THANKS and Some Final Thoughts

First of all, THANKS for taking the time to read my blog.

I respectfully ask that you vote for Mike Doble on Tuesday!

I also strongly encourage you to vote for Marilyn Gauger and Diane Herried as well. We’re all excited about the possibility of bringing fresh blood to our town government. Please hire us to work for you by voting Tuesday!

Here are some final thoughts on the issues before the election. As always, if you have questions, please email or call me; questions in the comments are always welcome too. I’m happy to expound on any of these thoughts. My goal is to inform you as much as possible so you can choose who you want to represent you in our town government!

Annexation. The question I get asked the most is where do I stand on annexation? Annexation is a complex issue, but my position is that annexation is VERY BAD for our community! As a community, we need to work to STOP annexation; I will work to do so. Outside communities (Mukwonago, Big Bend, Muskego and potentially Waukesha) do NOT take our property. In order for OUR property to go to a neighboring community through annexation, the Town of Vernon property owner MUST go to the neighboring community and ASK to be annexed. In some rare cases (which happened in the Deluca annexation), if a majority of the land owners go to the neighboring community and ask to annexed, then some unfortunate town land owner COULD get annexed against their will. So, how do you stop annexation of property away from Vernon? Quite simply, we need to take away the property owner’s motivation to leave the town. We won’t be able to make every property owner happy and some will leave, but we MUST try to work with each and every one of them. We can be sensible. We can try to allow property owners to develop their property the same way the neighboring community will allow. It’s all a matter of examining requests for development with thoughts of the consequences of disapproving the request.

Fire Department. What’s done is done. I don’t intend to do anything other than push for the department to continue to develop in a positive manner like it is now. I hate the fact that we spent so much money from our town to fix something that could have been resolved in another way, but like I said, what’s done is done. I intend to move forward without looking back.

Tone of Government. Our elected officials need to conduct themselves with professionalism and respect for the citizens. I understand that the citizens of this community are not dummies! The citizens can take the hard truth and should be privy to the discussions that shape the decisions made by the elected officials. Citizens must be able to ask the hard questions, ask for explanation and approach town government without ridicule and being treated with contempt. Business owners who live in the community should be able to get involved in local politics without fear of retaliation against their business. I will work to change the tone of our government to be what it should be in this town.

Town Staff. We have an excellent staff running the day to day operations of our town. Our DPW director, fire chief, clerk, treasurer, recreation director, building inspector, etc. are all great people who are in these positions because they know what they are doing! If elected, I will consult with them and rely on them to advise the town board on staffing and budget issues. It is not the elected officials place to dictate WHO should get laid off, how operations should be handled, how to run tax collection, etc. The board is an executive decision making body operating with a support staff of professionals behind the scenes. If the board is going to get involved in the minute details of department operations, then why do we have full time staff? It’s time to get out of their hair and let them do their jobs, then hold them accountable if necessary.

Town Zoning. Managing our own zoning is an excellent idea (but it WILL have a financial impact). We will be able to better control our destiny without the Waukesha County “One-size-fits-all” Zoning Code. It’s not a bad code, it’s just a case of what’s good for the Town of Delafield for example, might not be good for the Town of Vernon, and vice versa. Having our own code is probably the best way for us to control annexation as well. We’ll be able to handle the exceptions to the code that may allow us the flexibility to keep a property or two away from Big Bend!

Town Board Meetings. I don’t like agendas for town board meetings that do not specifically outline the issues to be discussed! Blanket agenda items that seemingly allow open discussion of any topic under the guise that no decision will be made is counterproductive to open government. Agendas should be specific and allow for defined meeting start and end times. Yes, sometimes having a rigid agenda is a hassle for the board, but the only way citizens know when to tune in is when you define the discussion. I intend to change the structure of our town board meetings if I’m elected. As a citizen, you’ll know in advance if there are topics that will be discussed that you want to listen to or, more importantly, come down to the town hall and provide comments. Feel free to do so, you’ll be treated with the respect you deserve as a citizen.

THANKS AGAIN and I’ll see you at the polls Tuesday!