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By Al Stanek
Whitewater Banner volunteer staff
whitewaterbanner@gmail.com

The City of Whitewater’s 2nd Aldermanic District will likely have its fourth new Common Council representative in nearly as many years. The City’s seven Common Council members generally serve two-year terms before deciding whether to stand for re-election.

Matthew Schulgit, who was elected to represent the primarily student district in 2020, announced Wednesday night that he has been accepted into medical school and will be vacating his post at the end of May.

Matthew Schulgit was appointed in August of 2019 to replace his brother, Jimmy Schulgit, who had initially been appointed to fill the position vacated by former 2^nd District Alder James Langness. Both Langness and Jimmy Schulgit also resigned from the Common Council upon graduation from UW-Whitewater.

Two of Whitewater’s seven aldermanic districts are comprised primarily of UW-Whitewater students. The City’s other primarily student district (District 5) is currently represented by Generac Engineering Manager Greg Majkrzak who in April defeated Alliant Energy employee Neil Hicks in a close recount election that was decided by a 62 to 60 vote. Majkrzak was appointed in late 2020 to fill the position vacated prematurely by McKinley Palmer who was originally appointed to fill the position vacated by Stephanie Goettl.

This month’s resignation of Matthew Shulgit created a vacancy on the City’s Alcohol Licensing Committee that Alderman James Allen was elected to fill.

The City’s aggressive public outreach campaign as they embark on an effort to create new Tax Incremental Districts (TIDs) continued Wednesday night with a joint meeting of the Common Council and members of the City’s Plan and Architectural Review Commission and Community Development Authority. TIDs are a commonly used economic development tool that allow a municipality to fund infrastructure and project development costs with the new property tax revenue generated by development projects within a district’s boundaries. Earlier this year the City of Whitewater closed out its previous TIDs which had been created over 20 years ago and in total will be adding new tax revenue to the City and its “cooperating jurisdictions.”

Attendees of the joint meeting were shown several early staff-generated “short-term” and “future” proposed TID boundaries. The ultimate configuration of Whitewater TIDs requires multiple publicly documented city actions along with the blessing of a “Joint Review Board” consisting of representatives of Jefferson and Walworth Counties, the Whitewater Unified School District and the two technical college boards. The “cooperating jurisdictions” are all recipients of tax revenues generated by annual property bills mailed out by the City. Some residents of Whitewater live in Jefferson County and others in Walworth County and each county distributes taxes to a different technical college.

Wednesday’s meeting of the three city bodies overseeing TID creation featured an update by Greg Johnson of Ehlers and Associates, the City’s public finance advising firm. Johnson was asked if city TID efforts usually get good cooperation from Joint Review Board agencies. “We usually see a general understanding that city growth and economic development benefits all jurisdictions,” said Johnson. “The cooperation of other jurisdictions with development led by the city adds horsepower,” he added.

Johnson told attendees that once a TID is officially created a figure known as the “base value” is established. It is essentially the current value of the property within the TID upon creation. All participating jurisdictions (school district, technical college, county, and the city) continue to receive only their proportional share of tax revenue on this “base value” until the TID is closed.

The “increment” of increased taxes generated by improvements within a TID after creation is dedicated to project costs used to provide infrastructure and incentives to attract district tax revenue expansion and is managed by the city. Upon the closing of a TID any remaining funds and subsequent annual increased tax revenue within the old TID’s areas are shared by all participating jurisdictions.

As the lead agency a city does have an obligation to make up any shortfall of project costs versus increased incremental tax revenue, according to Johnson, but a commonly used development mechanism called “Pay-As-You-Go Agreements” with developers requires them to fund all development costs upfront with repayment from the future incremental tax that was generated.

Citizens with TID questions are encouraged to contact city staff members for additional information. The next public outreach opportunity will be a presentation to the Greater Whitewater Committee and a Virtual Town Hall Meeting on May 13^th. Watch ‘The Banner’ for details.

The Why’s and When’s of Car Maintenance
Thursday, May 13th at 6:00 p.m.
Register for this virtual program at whitewaterlibrary.org
Great for teens and adults.

