David Crowley Takes Care of His Wife in 2027 Milwaukee County Budget

Every time he virtue signals for using Milwaukee taxpayer money to help renters threatened with eviction, know that the county executive is helping his wife too.

Don’t worry if you can’t pay housing rent in Milwaukee County, taxpayers pay the salaries of people who can tell you how to make rent and maybe get you a little cash. People like Ericka Crowley, gubernatorial candidate David Crowley's wife, who is the director of Milwaukee's Rental Housing Resource Center (RHRC), a position she, perhaps coincidently, acquired in 2020 around the same time her husband became Milwaukee County Executive. Before that, she worked briefly for the $16 million nonprofit Community Advocates. Although Mrs. Crowley is the top dog at RHRC, her salary and the specifics of its funding are unknown because the center receives its money, including her salary, through Community Advocates, Inc.

Profiting Off the Poor

The Daily Caller reports that since 2020, the county has moved more than $65 million in federal funds through Community Advocates via Milwaukee County’s Emergency Rental Assistance (ERA2) program. The Crowleys get to play champions for caring so much about the plight of the evicted. Also, it's profitable.

The most recent 2024 nonprofit tax forms for Community Advocates show how lucrative it is to help the poor. CEO Andrea Mallmann Elliott earned $190,000 that year; COO Maudwella Kirkendoll earned $168,000; and William Koch earned $145,000. Combined, those three salaries alone are $503,000, enough money to cover ($1,200) monthly rent for a year for 35 homes. With 194 employees, Community Advocates paid $7.7 million in (2024) salaries alone.

The Daily Caller says it asked about Mrs. Crowley’s salary, and Community Advocates said, "her compensation aligns with other managers."

On October 2, Restoration News requested documents related to RHRC and Community Advocates and its interactions with Milwaukee County, which should be simple for the county to find, but the county has so far only acknowledged receiving the request. It has not provided any documents.

Mrs. Crowley’s salary has become a matter of public interest. Her husband, the county executive, should make it public.

More Eviction Money

Crowley has dedicated more county funding to eviction-prevention in the 2027 Milwaukee County budget. He mentioned it in his recent budget address, saying the county would redirect funding from the expiring Flock camera contract into the Eviction Free MKE and the Right to Counsel programs, both managed by the nonprofit Legal Aid Society of Milwaukee. Eviction Free MKE will hire five new full-time employees in 2027, including a "community intervention specialist" and an executive assistant position to provide administrative support to Housing Services and help with "phone intake."

Crowley also announced $1 million will be given to the Tenant-Based Rental Assistance (TBRA) program, which pays security deposits and up to two years' rental assistance for permanent housing with supportive services for the homeless. The program was funded in 2026 with $2.5 million in federal HOME funds. The $1 million for 2027 will help "just under 100 participants," according to the county’s Department of Health and Human Services budget request.

This is all great news for Mrs. Crowley's RHRC, which describes itself as "a one-stop shop designed to help both tenants and landlords in Milwaukee County navigate rental issues, prevent evictions, and maintain housing stability." Let's take a closer look at just what "vital" services RHRC provides.

Referral Service

Including Mrs. Crowley, RHRC has five employees.

Its work is a bit vague. "RHRC is a collaborative organization that provides rental housing resources, support, and education to tenants, landlords, and service providers in Milwaukee," according to its frequently asked questions.

Does RHRC provide rental assistance or legal services? No, and no. But they can tell you who does. And it turns out to be super convenient.

RHRC, Community Advocates, Eviction Free MKE, and the Legal Aid Society of Milwaukee all share the same address, 728 North James Lovell Street.

When RHRC makes a referral, apparently, they just send folks down the hall.

Can you help me with my landlord issue?

No, you want Legal Aid, down the hall.

Thanks.

RHRC’s 2025 impact report looks very, very, very much like it was written by a student with nothing to say, trying to pad out an essay to meet a teacher’s length requirement.

The report is four pages with wide margins and huge font. One page is just a picture of a toy house. Another page predicts the future—they plan to strengthen the program.

Yes, yes, but what did they actually do in 2025?

RHRC's bills its top accomplishment as 77,265 website visits. Its staff also returned phone calls 5,317 times, and among the five staff, they answered 4,713 emails, that’s like 18 emails a week per employee. Sounds exhausting.

RHRC says it served 10,195 "housing clients" and (or including—they don’t specify) 3,505 emergency assistance clients. Notice they don’t say "households"—it is "housing clients." A family of five would be one rental problem, but five people served. All RHRC really does is tell people where to go, yet its lousy report doesn’t make clear how many people got real help.

Have you ever gotten the run-around when trying to get help from the government? Ever made a series of fruitless calls when short on time, patience, and money? RHRC is where this sort of aggravation starts. It would be quicker to call Legal Aid or the Tenant-Based Rental Assistance program directly. They too could say, "Ope--! We can't help you. Here is a number for someone who can."

Milwaukee would probably survive without the RHRC, but then David Crowley’s wife would have to find another job. That shouldn't be too hard. She is probably pretty popular at 728 North James Lovell Street, where, thanks to her husband's authority over the purse strings, everyone in the building gets special funding attention.

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