Odalo Ohiku appears before the Finance & Personnel Committee in 2022. Image from City of Milwaukee City Channel – City Clerk’s Office.

A former deputy city attorney is poised to earn a $50,000 payment from the City of Milwaukee long after his employment ended.

A settlement is pending before the Common Council that would end Odalo J. Ohiku‘s civil lawsuit against the city and three employees. The attorney accused Inspector General Ronda Kohlheim of libel and slander, and her two supervisors, Council President José G. Pérez and City Clerk Jim Owczarski, of negligent supervision.

Ohiku filed the lawsuit against Kohlheim and her superiors, alleging they falsely accused him of a crime in how he managed his duties to the city and his outside law practice. The attorney was a top deputy to City Attorney Tearman Spencer.

The issue was publicly discussed by the Common Council in November 2023 when Kohlheim issued a scathing 57-page report about Spencer and Ohiku that alleged the deputy was representing private clients while on the clock for the city.

Kohlheim, during public questioning by council members, said it was her belief that both Ohiku and Spencer committed “misconduct” and violated various city ethics rules and state policies, but confirmed under questioning from the council that she is not an attorney. “I’m making a referral, that’s all I do,” she said.

“She made a blanket accusation that if Ohiku’s name appeared at a hearing, it meant that he stole time from the city by failing to take a day of vacation,” says the lawsuit. “The Milwaukee County DA’s Office refused to issue charges or prosecute Ohiku for this alleged crime because it was clear to any attorney that no such crime had taken place. Kohlheim was reckless in her publication of a report without seeking actual facts that could be [relied] upon.”

The deputy, according to his May lawsuit filing, resigned as a result of the report. He had held the role for most of Spencer’s single term in office.

Ohiku was charged with a crime in 2024 – misconduct in public office. The misdemeanor charge stemmed from Ohiku allegedly intentionally falsifying three economic interest reports with the city to leave out income and ownership of a private law practice. It was resolved with a deferred prosecution agreement, where Ohiku entered a guilty plea, then had the charge later dismissed after completing ethics training, writing an article about his conduct and completing 20 hours of community service. Cade also represented Ohiku in that case.

Spencer, in 2020, said Ohiku was given six months to wind down his outside work. By 2021, he couldn’t commit that this had happened. Kohlheim’s report and online court records show that it didn’t happen.

The complaint says that Kohlheim failed to interview Ohiku, though Kohlheim said Spencer and Ohiku would only respond via email and with notable delays. Spencer, said Kohlheim, gave conflicting answers.

Much of the issue with Kohlheim’s report is that it was released publicly, and widely reported on.

“The city created the position of inspector general with zero oversight. Essentially, Ms. Kohlheim created her own job description and decided how she would apply it to her work without oversight. She made herself the judge, jury and executioner of Mr. Ohiku’s career without oversight or considering what she was alleging might be wrong,” said Cade in a May statement to Urban Milwaukee. “If the district attorney had charged Mr. Ohiku with stealing time from the city, she would have had a leg to stand on to publicly release her report. But the DA did not charge him with that crime, yet she decided to release it anyway. It is unclear why she did not have the Judiciary Committee go into closed session to discuss her alleged findings, rather than publicly air something that is patently false.”

Cade declined to comment on the proposed settlement until it is approved.

Owczarski declined comment. Pérez did not respond to a request for comment.

Spencer’s replacement, Evan Goyke, is recommending the settlement.

“Based on the status of these claims, the City Attorney believes that a settlement is in the City’s best interest so it can avoid litigation of these disputed claims and buy its peace,” he wrote in a Dec. 15 letter to the council. “In exchange for the settlement, Mr. Ohiku will execute a settlement agreement and general release of all claims rising out of his lawsuit.” The letter was co-signed by Assistant City Attorney Joshua B. Cronin.

The Judiciary & Legislation Committee next meets on Jan. 12.

Deputy and assistant city attorneys are not prohibited by ordinance from engaging in outside work, but they must disclose any outside sources of income to avoid conflicts of interest. The Common Council couldn’t agree in March 2024 on whether to bar outside work.

The Inspector General position was created in 2018 over the veto of Mayor Tom Barrett. Mayor Cavalier Johnson, then a council member, voted to sustain the veto and not create the position. Kohlheim is the only individual to have served in the role.

The case is pending before Judge Timothy M. Witkowiak.

Spencer continues to face his own legal turmoil. Less than two weeks before a trial was set to begin over his alleged felony misconduct in office, Milwaukee County District Attorney Kent Lovern and Assistant District Attorney Nicolas J. Heitman filed new felony charges against Spencer related to a “shaky” real estate transaction uncovered during a search of his phone. Spencer’s attorney, William F. Sulton, said the latest charges were only a result of his client refusing a plea deal. Spencer has maintained his innocence. The next hearing on both cases is scheduled for Jan. 9.

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