The Irvin L. Young Memorial Library and the UWW Community Engagement Center are pleased to partner to present this program.

Learn when to perform specific maintenance tasks, and of course why, including changing oil and filters, tire pressure, coolant, and much more.  This class helps you be a more educated consumer so you can protect your investment. Questions are encouraged, so come prepared to learn maintenance in a way you never have before.

Bio: Chaya Milchtein is an automotive educator, writer, and speaker, and founder of Mechanic Shop Femme. Her work has appeared or been featured in publications ranging from the Chicago Tribune to Shondaland. With seven years in the auto industry under her belt and three years of virtual courses, you’re sure to find her class engaging and her information easy to understand.

Click here for a link to an article in The Gazette.

(UW-W press release) Thor Manson, an Army veteran who enrolled at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater after serving in Iraq, is the first Warhawk to be named a Harry S. Truman Scholar. Manson joins 61 other graduates from Stanford, Howard, Yale, Harvard, Princeton, Notre Dame and other institutions in winning a 2021 Harry S. Truman Scholarship Foundation award for graduate studies. 

Manson, who graduated with a degree in geography in 2020, is a native of Fall River in Columbia County. The $30,000 scholarship secures his dream of graduate studies in international development at the McCourt School of Public Policy at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., where he will attend beginning in fall 2021. 

Manson is among students of his generation who, tempered by war, the Great Recession and the COVID-19 pandemic, have a clear-eyed view of making the world a better place and are using the opportunities that higher education provides to get there.

The U.S. Army was a pathway to higher education for Manson. After serving, he enrolled at UW-Whitewater to study with outstanding faculty like Eric Compas, professor of geography, geology and environmental sciences. Compas leads the GIS Center, where students learn geographic information systems by using them in the field.

“Dr. Compas is one of the kindest people I’ve ever met,” said Manson. “He approached me when I was still a freshman. It was in my second semester. He offered to be my mentor and to let me work on research with him.”

“I had challenges in college,” said Manson. “There were times when it would have been easy for me to give up on academic life and let it go by the wayside. But he really kept me involved.”

Manson was formed by teachers who kept him on track. He credits his junior high school teachers Kevin Book in social studies and Nathan Wenzel in science as early inspirations.  At UW-Whitewater, Manson credits his boss Justin Dickerson in University Housing as his model for serving others selflessly.

Enlisting in the U.S. Army at age 17, Manson trained as a geospatial engineer, which involved him in planning and resettling some 3.5 million refugees who were fleeing ISIS in Mosul, Iraq. That work introduced him to international development and to a United Nations organization in the region, the United Nations Human Settlements Program, or UN-Habitat, with whom he worked on mapping and planning.

“I really want to work either with the U.S. State Department or with the UN-Habitat group because they both are working on the New Urban Agenda,” said Manson. “The New Urban Agenda is a set of guidelines and goals for infrastructure, environmental conservation and education and overall health of communities.”

“I’d like to serve in Sub-Saharan Africa,” he said. “Through my minor (at UW-Whitewater), my expertise was Sub-Saharan Africa. It’s where most of the growth is going to happen, certainly in my lifetime.”

Until Manson enters Georgetown, he is working as a foreign policy analyst in Washington, D.C. During his undergraduate years at UW-Whitewater, Manson completed two internships as a policy analyst.

At the start of his final semester at UW-Whitewater last fall, Manson came across the Truman Scholarship application. He chose one of his professors, Jonathan Burkham, associate professor of geography and coordinator of the international studies program, as his faculty mentor, a requirement for the scholarship. Burkham had grown up in Appleton, 80 miles from Manson’s home in Fall River. He had studied international development, lived in Peru and focused his scholarly research on how migrant workers in Wisconsin influenced economic development in their home communities in Mexico.

Manson and Burkham consulted through the fall as Manson wrote his application, crafted a policy proposal and, as a finalist, prepared to be interviewed by a panel.  Burkham said there were 845 applications for scholarships, which led to 193 finalists and 62 winners.

