I want to be a trustee to help Grafton grow in a way that will be beneficial to the community for years to come. As a software engineer, one of the big issues I have to deal with is scalability; the ability to manage resources and costs for the software and services that I use. I've had to manage teams and work with other teams on projects that had multiple stakeholders and conflicting ideas and finding a middle ground where everyone was happy with the outcome.

The growth of Grafton is one of the most important issues the village board will have to deal with in the coming years. Grafton's a great place to live and more people want to live here. With that growth comes issues of scaling services to match the needs of the community. If we can't keep up, the quality of life in Grafton that brings and keeps people here will diminish.

Even with the diversity of mediums available, it's hard to make sure your message gets to everyone in your target audience. Personally, I'm trying to connect with the community in multiple ways: personal website, email, Facebook, and door to door canvassing. When I'm on the village board, I'll continue these avenues and add things like articles in local papers, mail for important issues affecting the community, and consistent open hours where constituents can talk to me in person.

The Village of Grafton is a great place to live, work, and play. Our motto of “quality life, naturally” is borne out through our high-quality amenities - all while maintaining modest taxes. Yet, the Village’s ability to maintain these high-quality amenities is challenged by increased demand for services, strict revenue limits, and increasing costs. I would like to continue to serve as a Village of Grafton Trustee to collaboratively lead the community in finding novel, cost-effective solutions to these challenges to help the Village and its residents thrive.

As to why I believe I am the best candidate, I bring a thoughtful, deliberative approach to all Village-related matters. I champion healthy, productive communication in my actions with Village residents and staff. Finally, I bring a collegial, collaborative approach to Village business. I strive to affirm and acknowledge our constituents’ positions, address their concerns, and convey what I know about a matter before the Village.

I hope the Fire and EMS referendum passes in April, but if it does not, finding additional funding for our Fire Department in the Village’s 2025 operating budget will be my top priority - likely through an increased focus on grants.

The Village has made good progress in maintaining its roads recently, but ~20% of our roads remain in relatively poor condition. I don’t favor our borrowing-heavy approach from 2024 and will work to find a more sustainable funding source for the future.

Our roads focus has meant that maintaining and growing the Village’s network of sidewalks and paths has suffered recently. I will advocate for increased funding for these amenities in future operating budgets.

Finally, Grafton is a highly desirable place to live, drawing people from far away. Yet, housing supply remains low, and land, building, and borrowing costs remain high. We should follow the innovative private-public models of Jackson and Sheboygan to provide more housing options in the Village.

Befitting our increasingly digital age, I maintain active profiles on Facebook (https://facebook.com/Evans4Grafton) and Twitter/X (@Evans4Grafton), by which I regularly share information about Village-related matters and upcoming meetings. Additionally, I've recently launched a website on Substack (https://evans4grafton.substack.com) to share more information about my campaign platform and bigger issues facing the Village.

I also respond to nearly every email I receive from a resident or business owner. I’m happy to talk or meet with anyone who reaches out with interest in setting up a meeting.

I believe that my 14 years of experience as a Village Trustee, my willingness to thoroughly research issues and topics that come to the Board, and my being unafraid to ask hard questions, are qualities that make me stand out. I have been a Trustee since 2010 and as a result have gained a ton of knowledge about how the Village and its various departments operate. This puts me in a great position to continue to help improve how the Village and its departments can operate more efficiently given our limited tax dollars. I have been on multiple committees that have helped me learn the importance of programs that are vital to Grafton and how it is essential that we listen to our residents about how THEY want Grafton to grow without compromising our quality of life. I am not a rubber-stamper, being willing to challenge proposed expenditures or new development, wherever appropriate. I look forward to serving with just as much energy and excitement as my first day on the job in April 2010.

The most important issues today are proposals that may lead to higher density developments in residential areas, a new Tax Incremental District including an area known as “The Triangle,” the potential closure of Grafton Ave, a busy road next to the Triangle, and finally the consolidation of our Fire Dept including an upcoming referendum to add more full-time firefighter/paramedics which will increase our level of services, cutting response times to save lives. I oppose high density multifamily housing in single family areas. The proposed Triangle development has been highly controversial with many citizens in the Village voicing their objections to the proposed multifamily apartments at that location. Multifamily housing should be located only in limited areas. With fewer Fire Dept volunteers we are at a critical point with insufficient personnel to cover multiple calls. The Fire Dept referendum will provide additional staff so we can respond to 2 calls simultaneously.

