Anderson Proud of Her Time as Trustee

Nearly four year ago, when Trustee Dawn Anderson was appointed to the Village Board, she said she hoped to represent the voice of the average Shorewood resident.

Now, she says she is proud of her time on the board, after deciding not to run for another term, to focus on her work and spend more time with her husband, Roy Anderson.

"I will miss the people on the board the most," she said. "Thank you to the Village Board and residents for supporting us."

Anderson, the executive director of the Wisconsin Breast Cancer Coalition, was a big proponent of re-establishing the village's Conservation Committee and ridding the village of harmful pesticides in the community's public green spaces.

She has lived in Shorewood for more than 25 years and said she grew up in Whitefish Bay.

"I'm definitely a North Shore gal," she said.

She said she is probably doing things a bit backward because most people take on more work after their kids graduate from high school and leave home. But Anderson said he has been a volunteer for a long time and wants to focus on the next chapter of her life.

"I need to step back a little bit and think about what’s next," she said. "If it weren’t for my job, I would have probably ran again. It was getting to be a heavy burden with so many night meetings."

She said it was amazing how the board could come to consensus with so many different personalities involved.

"That says a lot about our leadership," she said. "It can be difficult when you know you’re going to disappoint someone. Every decision we make is so personal."

She was appointed to the Village Board in June 2007 when Village President Guy Johnson vacated his trustee seat after he was elected president. She ran unopposed in the following election, and then decided not to filed her candidacy for the April 5 election.

During her time on the board she has served on a number of committees, including on the Community and Business Relations Committee; the Judiciary, Personnel and Licensing Committee; and the Streets and Buildings Committee. She also had been a member of the Shorewood Business Improvement District board.

She said her time on the Village Board was very valuable.

"You really do learn a lot," she said.

Johnson said the board is going to miss Anderson.

"She been quite involved in the BID operations and we are looking forward to future involvement she might have with the village," Johnson said. "She has given a great viewpoint to the board in many areas that we been involved with, and we are going to miss that."

Trustee Don Ford filled Anderson's seat on May 2.