“I was thrilled for him,” said Burkham. “I’m happy for UW-Whitewater to get that recognition too. Most of the other finalists come from pretty big institutions. And I’m happy to see us get our due.”

Manson met some of the other Truman Scholar applicants during a virtual dinner for the finalists. He came away with a sense of awe from the stories of finalists like the young woman at his table who had fled as a war refugee with her family and who had become a scholar and finalist. She later became one of the winners.

“I would have had to put off graduate school, if not for one year, maybe for many years,” without this scholarship, said Manson. “And then, I really hoped that I showed who I am. I was hoping that I was sort of good enough. I was like, ‘I hope I belong with this group of people.’”

Established by Congress in 1975 as the living memorial to President Harry S. Truman and as a national monument to public service, the Truman Scholarship carries the legacy of the 33rd president by supporting and inspiring the next generation of public service leaders. The unassuming Manson now finds himself in the company of such prior Truman Scholars as Stacey Abrams, a lawyer, politician and voting rights activist, Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch and the current U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan.

The following students were named to the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater Dean’s List for the 2020 fall semester.

Anna Yeazel from Whitewater (This name was added by UW-W on 5/6/21.)

Alexsia Saldaris from Whitewater, WI (This name was added by UW-W on 1/20/21)

– Whitewater, WI: Anthony Juoni

– Whitewater, WI: Justin Scroggins

– Whitewater, WI: Seth White

– Whitewater, WI: Gabriella Braun

– Whitewater, WI: Mark Hacker

– Whitewater, WI: Tessa Jaskolski

– Whitewater, WI: Monica Juoni

– Whitewater, WI: Tyler Marinkovic

– Whitewater, WI: Alec Matter

– Whitewater, WI: Kelly O’Hara

– Whitewater, WI: Graham Soetenga

– Whitewater, WI: Salmai Valadez

– Whitewater, WI: Sabrina Palavra

– Whitewater, WI: Benjamin Bernasek

– Whitewater, WI: Tyler Bonlender

– Whitewater, WI: Garrett Calebaugh

– Whitewater, WI: Jessica Dukat

– Whitewater, WI: Adeline Edwards

– Whitewater, WI: Grace Ejnik

– Whitewater, WI: Brandon Forbes

– Whitewater, WI: Shannon Garity

– Whitewater, WI: Kyle Grotenhuis

– Whitewater, WI: Tara Watenpuhl

– Whitewater, WI: Seth Herman-Bergner

– Whitewater, WI: Michael Higgins

– Whitewater, WI: Abigail Hosack

– Whitewater, WI: Samantha Keegan

– Whitewater, WI: Jessica Kienbaum

– Whitewater, WI: Veronica Kramer

– Whitewater, WI: Devin Lewis

– Whitewater, WI: Todora Lux

– Whitewater, WI: Matthew Mattingly

– Whitewater, WI: Michael Mattingly

– Whitewater, WI: Bailey McDonald

– Whitewater, WI: Hope Montey

– Whitewater, WI: Alec Nault

– Whitewater, WI: Brandon Neuberger

– Whitewater, WI: Anai Parker

– Whitewater, WI: Billie Jo Parker

– Whitewater, WI: Brodie Peyer

– Whitewater, WI: Peyton Penner

– Whitewater, WI: Emily Schumacher

– Whitewater, WI: Ashlee Steed

– Whitewater, WI: Whitney Treder

– Whitewater, WI: Bashkim Veliu

– Whitewater, WI: Kaitlin Weaver

– Whitewater, WI: Cole Weber

– Whitewater, WI: Turner Wedge

– Whitewater, WI: Ian Zaeske

– Whitewater, WI: Noah Zezulka

– Whitewater, WI: Kayla Zilisch

– Whitewater, WI: Rachel Stone

– Whitewater, WI: Olivia Kraft

