Politics & Government

Incumbent Boasts Years of Experience on Village Board, Committees

Michael Maher says he will focus on addressing the village's budget while avoiding cuts to resident services.

Village Trustee Michael Maher says he hopes to remain a member of the Shorewood Village Board to continue to help with the sewer issue, road reconstruction and navigating the village’s budget crunch.

Maher, 57, is one on the board.

He boasts years of local government experience, including five years as the chairperson for the village’s Budget and Finance Committee, six years on the Village Board and eight years on the Board of Appeals. He has served on every committee and board in the village and currently serves on the Development and Long Range Planning Committee, Police and Fire Committee and Plan Commission. He said he has also been very active with the Shorewood Connects program, which helps keep seniors in the community.

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The 20-year Shorewood resident is married to Roberta Rieck, whose family has lived in the village for around 30 years he says. He currently works for Legal Action of Wisconsin, a public service law firm serving low-income and seniors, as an administrator for 26 years. He said he operates the firm's budget, similar to that of the village's. He worked for the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency for 7 years, prior to moving to Wisconsin, doing urban storm water planning and studying pollutants in the storm water discharge of seven urban areas in Illinois, most of which had combined sewers similar to Shorewood.

He holds a master's degree in public administration and an undergraduate degree in biology from the University of Illinois at Springfield.

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During his time on the Village Board, he says the village has seen new development including the Cornerstone development and current projects come to life like the upcoming Walgreens development in the Sendik’s parking lot. The City Market and Sherman Williams façade projects were also products of his time on the board. He added he has worked to produce the village's strong financial and infrastructure plans.

“They are not glamorous but they provide us a framework to maintain services,” Maher said.

He said he has worked to maintain high quality services and ultimately would like to help balance the village’s budget with the minimal amount to cuts to services to residents.

“I would try to avoid cutting the core services to the residents and I’m always trying to contain the amount of taxes and fees,” Maher said. “People are really hurting right now.”

He said things like getting your garbage picked up, roads patched or paramedics showing up is the kind services he is trying to make sure is maintained in the village.

Maher said residents have been very clear on the sewer issue — get going and get going now.

“How far you go (into the village’s comprehensive plan for sewers) we can decide as we go along, but we have a plan and the plan integrates long way if we want to,” Maher said.

He said the village needs to continue to focus on the projects they will do this year in terms of sewers and then decide as they move forward.

In terms of the impact of the governor's budget, the village needs to go through their budget, line by line, department by department and look for ways to become more efficient.

“There is no silver bullet answer, but it’s nuts and bolts, look at savings and efficiencies wherever they are, and try to avoid cuts to resident services,” he said.

Along with the Village and School Board, Maher said he has been working to make Shorewood a more attractive place for families.

He said the village has recently approved the Lake Bluff Elementary playground upgrade and the village's support of the schools through marketing, focused on getting people interested in the village are ways the he and the village have tried to attract families.

Newcomers , and Chris Piotrowski are also on the ballot.


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