2022 was a historic year for Milwaukee but not all of it was positive. Here are the stories you should know.

Milwaukee reached a number of milestones in 2022.

Some were historic firsts.

Others highlighted serious challenges.

Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson, whose own election in April was historic, counted the city's clinching of the 2024 Republican National Convention as the biggest win of 2022 and its third year of record homicides as its biggest challenge.

He said overall he is optimistic about the city's future and plans to focus in 2023 on adding jobs that allow Milwaukeeans to support their families and contribute to overall stability.

Here are the Milwaukee stories from 2022 that you should know.

Cavalier Johnson becomes first elected Black Milwaukee mayor

Johnson became Milwaukee's first elected Black mayor in April, winning 72% of the vote to former longtime Ald. Bob Donovan's 28%.

"This city for the first time in our 176-year history has elected its first Black mayor. We did it," Johnson told supporters at the Hilton Milwaukee City Center at his election night party.

His win in the special April 5 election brought a new generation to political power at City Hall after 17 years with former Mayor Tom Barrett at the helm.

As Common Council president, Johnson had automatically become acting mayor when Barrett resigned in December 2021 in the middle of his term to become U.S. ambassador to Luxembourg.

Johnson methodically seized the opportunity to establish himself as the city's leader and went on to win the remaining two years of the term Barrett gave up.

That means Johnson will next be up for election in 2024, giving him half a normal term to earn voters' support as city leaders face headwinds and new opportunities.

Donovan went on to win the 84th state Assembly seat in the majority Greenfield district in November's election.

José G. Pérez becomes first Latino elected Common Council president

Soon after Johnson's departure from the council presidency, District 12 Ald. José G. Pérez made history as the first Latino elected council president.

He was the only nominee, and all 13 council members present voted for him.

Pérez told council members he wanted his term to be about a shared purpose.

"I want my time as your president to be about hope, about the future," Pérez said during the virtual meeting.

Ald. JoCasta Zamarripa, who nominated him, heralded him as someone who always challenged the status quo and had shown the integrity, tenacity and longevity necessary to lead the council. She also noted the historic nature of his election coming just weeks after Johnson's.

The state and Milwaukee have seen sharp growth in the Hispanic community, including in the most recent decade.

One-third of residents will have new council representatives

Pérez's time in office has been marked by a historic number of vacancies on the council.

Five of the 15 seats have been vacated in 2022 for a variety of reasons, leaving a total of about 191,000 Milwaukeeans unrepresented on everything from big decisions such as a proposed new youth prison to everyday quality of life issues.

The vacancies are the most to take place in a single term in at least the last decade — and the only openings that occurred simultaneously in that time, according to information provided by the city's Municipal Research Library.

Three of those vacancies ― in Districts 1, 2 and 3 ― stemmed from the April mayoral election.

Johnson had represented District 2 until he was elected mayor. He first tapped District 3 Ald. Nik Kovac to serve as budget director starting in May and chose District 1 Ald. Ashanti Hamilton to serve as the new director of the Office of Violence Prevention in August.

The District 2 and 3 seats were filled in the Nov. 8 election by Alds. Mark Chambers Jr. and Jonathan Brostoff, respectively.

In July, District 9 Ald. Chantia Lewis was removed from office as part of a plea deal related to misconduct in office.

District 5 Ald. Nikiya Dodd stepped down effective Nov. 25, citing "serious family and medical issues that have taken priority."

Special elections for Districts 1, 5 and 9 will be on the April 2023 ballot, with primaries expected in February.

City struggles with high-profile violence and a third year of record homicides

Milwaukee officials have struggled to stem homicides that broke a record for the third straight year and came during high-profile instances of violence.

Killings in the city and around the country began an alarming spike in 2020. Public health officials continue to cite the pandemic's lingering effects as a factor in Milwaukee's gun violence.

Over the four prior years, Milwaukee had seen a steady decline in homicides, dropping 30% in that time.

As of Friday, Milwaukee police data showed 207 homicides this year compared to 190 at the same point last year and 187 at this point in 2020.