– Whitewater, WI: Jessica Minkov

– Whitewater, WI: Carli Nehls

– Whitewater, WI: Tyler Evans

– Whitewater, WI: Alyssa Beidle

– Whitewater, WI: Emily Bonnes

– Whitewater, WI: Chandra Clark

– Whitewater, WI: Jessica Dean

– Whitewater, WI: Cody Foreman

– Whitewater, WI: Cami Gregoire

– Whitewater, WI: Josie Hammes

– Whitewater, WI: Sarah Hollnagel

– Whitewater, WI: Karrigan Hunt

– Whitewater, WI: Noah Huntley

– Whitewater, WI: Natalie LaBreche

– Whitewater, WI: John Lecher

– Whitewater, WI: Lynnette Lee

– Whitewater, WI: Brendan McCluskey

– Whitewater, WI: Noah Mershon

– Whitewater, WI: Jacob Meyer

– Whitewater, WI: Morgan Radaj

– Whitewater, WI: Garrett Rieger

– Whitewater, WI: Quinn Savignac

– Whitewater, WI: Casey Skindingsrude

– Whitewater, WI: Lindsi Starrett

– Whitewater, WI: Trenton Tenner

– Whitewater, WI: Cole Trapp

– Whitewater, WI: Zach Tuveson

– Whitewater, WI: Taylor White

– Whitewater, WI: Oliver Wink

– Whitewater, WI: Catherine Yang

– Whitewater, WI: Jon Zheng

– Whitewater, WI: Asobo Afah

– Whitewater, WI: Makenna Beland

– Whitewater, WI: Hannah Keziah Agustin

– Whitewater, WI: Claire Allen

– Whitewater, WI: Sarah Beckum

– Whitewater, WI: Cyrene Brosoto

– Whitewater, WI: Ian Carnes

– Whitewater, WI: Camila Castellanos

– Whitewater, WI: Nancy Espana

– Whitewater, WI: Ryan Ewald

– Whitewater, WI: Devin Fitzer

– Whitewater, WI: Jacob Gasser

– Whitewater, WI: Margaret Helbig

– Whitewater, WI: Gaby Islas

– Whitewater, WI: Madisyn Johnson

– Whitewater, WI: Cally Julson

– Whitewater, WI: Cassidy Laue

– Whitewater, WI: Will Lawton

– Whitewater, WI: Jackie Lin

– Whitewater, WI: Sarah Maloney

– Whitewater, WI: Natalie Mayer

– Whitewater, WI: Kaitlyn Partoll

– Whitewater, WI: Cassidy Pinkowski

– Whitewater, WI: Lukas Schreiber

– Whitewater, WI: Caleb Sullivan

– Whitewater, WI: Emma Hartwig

– Whitewater, WI: Jonathan Ryan

– Whitewater, WI: LuAnnabelle Wieseman

– Whitewater, WI: Ashley Afah

– Whitewater, WI: Alondra Buboltz

– Whitewater, WI: Hailee Christiansen

– Whitewater, WI: Ivan Cortez

– Whitewater, WI: Brian Duncan

– Whitewater, WI: Ean Graff

– Whitewater, WI: Ben Kloskey

– Whitewater, WI: Halden Kreklow

– Whitewater, WI: Ben McElmurry

– Whitewater, WI: Rachel Millard

– Whitewater, WI: Zachary Paneitz

– Whitewater, WI: Melanie Reyes

– Whitewater, WI: Emmanuel Sama

– Whitewater, WI: Justin Silbaugh

– Whitewater, WI: Emily Stahoviak

– Whitewater, WI: Shelby Starrett

– Whitewater, WI: Mackenzie Wesoloski

– Whitewater, WI: Daniel Zeimet

– Whitewater, WI: Brianna Zimdars

These students have demonstrated their academic abilities by receiving a grade point average of 3.4 or above in a single semester.

“I’d like to extend my heartiest congratulations to the students who earned a spot on the Dean’s List – a benchmark that reflects a strong record of academic achievement,” said interim Provost Greg Cook. “The 2020 fall semester was one unlike any other, as our Warhawks persevered during a pandemic and challenging circumstances. Through hard work and determination – and with the support of our outstanding faculty and staff – these Warhawks excelled and are to be commended.”

The Registrar’s Office reports 3,921 students were selected for the Dean’s List for the fall semester. About 12,000 students are currently enrolled at the university’s Whitewater and Rock County campuses.