As a father of 4 teenage daughters, I hope that my 8 years as Alderman demonstrated to them my commitment to public service. I never missed a Council meeting! Lasata sits in the heart of the 17th District, and I am committed to its expansion and protection. We need the continuum of care that a CBRF will provide to protect Lasata. I appreciate the value of communication and cooperation. My immediate goal is improved communication between the City and the County. I propose regular meetings between Cedarburg’s County Board Supervisors and City leadership. Let’s all get on the same page! I have already met with the current Mayor, the presumptive Mayor, the City Administrator, the Police Chief, and the Fire Chief in order to identify opportunities for the City and County to work better together. Additionally, I currently serve on the Plan Commission and am the Chair of the Finance Committee. I have a file full of ideas. And I have the years of experience needed to get to work immediately!

Protecting and improving Lasata: I fully support the expansion of memory care at Lasata. The funds generated will help improve Lasata and lower the tax burden for county residents. My private sector real estate experience and service on the Plan Commission will allow me to quickly move this project forward. Mental Health: The City of Cedarburg incurs thousands of dollars of police overtime due to insufficient County response for mental health services. The County is proposing a mental health “Co-Responder Team” which is a good start. However, Cedarburg deserves solutions from the County. I have already met with the Police Chief on this issue and will work with county staff to make improvements. Park Projects: I will advocate for City/County partnerships on potential regional park projects like the City owned 116 acre parcel on Pioneer Road (Dog Park perhaps?) and the perpetually problematic and expensive Prochnow landfill site near 5-Corners (regional indoor athletic facility?)

The Cedarburg News Graphic and the Ozaukee Press both provide excellent coverage of the County Board. I will encourage residents to support local journalism by subscribing to these publications. Also, these newspapers are available for free at the Cedarburg Public Library. Ozaukee County broadcasts County Board meetings and committee meetings live on YouTube. And they maintain an archive of past meetings. I will encourage residents to utilize these online services especially if they cannot make it to the daytime Board meetings. Public comments can be submitted online in advance as well. Social media is insufficient because it needs constant updates and serves only a limited audience. The County website has a free “Notify Me” feature which allows citizens to subscribe to receive all agendas relating to County business. I will encourage use of this underutilized feature. Subscribe for free, and you will receive the agendas and packages at the same time the Supervisors get them!

As a citizen, I have always been interested in how decisions are made by government, and considered it a duty to make my voice heard as a voter, and campaigned on behalf of candidates I believed in. Working as a journalist for a number of years, I covered local politics in the Milwaukee suburbs and learned how important it is for people to be involved. I got a different perspective on this when working overseas. I had the honor of representing the United States as a Foreign Service Officer and was responsible for media and public outreach for our Ambassadors in a number of European and Asian countries. Upon retiring from the Foreign Service I returned with my family to Wisconsin. As an Ozaukee County Supervisor I believe my experience would help me address the perceived lack of responsiveness and transparency on the county board. Better communications with the public and more encouragement for civic engagement would strengthen the board and lead to better decisions.

The most important issues facing Ozaukee County relate to balancing the preservation of our natural resources and quality of life with development pressures/opportunities, and maintaining a high standard for public safety and public health services. My approach to these issues would be to build on the successes the county has had and to bring new energy to accomplishing consensus goals. For example, the county recently reconstituted a Comprehensive Planning Board, which is now working with partners to update the Park and Open Space Plan. The public input received so far shows that residents place a high value on protecting existing parks and open space and protecting groundwater. As a Supervisor, I would take that guidance and push for progress on initiatives to help replace failing septic systems and support farmers in meeting runoff management goals. On public safety issues, I would work to build stronger partnerships with municipalities in the context of the EMS upgrades.

I will keep my constituents informed of issues, and seek their input, by all means possible. I will be available by phone, by e-mail, and via social media to hear concerns. I plan on writing a monthly newsletter that constituents could subscribe to if interested. I will also make full use of opportunities provided by the local media to provide comments and submit letters to the editor. I will also make it a priority on the board to institute a working notification system, so that meeting notices and agendas go out to people who subscribe. The county's website badly needs to be updated so that residents can gain easy access to information on issues of concern. I also believe the county needs to be more active in publicizing the services and resources that are available to us in Ozaukee County.