Meet Tony Zielinski, Candidate For Milwaukee Mayor

MILWAUKEE, WI — Wisconsin's spring 2020 general election will be held Tuesday, April 7. The primary will be held Tuesday, Feb. 18 to whittle the candidates down in advance of the general election.

Tony Zielinski, 58, of Milwaukee, is one of several candidates for Milwaukee Mayor, and will be on the Feb. 18 primary ballot, where he and several others will seek to oppose incumbent Tom Barrett in the general election.

Zielinski said his top issues are tackling poverty and crime in the city. "The greatest impediment to education is poverty. Most of the kids in MPS are in a state of poverty. In order to turn our schools around we need to address poverty," he said. "As Mayor I would use my political capital to secure private, corporate, and foundational grant dollars for a pilot program to address poverty at one school."

If that pilot project succeeds, Zielinski said he would have it rolled out to other schools.

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Name: Tony Zielinski
Age: 58
Hometown: Milwaukee
Milwaukee Alderman, 14th District

Political Experience:

I was first elected Milwaukee County Board Supervisor in 1988, re-elected in 1992, 1996, and 2000. I was elected Milwaukee Alderman in 2004, re-elected in 2008, 2012 and 2016.

My undergraduate degree is in Political Science, my masters degree is in Business Administration and I also have a Juris Doctor degree.

Top Issues For Milwaukee County:

The top issue is education since education reverses poverty and crime. Poverty and crime are the two top issues.

The greatest impediment to education is poverty. Most of the kids in MPS are in a state of poverty. In order to turn our schools around we need to address poverty.

As Mayor I would use my political capital to secure private, corporate, and foundational grant dollars for a pilot program to address poverty at one school. Those dollars would be used to help address poverty related problems such as trauma, mental health, housing, hunger, and unemployment. Those dollars would be used for both the students and the parent(s) of those students to address those issues. In short, how do we expect those kids to show up in school every day, take notes and go home to do homework when they are just struggling to survive.

Once we address the issues in the homes we can add another layer to help create the desire to learn and provide the tools and teach the study skills necessary to succeed in school.

Once we show the success of the program we can get support to gradually expand that program.