The Banner believes that it is in the best interest of our citizens to have as many opportunities as possible to learn about candidates for public office. We are pleased that the League of Women Voters – Whitewater Area hosted a forum for the candidates and also compiled responses to questions for inclusion on the vote411.org site. The Banner recently invited the candidates for School Board and Common Council to share anything they wished with our readers. The School Board candidate responses were published in a previous article. We are pleased that most of the candidates for Common Council have provided responses, which are printed verbatim below.
COMMON COUNCIL MEMBER AT LARGE
Lisa Dawsey Smith
Background: You’ll likely hear remnants in my accent on occasion, I was born and raised in a rural part of upstate South Carolina. As an adult I remained on the East coast spending much of my career in operational retail management in the greater NYC area. I married one of my closest high school friends and we have two beautiful daughters aged 6 and 9. My husband, Garrett, is an Associate Professor of Finance at UW Whitewater which is truly what originally brought us to the Midwest. From the moment we arrived in Whitewater we realized we couldn’t have hoped for a better place to call home for our family. I am fortunate to now have the opportunity to homeschool our daughters and invest my time as a volunteer in a variety of ways in the Whitewater community.
Why I’m running: I’m going to recycle what I wrote as an intro to the candidate forum this past weekend by saying I never imagined myself running for public office. But as my father taught me, when something matters, you show up. It really is that simple. Whitewater matters to me. It matters to me the direction of the city my children flourish in is moving. It matters to me how our money is spent. It matters to me how our life-saving personnel access what they need to continue saving lives. It matters to me our businesses have the ability to survive the challenges of the recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic. Most of all, it matters to me the people who live here want to live here, that they are proud to live here.
My father also taught me the value of service. Before I was allowed to get a paying job as a teen my father made sure I spent my first summer working as a volunteer. Local government should be service and if you look at what I have spent my years in Whitewater doing until this election, you will find it is entirely dedicated to service. I do believe the distinction in service when it comes to local government is a critical one. I will always endeavor to make sure that the voices of the people who make up this community are at the forefront of decisions being made for Whitewater. If you give me the great honor of electing me to this council, I assure you the platform will be used to amplify those voices to the necessary volume.
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Daniel J. Machalik
One of my main goals is to bring together the Whitewater community. The greatest resource that this great town has are not only the diversity of the community, but the University as well. We need to come together and get this city running at its full potential. Another goal is to have easy communication between the community and the common council. I’ll always be a text or email away from helping you solve your issues. I also plan on having weekly updates so you all know exactly what my goals/plans are and what the council is doing to complete them. It has been an honor to be apart of the Whitewater community these past few years. I’ve learned so much about the people that make this City and University great. On April 6th I hope you realize that I will fight for the issues that matter most to you. Small and local businesses, strong education, and the growing of an already strong community.
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COMMON COUNCIL ALDERMANIC DISTRICT 1
Carol McCormick
When I ran for Council 4 years ago, I was motivated by the call to “fix the lakes”, “get us a grocery store”, and “fix our streets on the Eastside”. To some extent, some of those issues are getting resolved. There is still work to be done! It’s exciting to see Kwik Trip come to Whitewater and the lakes being drawn down for the next phase of restoration. The grocery store is still an ongoing project whether it is resolved by a cooperative or a independent grocery. I will continue to support all those efforts.
I have enjoyed working with all the City officials and staff through serving on several committees including Park and Recreation, Public Works, and Alcohol Licensing. I have learned a great deal of knowledge about the inner workings of our City and am willing to learn more. I look forward to the challenge that the next two years might present and to represent my district fairly.
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COMMON COUNCIL ALDERMANIC DISTRICT 3
Brienne Diebolt-Brown
I’m thankful for the opportunity to run again for a AD3 position on the Whitewater Common Council. It has been an enlightening experience working with Whitewater citizens about what they want for their city, trying to figure out how to afford it, and do it in the most practical manner possible. My metaphorical door (e-mail and phone) is always open.
We’ve had some challenges, and challenging decisions to make as we navigate old debts and COVID-19, and it’s been wonderful working with city staff – who really know what they’re doing and work hard to do the best job possible. While I have been on Council, we have done the unglamorous work of budgeting to fix infrastructure problems that have been decades in the making. We have done a fabulous job of paying off debt and keeping our credit rating at high levels. We’ve created some wonderful community projects – like an outdoor amphitheater, funding for the Aquatic Center, and adding to our park facilities. I serve on the library board, which is researching how to create an expansion to the library that creates an outdoor space as well as updated infrastructure for computers, electronics, meeting rooms, and children’s area. Libraries are even more necessary than ever as a space for the community to gather and educate themselves.
I spearheaded the creation of a committee to revive a 20-year plan to create a more bicycle- and pedestrian-friendly city. This is close to my heart, as I spent much of my career in epidemiology looking at chronic disease and injury. One of the most cost effective ways for children to gain independence and for people to live healthier and longer (aging in place) is to make foot and bike traffic safer.
During COVID-19, so many more people tuned in to our Council meetings online than ever attended meetings in person, so I’m going to advocate for making sure that livestreaming is still available to our community.
And, the big question: A grocery store for Whitewater. I’ve been researching this subject extensively for the last 6 years. The Common Council and the Community Development Authority (CDA) are trying to make Whitewater attractive to a big retailer … even medium-sized retailer. However, Whitewater’s median income is close to poverty level, and food does not make money, so there is a small chance a food chain will take the chance on Whitewater, even if we give away land. If a food retailer takes a chance, I’m all in. But, in the meantime, I am on the board of directors for the Whitewater Grocery Co., an initiative to build an affordable, community-owned grocery store in town. Become an owner! Make your voice heard.
We are a small city with limited funding and some big problems to overcome regarding housing and making all citizens feel welcome and involved. And I encourage more people to get involved in our committees so that we have more input on issues that are important to our community. I hope to see you in some of the meetings. Your participation helps us all make better decisions!
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COMMON COUNCIL ALDERMANIC DISTRICT 5
Neil Hicks
No response was received.
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Greg Majkrzak
Education
Masters of Business Administration
Bachelors of Science – Mechanical Engineering
Community involvement
Council Member representing Aldermanic District 5 – City of Whitewater Common Council
Alcohol and Licensing Committee – City of Whitewater
Finance Committee – City of Whitewater
Board of Zoning Appeals – City of Whitewater (previous)
Vice Chair for the Whitewater Gro Co Board of Directors (2nd term)
CEC Advisory Group – UWW
My vision for my time in office is to ensure we are solving problems that our community members have brought to us. Being transparent in our problem solving and consistent in our communication. Continuing to support and push affordable single family homes and a local grocery store for Whitewater. I’ve been working hard, even before being on common council on bringing a grocery store as it has been clear we need something local that has fresh affordable options.
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