By Dave Fidlin
Correspondent
With a changing of the guard imminent, the board overseeing the Downtown Whitewater Inc. organization is taking pause, reflecting on a 10-year milestone and looking to the future.
Executive Director Tami Brodnicki indicated recently she will be stepping down from her daily oversight of the organization, which has held a variety of functions in the past decade, including various events aimed at attracting residents and visitors to the heart of Whitewater.
Kristine Zaballos and Dave Saalsaa, board members overseeing Downtown Whitewater, came before the Common Council on Oct. 7 and discussed the future of the organization.
“This is a perfect time for us to take stock and look at what we’ve done in the past 10 years … and maybe refocus a bit,” Zaballos said.
In addition to casting a net and searching for Brodnicki’s successor, Zaballos suggested a holistic look be taken into the organization and possibly making tweaks to the executive director position. As it stands, Zaballos said the position is antiquated because of some of Downtown Whitewater’s new endeavors.
One of Downtown Whitewater’s most recent efforts is the new city market on Tuesdays, which launched July 21 and has been considered a success.
As a starting point in searching for Brodnicki’s successor, Zaballos, Saalsaa and other Downtown Whitewater board members are holding the first of likely two meetings from 5 to 7 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 22, at the Cravath Lakefront Building, 341 S. Fremont St.
Praveen Parboteeah of the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater’s Department of Business Administration is facilitating the planning meeting. Zaballos described it as “a public meeting,” though the goal is to get a wide cross-section of community representatives.
