Sewers, Budget Top List of Issues in Trustee Race

Shorewood will face a lot of issues this year, including addressing sewer issues that caused basement backups last summer, dealing with a likely budget gap due to cuts in state aid, and finding ways to attract young families to the village and market downtown.

And with Tuesday's election on the horizon, Shorewood Patch asked the candidates running for Village Board how they would tackle these and other issues facing the community.

Four candidates — newcomers Don Ford, Christopher Piotrowski and Michael Sauer, and incumbent Michael Maher — are vying for seats on the board.

Here are profiles of the candidates and how they would deal with key issues in Shorewood. For even more details on the candidates, click on their names to see Patch's earlier stories on them.

Background

Ford, 59, is general manager and chief financial officer for the Illinois-based The Garvey Group, a collection of privately-owned companies in the printing industry. He is also a CPA and has worked for Johnson Controls Inc. as a financial analyst. He also is a member of the village's Community Development Authority.

Ford holds a bachelor’s degree in accounting and finance from the University of Alaska.

He is married with two children and three grandchildren. He and his family moved to Shorewood after spending around 20 years in Racine and his children completed school.

Addressing the sewers

Ford said he likes the process Shorewood is using to address sewer issues, but said the village needs to look at reprioritizing some of its other capital projects without an increase in the tax levy or putting referendums on the ballot. He added sewer work needs to be coordinated with planned road construction.

“It would be inexcusable to tear up a road and repave it and then a year later come back and tear it up again for sewers,” Ford said.

Addressing the budget

Ford said the village should to do the same thing he has done in business; go to department heads and challenge them to keep their budgets flat, prioritize without losing essential services and review existing contracts.

He added the village is good customer to many vendors and consulting firms, and it should go to them for a collaborative discussion about concessions. Tax levy increases and referendums should be a last resort, he said.

Attracting new families

He said bringing new development to the village in effect decreases the tax burden on Shorewood residents and helps make the village more attractive.

“We need to make sure this commercial business district is this real, walking community sort of business district,” Ford said. “When you look at Oakland (Avenue) there are all these parking lots… you don’t get a lot of tax revenue out of a parking lot.”

Background

Maher, 57, is a 26-year administrator for Legal Action of Wisconsin, a public service law firm serving the low-income clients and seniors. He has been on the Village Board for six years.

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

The 20-year Shorewood resident is married to Roberta Rieck, whose family has lived in the village for about 30 years.

Addressing sewers

Maher said residents have been very clear on the sewer issue — get going and get going now. He said the village needs to take their advice, and focus on the projects for this year and then they can decide later how far into the village's comprehensive plan for sewers they want to venture.

Balancing the budget

He believes village officials need to go through the 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.

Attract young families

Maher said he has been working with the village and school boards to make Shorewood a more attractive place for families. For example, he said the village has recently approved the Lake Bluff Elementary playground upgrade. In addition, the village has been involved in marketing efforts to try to attract families to Shorewood.

Background

Piotrowski, 36, works in the product innovation area for S.C Johnson, a producer of household products.

He holds a master’s degree in economics from Marquette University.

He has lived in Shorewood for 10 years, with his wife and three children.

Addressing sewers

Piotrowski said he experienced the sewer backups firsthand during the July flooding, so  he takes the sewer issue very seriously. He believes the village is moving in the right direction with its comprehensive sewer plan. The village should also couple sewer repairs with road repairs, he said.

Balancing the budget

He said his unique background in innovation, business and finance would be an asset to the village as it will likely have to navigate a budget gap next year, if the governor’s biennial budget is approved.

“One thing I do feel strongly about with the state of the U.S. economy as a whole, which definitely trickles down to Shorewood, is that our true competitive advantage is going to be education,” Piotrowski said.

Attracting young families

The village could do a better job of attracting more families and showcasing the school district, he said.

“It’s a very walkable community… we need to do a better job of proactively attracting people to the community and having a strong voice in terms of why they should chose Shorewood versus other areas,” he said.

Background

Sauer, 29, is a project manager at Assurant Health, a national insurance company.

He received his undergraduate degree in consumer affairs and business administration from Eastern Illinois University, and then obtained a master’s degree in project management from Illinois State University.

The three-year Shorewood resident lives with his wife, Beth Sauer.

Addressing the sewers

Sauer said the village should have addressed sewers 10 years ago and should look at fixing leaky laterals as the first step toward looking at its sewer issues.

Balancing the budget

He said in light of budget cuts, the village needs to start slicing the issues up into different projects and prioritizing them. Sauer said the village should consider consolidation more than ever and he would support a merger of the Shorewood and Whitefish Bay police departments.

“We need to start looking at what we can afford now, and not leverage our future as a village,” he said.

Attracting young families

Highlighting the walkablitity of the village and the business district is important to increasing Shorewood’s population, he said. He said he will bring a younger prescriptive to the Village Board and believes he knows what young families are looking for in a community.

“There is so much that this town has to offer that I don’t think people see,” Sauer said. “I think I have a lot of good ideas on how we can reach out to those people and make it more attractive.”