Team

Aycha Sawa was elected April 7, 2020. Prior to becoming Comptroller, she served the City as Deputy Comptroller for three years.  She started in the Comptroller’s office as an auditor hired in July 2010, moving up to Audit Manager and then Accounting Director.  She was sworn in as Deputy Comptroller in 2017. Before that, she worked for Baker Tilly auditing various governments, and as an auditor for the State of Wisconsin Department of Transportation. She has, at the time of her election, 14 years of government auditing, accounting and management experience. Comptroller Sawa is a Certified Public Accountant and Certified Internal Auditor. As such, she is professionally committed to, and thus will lead the Comptroller's office, with a code of ethics that promises to transcend political will; standards that require integrity, independence, and accuracy. The Comptroller's office is dedicated to putting the City of Milwaukee's residents first. Aycha holds an Accounting Bachelors of Business Administration degree from the University of Wisconsin Madison (2006). After 150 college credits and 4 exams later, she received her CPA in 2010. Additionally, after 3 more exams, she received her auditing certification (CIA) in 2015.

Joshua Benson joined the City of Milwaukee in 2017 and was appointed Deputy Comptroller in 2020.  In 2022, he became the City's Capital Finance Manager.  Prior to joining the City, Benson was a municipal advisor representative for PFM Financial Advisors LLC for 5 years where he provided technical and quantitative support throughout the traditional debt issuance process, as well as cash flow modeling and utility rate setting analysis.  Benson obtained his Certified Public Accountant (CPA) license in 2023.