With Election Day coming up this Tuesday, candidates for Whitewater Common Council and the Whitewater Unified School Board took the opportunity to respond to questions sent out by the Whitewater Register.
Common Council
James Allen (Common Council at-large)
1. What are the two biggest issues facing your constituents right now?
Single-family housing starts and grocery recruitment are two very important issues facing my constituents right now.
Single-family housing starts are at an all-time low. Faced with declining state shared revenues, (the amount of our tax dollars that we get back from the state) the only way for our city to increase our tax base without raising property taxes comes from new housing starts and the new tax increment they generate. Since we have a shortage of single-family housing stock, the purchase price of homes in Whitewater is higher than in most of our surrounding communities. It means that it has become increasingly difficult for people wishing to move to Whitewater to find affordable housing in our community. We need families moving to Whitewater, not only to fill the jobs we have available, but also to support our school system, our stores, restaurants and other businesses.
Closely related to the lack of single-family housing is our need for a second grocery store. When Sentry closed in 2015, the CDA reached out to every grocery chain and independent grocer in Wisconsin and Illinois. We quickly realized that there was no interest for someone to come to Whitewater to build a store from the ground up so it would take more work on our part.
2. Why are you running for office?
I’m running for office so that I may continue these efforts and others for the benefit of all the citizens in Whitewater.
We can’t continue to survive as a city with continued declining enrollments, a housing shortage and the lack of a second grocery. I want to see Whitewater grow its tax base, keep our current businesses successful and gain new business and industry.
3. What prior government experience do you have?
Besides this last two year run on the Common Council I have 10 years of experience as a Common Council representative, first in District 5, and then in District 1. I also have 20 years experience on the Whitewater Community Development Authority.
Jimmy Schulgit (Common Council Aldermanic District 2)
1. What are the two biggest issues facing your constituents right now?
The two big issues that we are focusing on would be the recruitment of a grocery store and developing single-family housing.
2. Why are you running for office?
I have enjoyed representing my district and look forward to helping the community in the future.
3. What prior government experience do you have?
I have served on Common Council since July 2017.
Lynn Binnie (Aldermanic District 4)
1. What are the two biggest issues facing your constituents right now?
a) The lack of a free-standing grocery store. When people leave town to buy groceries, they spend money elsewhere on goods and services that might otherwise be purchased in Whitewater.
b) A shortage of single family housing. We are losing prospective residents to other communities.
2. Why are you running for office?
I bring relevant skills and experience to the office, including business management, critical thinking, and detail orientation. I attend meetings with thorough preparation. I wish to continue to have an influence on the city’s services, visions and goals, and it would be great to be part of a council that might help to facilitate the opening of a grocery store. Finally, I enjoy the role most of the time.
3. What prior government experience do you have?
I have 10 years of experience on the council. I have also served on the Plan and Architectural Review Commission for nine years, and currently serve on the Finance Committee and Cable TV/Community Involvement Commission.
School Board
Tom Ganser
1. What are two biggest issues facing your constituents right now?
I believe that my constituents expect school board members to make the best use of the district’s budget to educate all children for successful and fulfilling lives with the knowledge, hard and soft skills, and dispositions that will prepare them for futures that are likely to change in dramatic and often unpredictable ways.
I also believe that school safety for children and staff is a widely shared priority among my constituents. A few examples of additional issues important to my constituents include supporting the mental health of students, the price of school lunches, the availability of Advanced Placement courses, effective communication with families that include LGBTQ members, supporting art and music programs, and equipping students to be smart users of social media.
2. Why are you running for office?
As a resident of Whitewater since 1990 and following a career in education that included being a high school teacher and a college administrator and professor in the area of teacher preparation, I feel it is the right time for me to serve the Whitewater Unified School District communities in this capacity.
3. What prior government experience do you have?
None.
Kelly Davis
1. What are the two biggest issues facing your constituents right now?
One of the biggest challenges facing our district is the budget. Despite recent referendum successes, we know that meeting the needs of staff, students, and families is a challenge.
The second challenge our district faces is one of communication. Our teachers, parents, principals and administrative staff work tirelessly to educate our children. As a district, we need to do an even better job of sharing the awesome things happening in our schools. In a meeting during my 2015 campaign, a principal suggested we needed to “over-communicate,” and I could not agree more. We need to continue to communicate to the broader community, taxpayers, and families (within and outside our district), so that, as a community, we can make well-informed decisions and help make Whitewater a destination district.
2. Why are you running for office?
I am running for re-election to the School Board because as a mother of three young children, I am invested in this school district for the long run. I think our district is going in the right direction, and I want to be part of a team that keeps us on that trajectory. I have proudly served the district’s students for the past nearly three years. I have learned quite a bit about our district, and I have been as involved as I possibly can outside of the boardroom. I ran for election in 2015 because I wanted to help keep the district on a positive trajectory and bring a mother’s perspective to the board. I think I’ve done that – but there is always more that can/should be done to support the district’s students and families.
Jean Linos
1. What are the two biggest issues facing your constituents right now?
I feel the two biggest issues facing my potential constituents are the safety and security of the students/teachers/staff in our schools and adequate educational opportunities and rigor of course offerings.
2. Why are you running for office?
I am running for School Board in order to work to enact improvements in the learning opportunities for my children and all students, be a voice for underrepresented segments of the community, provide new perspectives on ways of looking at and solving issues, be a voice for our children’s teachers and work to build/improve community engagement with our schools.
3. What prior government experience do you have?
I have not previously held an elected government position. I have however run my own business for over 6 years, and the past two years of which were in two different regions of the country.
