to explain why he or she is leaving a position.

Woodall also agreed to release any legal claims against the city. The document states that she had not filed "any complaint, claim, grievance or charge against the city in relation to her employment."

Both sides agreed not to disparage each other for two years, with the potential of a $5,000 fine hanging in the balance for each breach.

"The parties agree to not disparage each other, including comments about Woodall from Mayor Johnson, staff in Mayor Johnson's Office and Cabinet Members in Mayor Johnson's Office, and vice versa," the agreement states.

That agreement was in evidence Thursday in a statement from Johnson's office saying Woodall had "served the City of Milwaukee with distinction" and that under her leadership "elections in Milwaukee have been administered with integrity and transparency."

The statement walked back comments Johnson had made to WISN-TV's Matt Smith when Woodall was not reappointed. He said at the time that the decision was "more of a personnel matter as opposed to a matter of her technical ability to do her job."

The statement said there "are no personnel issues that informed the decision not to reappoint Claire" and notes other changes made to positions in Johnson's cabinet.

The city Department of Employee Relations did not have any documents reflecting complaints by or against Woodall, or any records reflecting disciplinary action taken against her, according to a response from the office to a Journal Sentinel records request.

Woodall also said there were no management issues in the Election Commission under her leadership.

She said that instead, when Johnson informed her early this month that she would not be reappointed, she was told the decision was based on her critical comments in a Journal Sentinel article about more than 200 absentee ballots being mailed to the wrong Common Council districts.

The mayor's subsequent comments in the interview about personnel issues "made it seem like there was a different understanding from the mayor," she said, "and I think that through conversations with staff and getting subsequent information over the coming week that he understands, and that everyone in the Mayor's Office understands, there were no internal management issues."

Now, she said, all parties are "on the same page that that was not an issue that led to this decision."

Alison Dirr can be reached at adirr@jrn.com.

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Ex-Milwaukee Election Commission head, city reach separation agreement