GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ) – Eight mayoral candidates took the stage at the Brown County Central Library Wednesday evening to tell voters why they’re the best man for the job.
A wide range of questions and topics were introduced in the two-hour forum, which allowed candidates a two-minute opening and closing statement and 90-seconds to expound on questions.
Candidates went down the line and responded to questions going left-to-right as they were seated and there was no opportunity given for debate.
Individuals from the League of Women Voters of Greater Green Bay served to moderate the forum and collect questions from the community, which packed the auditorium venue.
Topics that were introduced to the candidates included road repairs, infrastructure, economic growth in the downtown area, voting hour expansion, public transportation, leveraging diversity, and more.
Many of the eight candidates early-on established that road repairs were one of their major focuses.
Eric Genrich, a former Democratic member of the State Assembly, wasn’t surprised to hear that concern be brought up early.
“I mean voters have talked a lot about the quality of our roads and the need to reinvest in our infrastructure over these last few months and that was something that came out tonight,” he explains.
A more wide-range of answers and ideas were presented when candidates were tasked with identifying the biggest issue facing the next mayor.
Some looked towards finance and the city budget.
“The biggest problem facing the city is that we are in debt $152 million,” says Nick Mortensen, who currently works for his father’s business, Jones Sign Company.
Pat Evans, a Brown County Supervisor, focused this answer and a large portion of his rhetoric on what he believes to be the main concern for the city.
“The biggest issue is the budget,” he explains. “Everything else is predicated on the budget.”
Others took the opportunity to go down a slightly different path.
“I think what is important is to get economic development that gets on the tax roll,” says Guy Zima, a former alderman and county supervisor for more than 40 years.
Zima would go on to stress community safety throughout the forum and seemingly went against the grain on questions regarding economic growth for the city.
“We need to strengthen our city,” he explains. “We need a better city, not a bigger city.”
Paul Boucher, a self-proclaimed social researcher, spent most of the forum conceiving opportunities for the city to grow in population and diversity, which would, in his opinion, provide increased revenue.
For those reasons, he didn’t find road repairs to be particularly pertinent.
“If we can find ways to create revenue, roads won’t be a problem,” he explains.
With a crowded table of eight different faces and voices, it presented a unique challenge for candidates to make their ideas stand out.
Former alderman Joe Moore believes he was able to accomplish that.
“I am the only one that did bring up renewing a service agreement with the Oneida Nation, which I think is really important,” he explains. “Now years ago, that was about a $300,000 revenue to the city.”
Creating and mending connections in the county and community was another popular area of focus for some candidates.
Mark Steuer, Green Bay’s city council president, touched on this when asked what is the biggest issue facing the next mayor.
“I think it is important for the next mayor to build relationships with the county and also all the other communities around us,” says Steuer.
And inevitably taxation crept into the conversation.
“We’re one of the highest taxing municipalities in Brown County, yet we can’t balance our budget without going to our general fund,” says Patrick Buckley, a Brown County Supervisor, retired law enforcement officer, and owner of 57 Subway restaurants. “To me, that is a problem.”
The primary election will be held on February 19 and the top two vote-getters will then advance to the general election, which will take place on April 2.
The candidates are running to replace current mayor Jim Schmitt, who is not seeking re-election after four terms on the job.
