Board Members

Board Members

The Board of Fire and Police Commissioners is a civilian body which oversees and prescribes general policies, standards, and rules in the Milwaukee Fire Department and the Milwaukee Police Department. The Commission also appoints all employees of the two public safety Departments, including the Department Chiefs. In addition to policy matters and employment functions, the Commission decides citizen complaints against Fire or Police employees. The Commission is comprised of seven part-time citizen board members, and a full-time professional staff led by an Executive Director.

The citizen board of the Commission holds regular business meetings twice each month except August, usually on the first and third Thursdays of the month, at 5.30 p.m. These meetings are open to the public, and provide an opportunity for interested persons to listen to discussion and offer comments on agenda matters. Meetings are usually held in the Common Council meeting rooms on the third floor of City Hall, but some are held in community locations. The Board also has three standing committees that meet periodically, the Committee on Complaints and Discipline, the Committee on Policies and Standards, and the Committee on Testing and Recruiting. Other committees are formed as needed.

The Commission's authority and responsibility are set forth in Wisconsin Statute 62.50 and in the Milwaukee City Charter. The seven citizen board Commissioners are appointed by the Mayor of Milwaukee and approved by the Common Council. Commissioners serve overlapping five-year terms, and receive a salary of $6,600.00 per year. The Commissioners elect a Chair and Vice-Chair. Diversity of background and experience makes the Board of Fire and Police Commissioners representative of the entire Milwaukee community.

The citizen board Commissioners are:

Leonard J. Sobczak was Chairman of the Board of Fire and Police Commissioners from 2005 to October 2008. He was originally appointed in October, 2000, and his term expires July, 2010. He is the President-Principal of Eastmore Real Estate Management, Inc. in Milwaukee. He has a BBA in real estate and finance from UW-Madison. In May, 2003, Governor Doyle appointed him a commissioner with the State of Wisconsin Transportation Projects Commission.

Ernesto A. Baca was Vice Chair of the Board of Fire and Police Commissioners from 2006 to October 2008. He was originally appointed in July, 2001, and became Chair of the Testing and Recruiting Committee in November 2008. He is the Contract Manager at UMOS, Inc. (United Migrant Opportunity Services), an agency which provides workforce development and other social services. He was previously Chief Financial Officer for the 16th Street Community Medical Health Center. He is a Board Member and Treasurer of the Wisconsin Hispanic Scholarship Foundation, and a past Board member of Easter Seals of SouthEast Wisconsin. His term expires in July, 2011.

Richard C. Cox was elected Chair of the Board in October, 2008. He was appointed to the Board in December, 2005, when a former Commissioner resigned from the Board, and reappointed in July, 2008, to a term which will expire in 2013. He worked for the Milwaukee County Sheriff's Office for seventeen years, in every rank from Deputy Sheriff to Administrator of Detention Services. He also served nine years as Superintendent of the Milwaukee County House of Correction. He has a BS degree in Criminal Justice from UWM, and is a graduate of the FBI National Academy and a Life Member of the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives (NOBLE). He is currently Executive Director of Neighborhood House and the Governor's Appointee to the Social Development Commission (SDC).

Kathryn Hein was appointed to the Board in June, 2008. Her term expires in 2013. Currently she is the Assistant Director of the Les Aspin Center for Government at Marquette University where she runs a program placing disadvantaged students in public service internships. She is also Secretary of the Sixteenth Street Community Health Center Board of Directors. Prior to her employment at Marquette she served as both District Director and Chief of Staff to Milwaukee Congressman Jerry Kleczka for over 20 years. She received her Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration from the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh. 

Carolina Maria Stark was appointed to the Board in July, 2008, and elected Vice-Chair in October, 2008. Her term will expire in 2012. She has been an Administrative Law Judge for the State of Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development since February 2007. She previously served as an attorney with Centro Legal Por Derechos Humanos, Esperanza Unida, and the Stark Law Office, LLC, all in Milwaukee. She speaks, reads, and writes fluent Spanish. She is a magna cum laude graduate of St. Louis University (Missouri, 1999), with a B.A. in Criminal Justice and Spanish, and received her Juris Doctor from the University of Wisconsin Law School in 2002. She volunteered with Big Brother Big Sister from 2000 to 2007, served as a City of Milwaukee Election Inspector in February and April 2008, and has been Treasurer of Historic Concordia Neighbors, Inc. since 2007, and a member of that organization since 2002. 

Paoi X. Lor was appointed to the Board in September, 2008. Her term will expire in 2011. She has been Program Coordinator and Consultant for Hmong Radio since 1999, and with Hmong ABC Radio in Milwaukee since 2003. From 1998 to 2002, she was an Economic Support Specialist / Wisconsin Works Case Manager for Dane County. She also has experience as a real estate consultant. She holds an A.A. degree from West Coast Christian College in Fresno, California, and a B.A. in Management and Organizational Development from Fresno Pacific University, also in California. She has been a member of the Southeast Asian Consortium since 2006, and is a past Board member of Lao-Pha Society and the Hmong-American Peace Academy. She has also served as Executive Board Secretary of the New Salvation Church of God. 

Michael G. Tobin, Executive Director, received his Bachelor of Science degree in Criminal Justice from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and his law degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He is a graduate of the Wisconsin Military Academy, Wisconsin State Patrol Academy, and the Milwaukee Police Academy. He is experienced in many aspects of fire department services and law enforcement activities. He began his employment with the City of Milwaukee as a police officer. Upon graduation from law school he joined the Milwaukee City Attorney’s Office as an Assistant City Attorney where he prosecuted and defended police and fire department employees for almost twenty years in state courts and administrative agencies. He served as a legal advisor for two Milwaukee police chiefs and two Milwaukee fire chiefs. He is a U.S. Army combat veteran and in 2005-2006 was appointed to manage the U.S. military program to reconstruct the civilian justice system nation-wide for the country of Afghanistan. In November 2007 he was appointed Executive Director of the Milwaukee Fire and Police Commission by Mayor Tom Barrett and the Milwaukee Common Council. He resides in Milwaukee with his wife and three children.

Milwaukee Fire and Police Commission
200 E. Wells Street, Room 706, Milwaukee WI 53202
414-286-5072 or click here to send us e-mail.

October 2008