Milwaukee Police Chief Art Jones, set to leave his job in November, has made the decision to try and raise money for a possible run to be mayor of Milwaukee.

Jones, who has been embroiled in controversy for the past several years, filed a campaign registration statement on Tuesday that allows him to start raising funds for the election which is set to be held in April 2004. The statement, filed with the City of Milwaukee Election Commission, listed Delores Graves, of Milwaukee, as his campaign treasurer.

Jones has been police chief since 1996 when Milwaukee Mayor John Norquist appointed him. The last several years Jones, who was Norquist's bodyguard in the early 1990s, has sparred with Norquist and the Police and Fire Commission over how to reduce crime and his spiraling overtime costs.

The Police and Fire Commission is currently working to hire a new police chief. It recently narrowed the list to three finalists and held a public interview session. Jones, who applied for reappointment, was eliminated early in the process.

The possible entry of Jones into the race to replace Norquist, who is not running for reelection, comes just two days after Milwaukee County Sheriff David A. Clarke Jr. threw his hat into the ring. Clarke joined a long list of candidates that want to replace Norquist, including former Milwaukee Congressman Thomas Barrett, Common Council President Marvin Pratt, Alderman Thomas Nardelli and businesswoman Sandy Folaron.

"Ultimately, Clarke's entry is going to make it a more interesting race because of the number of high profile candidates involved," said Jeff Fleming, of Zizzo Group Inc., a Milwaukee public relations firm. "It should make for a very vigorous debate."

Fleming said Clarke's reputation as a conservative would appeal to business executives, but he was doubtful that he would attract much business support at this time because Barrett, who entered the race in June after failing in a bid for governor, is still considered the frontrunner.

A political observer said the possible entry of Jones into the race is most likely to hurt Pratt, who has been outspoken in his support for Jones. Pratt is set to take over as acting mayor in January when Norquist leaves office early to start a job as president of Council of New Urbanism.

"This could be devastating to Marvin because Jones will take some votes away from him," the political observer said. "This is going to further divide the African American vote and really damage any chance that Marvin had."

The political observer said it will be interesting to see how Jones would handle such issues as his own June 2002 complaint against the city and Norquist with the State Equal Opportunity Commission accusing the commission and Norquist of racial discrimination.

In May, the EEOC determined that there was "reasonable cause to believe" Jones suffered retaliation on the job but made no finding on his claims of racial discrimination.

"If Jones is in the mayor's office, how is he going to settle his own complaint against the city?" the political observer said. "He is going to make thing more interesting, that's for sure."

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