Advertisement In an effort to help voters get to know the candidates in contested races better, we sent them questionnaires on their background and views on issues the board will deal with. Here are their responses.
Why do you want to serve on the Onalaska Town Board?
What personal qualities and experiences make you the best qualified candidate for the job?
What are the three most important issues facing the Onalaska Town Board and what would your approach to dealing with those issues be?
1. Land-use planning. I favor land use planning in concept. It is important that we plan for the future. I caution that this be done in such a way as to not steal the rights from property owners to develop their land. We need to look at different ways to fund programs that will protect future generations’ land use needs and protect the rights of the current land owners. My approach to this would be to go slow. Make sure that what we do is consistent, fair and ethical.
2. Town services. The town board is charged with the responsibility of providing necessary services to the town residents. The residences of the town pay for this as part of their property taxes. Some of the services provided are street maintainance, garbage collection, recycling and park developement and upkeep. The current financial situation that the country is struggling with is going to affect state, county and local units of government.
The town board needs to be aware of this and be proactive in controlling spending and looking at ways to become more efficient. I have encouraged the town to partner with other municipalities to share equipment and services to reduce costs and to allow us to continue to offer the services that our residents have come to expect.
3. Annexation. In past years the town has expierenced annexation by both the village of Holmen and the city of Onalaska. This has slowed down recently because of the weak economy. The town needs to be aware that this will again become a problem when the economy rebounds. The reason that areas annex out of the town are generally for municipal services. The town needs to agressively work with Holmen and Onalaska to come to some type of understanding on common boundaries. The town needs to continue to provide excellant services to the town residents at an affordable price. By keeping town taxes low we will be able to offer a cost effective reason to remain in the town.
Work to unify the community. This can be accomplished by having listening sessions throughout the year allowing any topic or project to be discussed. This will let the board understand the presenter’s perspective of the topic or project they want the town to act on.
This will promote and open debate on the pros and cons of each topic or project and the cost they may pose on the tax base. I feel the citizens will be able to walk away with a better understanding of the impacts and other citizens’ feelings on the topic or projects.
Grant writing and alternate funding sources. We need to look for all possible funding sources such as grants and state and federal funding to subsidize the local tax dollars. By receiving these monies it will enable us to do more for the citizens and community with less local tax burden.
Consider This wrote on Apr 9, 2009 6:15 AM:
These points are indisputable because they come right from the published minutes, and the public record, which is why the statements remain undisputed. "