The Social Development Commission is dealing with debt, legal challenges and a lack of funding as it tries to figure out a path to restore services to fight poverty in Milwaukee County.
SDC has $2.4 million in outstanding debt with adjustments pending, according to Jorge Franco, board president and interim CEO of the agency.
He said that the agency’s board is “taking the appropriate regulatory compliant steps to prioritize which monies owed are first paid from what very limited resources exist at this time, with a hyper focus on prioritizing paying employees owed pay.”
SDC stopped running its anti-poverty programs and laid off staff in April 2024. Since then, the agency has dealt with board turnover, lawsuits and the loss of access to community action funding.
Franco said they’re discussing all possible options to resolve its challenges, including talking with creditors, restructuring or filing for bankruptcy.
The SDC board was scheduled to meet in person on the evening of March 19 at the Milwaukee Public Schools Central Services Headquarters Building, 5225 W. Vliet St. But they didn’t have enough members present for a quorum. The five members that did attend decided to have a discussion in private with the understanding that they could not take any action.
Here are other updates on SDC.
New lawsuit
A company that owned the West Allis office that SDC used to rent filed a contract lawsuit against the organization in February.
The lawsuit from 20 Volga 9004 Lincoln LLC alleges that SDC stopped paying rent for space at 9004 W. Lincoln Ave. in April 2024, according to court documents.
Even though SDC was evicted in September 2024, the company claims in the documents that the lease was never terminated and it had to sell the property in September 2025 to mitigate the impact.
20 Volga 9004 Lincoln previously filed a small claims lawsuit against SDC, but it was dismissed.
The company says SDC owes $221,000 in rent payments, plus additional fees, according to the documents.
It also names the City of Milwaukee and Milwaukee County as defendants, referencing SDC’s founding as an intergovernmental commission.
In a responding document, Milwaukee City Attorney Evan Goyke denied the city had any knowledge of or involvement in the lease or responsibility in any possible damage caused. Goyke requested the complaint be dismissed.
The city’s attorneys filed a cross-claim requesting compensation from SDC for any losses and damages the city incurs if it is found liable in the lawsuit, according to the document.
SDC and Milwaukee County have not filed responses yet. Franco said SDC is awaiting an update from its former legal counsel William Sulton on this matter.
Other lawsuits moving forward
The January sale at auction of SDC’s North Avenue main office and warehouse buildings is scheduled for a confirmation hearing at 9 a.m. Monday, March 23 at the Milwaukee County Courthouse, Room 414.
There is a summary judgment hearing scheduled in the contract lawsuit filed against SDC by information technology company TriShulla on April 20.
William Sulton will no longer be representing SDC in this case after a judge approved his motion to withdraw in February.
Sulton had already withdrawn from SDC’s other lawsuits when he resigned from being legal counsel in October but is still in communication with the agency.
“SDC is in discussions now with TriShulla to determine if there is a pathway in the best interests of all parties involved,” Franco said.
He also said that SDC awaits a follow-up response from the Wisconsin Department of Justice in the employee wage claims lawsuit, which will have a status conference on March 26.
The Wisconsin Department of Justice filed a lawsuit on behalf of the state’s Department of Workforce Development that claims SDC owed nearly $360,000 in back wages and benefits to former employees.
Meredith Melland is the neighborhoods reporter for the Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service and a corps member of Report for America, a national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on under-covered issues and communities. Report for America plays no role in editorial decisions in the NNS newsroom.