I encourage residents to attend committee and Village Board meetings (also on Zoom) to see their elected officials at work. If a resident has a concern I call or email them to assure I understand. If a neighborhood issue, I will visit them on site. Recently, a majority of the Board voted AGAINST giving phone numbers and emails for citizen committee members. Instead, residents can only email a designated rep and ask them to forward it to committee members. The resident is unable to speak directly to the committee member. I voted in favor of making contact info available but was outvoted. Those making decisions impacting Grafton should be accessible, making our government more accountable and transparent. If elected officials or citizen committee members are reluctant to provide direct contact info then they shouldn’t have the privilege of representing us. Face-to-face, phone, and email are the ways I connect to residents as I continue to work for them and for Quality Life, Naturally.

I believe in giving back and serving our community. My family made Grafton our home in 1997. I am deeply committed to our community and want to influence its direction. Serving as a Trustee since 2020 has provided me with a deep understanding of the needs of the residents and businesses. I currently serve on the following committees: Finance (approving a balanced budget & second School Resource Officer) Chair of Public Safety (instrumental in obtaining speed radar signs on Falls Rd. & establishing a cross walk on 17th Ave.) Park & Recreation (developing the new River Bend Park) and Fire Department Consolidation Work Group (advancing towards a joint Grafton & Saukville Fire Department.) My character, passion for the community and common-sense approach are my greatest strengths. I aspire to help guide our community in making the key decisions that are best for the residents and businesses. As a Trustee I pledge to ensure that everyone's position is considered in a thoughtful way.

1) Proposed Development: It is important to provide a variety of different housing options. We are fortunate to see developers come forward with housing plans which include single family subdivisions and multi-family developments. The Village Board needs to evaluate each one of these developments on its merits and alignment with the Comprehensive Plan. I believe that the residents of the community should have input with the Comprehensive Plan to ensure that the plan represents a shared vision for the future. 2) Public Safety: The consolidation of the Grafton and Saukville Fire Departments will positively impact the citizens of Grafton by realizing cost savings. Like many communities Grafton is struggling to recruit and retain top talent. To address this, I approved the new Recruitment & Retention Policy. As a growing community it is crucial to ensure that the Police & Fire Departments are staffed appropriately and have the resources needed. I strive to always think strategically.

I welcome and encourage dialog with all citizens and businesses. I have implemented a procedure at the Public Safety meetings ensuring that all citizens who voice concerns receive a timely follow-up. Agendas and minutes for all board meetings are posted online and constituents are encouraged to attend meetings and voice their concerns. I am always available to visit with residents, listen to their concerns, examine the situation first-hand and follow-up. In addition to my Village email and cell phone, comments are always welcomed on my Facebook page. I believe elected officials must work as a team to establish a shared vision of the future and develop goals that make the future possible. I will continue to work for the constituents to enact the policies that will ultimately lead to a Quality Life, Naturally.

I would like to be a Village Trustee to help keep Grafton a great place to work, play and live. The skills I would bring to this position are honesty, integrity, the ability to listen to a different point of view and problem solving. I have built these skills over a lifetime of public, community, and customer service. I have been a resident of Grafton for over 20 years and have served in many positions at Saint Paul Lutheran Church. I am retired after 35 years of service with the United States Government. I am currently employed by Scientific Applications International Corporation as an Air Traffic Control Field Instructor at Mitchell International Airport in Milwaukee

The two biggest issues facing Grafton are growth and traffic. Grafton has a great quality of life with extensive retail business, great schools both public and private, many green spaces and parks and a scenic river corridor. All of these things make Grafton a very desirable place to live and the village continues to attract new residents. The village needs to be very methodical about the “what and where” of new developments. High density development, whether homes or multi-story buildings, put a strain on the services provided by the village (water and sewer, police, EMS, street plowing and repair). My interest and concerns are that we need to make the best decisions about growth, including the traffic it generates. Bad decisions today create problems that will have to be dealt with for many years in the future.

First, the village government needs to do a better job of informing the residents of what is going on in the village. Improvements need to be made in directly engaging the residents. Also, residents need to be very active in voicing their opinions and sharing their concerns in order to provide direction to their elected officals. These two items provide for the best relationship between the citizens and their government. I don’t have an online footprint but I regularly engage with friends and neighbors that do and they do a great job of spreading the word both in online platforms and by word of mouth.

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Candidate has not yet responded.

Candidate has not yet responded.