The previous homicide record was set in 1991 with 165 victims.

The city was also shaken by a mass shooting downtown on a Friday in May as 11,000 people gathered at the Deer District outside Fiserv Forum, where the Milwaukee Bucks were playing the Boston Celtics. Hours later, Johnson imposed a curfew in the area for Saturday and Sunday nights.

Milwaukee officials have said more arguments are escalating into fatal violence because of poor conflict resolution and increased gun carrying. Fatal domestic violence incidents have also increased since 2020.

Johnson and Police Chief Jeffrey Norman told the Journal Sentinel they remain optimistic about the city's ability to reverse the trend. In late November, they cited a recent downturn in the pace of homicides, an overall crime drop (which includes property crimes), and better collaboration among law enforcement, public health officials and community leaders.

Johnson also said he believed that investments in economic development projects and affordable housing would provide family-supporting jobs and homes that would provide residents stability, thereby preventing crime.

Milwaukee wins 2024 Republican National Convention

The 2024 Republican National Convention is coming to deep-blue Milwaukee.

Johnson considered it a major win for the city, which will now host its second major party convention two presidential elections in a row. The RNC promises to be much different from the 2020 Democratic National Convention, which became a largely virtual event because of the pandemic.

Supporters saw the selection by Republicans as a sign that the city is moving up and an opportunity to prove to the nation that Milwaukee can host large-scale events. Detractors on the left argued it was an invitation to an enemy of the city at a time that far-right voices seek to undermine democracy.

Johnson and Barrett, both Democrats, backed the bid to win the national nominating convention.

And while a key Milwaukee Common Council committee initially withheld its support for the framework agreement, ultimately the council unanimously backed the plan and Johnson signed it.

Milwaukee ended up the lone option after the other finalist, Nashville, couldn't approve a deal.

Milwaukee barely maintains fire, library services; new revenue push reignited

Milwaukee residents were spared cuts in their fire and library services in 2023 ― but the future does not look bright at the moment.

Johnson had recommended cuts in preparation for increasingly challenging budgets in the years to come.

In his September budget address, he proposed a 1% reduction in sworn police officers, the cut of one fire engine in January and a second in July, and substantial cuts in the hours and programming at four libraries plus the forgoing of a temporary library while the King Library is being rebuilt next year.

The Common Council's approach diverged, and members decided to keep fire and library services intact, largely through the use of federal pandemic aid.

The city is facing dwindling federal pandemic aid, stagnant shared revenue returning from the state, limited options for raising revenue and, notably, a huge spike in its annual pension contribution. It has also depleted its reserves.

Those factors are driving a reignited push from Johnson, County Executive David Crowley and other Milwaukee- area leaders for the state to allow a 1% local sales tax and an increase in shared revenue.

It remains to be seen whether Republicans who control the state Legislature will allow those changes.

Milwaukee facilities to replace Lincoln Hills youth prison move forward

Milwaukee appears poised to build, or build out, two of the facilities that would replace the state's troubled youth prison 200 miles away.

A proposed state-run youth prison on the city's northwest side gained a key approval from the City Plan Commission this month despite pushback from residents over its location in an aldermanic district that is currently without a representative.

The state Department of Corrections has proposed building the new youth prison at 7930 W. Clinton Ave. just west of North 76th Street as part of a plan to close its current prison north of Wausau.

Lawmakers have long struggled to close the problem-plagued youth prison, where Lincoln Hills School for Boys and Copper Lake School for Girls are located on a joint campus 3½ hours north of Milwaukee. It houses young people with the highest needs who have committed serious crimes or are repeat offenders.

The council's Zoning, Neighborhoods and Development Committee is scheduled to take up the proposal on Jan. 10, followed by a full council meeting on Jan. 17.

If city leaders vote in favor of the project, a series of steps would still remain at the state level.

A second secure facility that would be run by Milwaukee County also received a significant boost in funding from the state this summer, an important step in the renovation and expansion of the Vel R. Phillips Youth and Family Justice Center in Wauwatosa.

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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: 2022 was historic year for Milwaukee. Here are the stories to know.