Village Board candidates weigh in on the issues

By Tracy Ouellette

SLN Staff

There are four candidates vying for the three open seats on the April 5 ballot. Incumbents Ann Zess and Fortune “Forty” Renucci are up for re-election and newcomers Matt Johnson and Sean McFeeley have tossed their political hats into the ring.

Trustee Linda Kaplan chose not to run for re-election.

The candidates took time out of their busy schedules to talk about why they’re running, discuss the challenges facing the village and offer their take on some of the issues that have been trending.

Why are you running for trustee?

The candidates reasons for running ran the gamut from concern about the direction of the village and its leadership to the desire to make sure taxpayer dollars were wisely spent, but at the top of all their lists was their love of the community.

“I want to see East Troy prosper because my wife and I love the community and the people here,” Johnson said. “It’s important for citizens and businesses who call East Troy home to have a voice in how local decisions are made. I want to hear people’s problems and help them find solutions.”

“I want to keep the focus on the village and be fair with the constituent,” Renucci said. “I think I bring some history into play that a lot of people don’t have. What’s the old saying? If we don’t study our history, we’re doomed to repeat it? That’s what I don’t want.”

“Running for Village Board is a great way to stay involved in the community and to be able to offer the business’s perspective to the board of trustees,” Zess said. “I feel that in the last six years I have made a difference. The history that I have of decisions made at the village level help me to keep newer, as well as, older members of the board apprised on the reasoning behind previous decisions.”

“We have and live in a community of some of the nicest people I have ever met,” McFeeley said. “I feel I can only give back to the community through service and by working for the people of East Troy to make our friendly village better for all of us. It wasn’t like anyone was doing a poor job, but with an opening I thought there was a chance, with my knowledge and experience, I could offer something new.”

Renovations on the square

One of the issues facing the village is how to attract consumers to the downtown square to help the area businesses. A recent proposal by Village Board President Randy Timms and a group of local business representatives would have the village do some major renovations to the downtown square and widen the sidewalks to allow for things like outdoor dining and shopping areas could be created.

The proposal was presented at a Committee of the Whole meeting last month and garnered mixed reactions from Village Board members.

Renucci said that the water mains around the village square have to be replaced because they are undersized and he would like to see that done along with the other utilities being buried during any street project that might happen on the square, but he thought the proposal for the other renovations was “premature.”

“I think the board needs to look at other options,” Renucci said. “I’m very concerned about traffic flow if we widen the sidewalks, particularly the truck traffic, making those turns can be difficult.”

“I’m for it,” McFeeley said. “There are some things we could look at doing beyond the square, too, like bringing sidewalks down the side streets and things like that, but I’m for the project.”

Johnson, who was at the meeting, said the village needed to look at the whole picture.

“I think a lot of questions came out of that meeting and the cost is a consideration,” Johnson said. “There are other capital improvement projects we need to look at, too. Balancing those and getting the public’s input on what they want is important.”

Zess agreed and said she wasn’t in favor of the plan.

“If we’re going to do something we better explore our options,” she said. “There are other projects that need to be considered. I think we need to start prioritizing the projects in the community and start looking at all the options.”

Archery range debate

Another item on recent Village Board agendas is the proposed archery range behind Village Hall. At Monday night’s Village Board meeting the board voted to move forward with seeking a grant to help fund an archery range, but not on Village Hall property. See Page 5 for coverage of the meeting.

Zess has been against the Village Hall location because of its proximity to a local daycare center. She said she isn’t concerned about what might happen when people are using the range responsibly, but said the area, which won’t be supervised, is too close to the daycare and if someone were to be out there and choose to shoot an arrow straight up in the air, it might be a problem. Zess said she wants to see the location for it changed.

Johnson also said he was in favor of the range, but not the location.

“That is a concern to me,” Johnson said. “Not only are we talking about children, we’re talking about an established business, doing well, employing people, paying taxes, and they (some the Village Board members) were dismissive of them.”

Renucci said he was in favor of the range behind Village Hall now that the plans have been adjusted to include multiple safety features to protect the daycare center from any stray arrows. But, he added, if a problem were to arise after it was built, it would be up to the Village Board to fix it, or shut it down until it could be fixed.

McFeeley said he would have to look into the situation more, but “the location obviously would dictate a lot of concerns to me. I would probably look at moving it somewhere else. It’s a great sport for those who participate in it, but there’s probably somewhere safer to move it.”

Challenges facing the village

McFeeley said one of the challenges he sees for the village is economic development and the ability to attract business to the area.

“Businesses need more help from us,” McFeeley said. “We need to listen to them and do more for them to bring them into the community. There are ways to improve and get those empty lots filled.

Johnson said the Village Board members needed to listen to what the residents and area business owners were saying.

“Like what to do with the square. What are the businesses interested in? What is the citizen’s view on the capital outlay. We need healthy debate like we had with the School District referendum. We need to have those meetings and reach out to the community. The biggest challenge is to make sure board is acting in the community’s best interest.”

Renucci said he was concerned about the utility rates and the infrastructure issues facing the village. He also said he would like to see the village pay off some of the debt on the books without incurring more debt.

“I don’t want to keep leaning on the general fund all the time. I don’t want to see it get whittled down where it won’t do us any good. I want us to be confident and careful where we spend our money.”

Zess also said infrastructure costs were weighing heavily on her mind.

“My biggest fear is coming up with money to do the infrastructure projects we have to do to support development,” Zess said. “People are complaining about their bills already, how we are going to control costs is vital to development.”

The future of East Troy

The candidates all said their love and connection to East Troy is what inspires them to be actively involved in the future of the village and were looking forward to celebrating the successes and meeting the challenges on the horizon.

“I love East Troy and feel its one of the nicest community’s in area,” McFeeley said. “I’m proud to be here and raise my family here.”

“I’m interested in hearing what their concerns are, the problems they are having, whether personal situation or business. I want to be accessible to them if I am elected,” Johnson said.

Zess said her hope for the future is more community cooperation. “I just think we all need to work together – the chamber, village, ETCDA (East Troy Community Development Alliance) – there are a lot of good groups with people with passion in this community. We need good leadership and we need good ideas, we need to listen to each other.”

And Renucci said he just wants to be around as the “voice of the past” to offer his experience and be the one to ask the hard questions when new projects are looked at.

“Sometimes I think change for the sake of change is not always acceptable,” Renucci said. “Someone needs to ask these things.”