3 Running For Wauwatosa Mayor

WAUWATOSA, WI — After two terms as Mayor of Wauwatosa, Kathleen Ehley said she would not seek a third term in 2020. She sent a letter to city staff and the council, saying she would not run for mayor again. "I am proud and honored to have served as Wauwatosa Mayor since 2012 — one of our greatest periods of growth and community improvements," she wrote in the letter.

On Tuesday, Feb. 18, voters in Wauwatosa will have the chance to pare down her three potential replacements to two candidates, who will then face each other in the April 7 general election.

Each candidate brings something different to the table.

Cheryl Berdan served as Wauwatosa's 7th District Alderperson over the last years and also served as the Common Council President during her last two terms.

Dennis McBride is a longtime attorney who served a decade on the Wauwatosa Common Council, and was the Council President from 2012 through 2016.

Nancy Welch, a retired city planner, served as an Alderperson in Wauwatosa's 3rd district for four years and also served on several committees, including Financial Affairs, Transportation Affairs and the Budget Committee.

Each candidate will have to address some of Wauwatosa's top issues, including: managing development in a landlocked city that has strong historical flavor, and welcoming green spaces,while at the same time taking advantage of quality opportunities when they appear.

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Here's how each candidate addresses this leading issue:

Welch

Over the past eight years, the City's debt has risen 500 percent due to a number of factors including TIF abuse, mismanaged projects, and misplaced priorities. Each year over 10 percent of the City's annual budget is spent on debt service, not services to residents. The excuse has been that we need to chase new development in order to increase our tax base, but the reality is that we are a land-locked community that cannot continue to rely on new development. Most of the new development has occurred either in TID's (Tax Increment Districts) or is tax exempt, so city residents have seen little actual tax relief. Many commercial properties continue to challenge their assessments, which also reduces their contribution to the tax base.

My second issue is preserving and protecting our neighborhoods and open spaces. I am very proud to be part of the County Grounds Coalition and the newly formed Friends of County Grounds Park. For over twenty years, I have worked to protect the County Grounds and promote responsible development that minimizes impacts on either environmental areas or neighborhoods. This includes finding ways to support our neighborhood schools. While supervising the creation of the City's Comprehensive Plan, I worked with consultants and residents to ensure that the Plan promotes a balance of development and neighborhoods. Residential property has provided approximately 70 percent of our tax base for over 125 years.

Allowing new development to adversely impact property values is not a smart way to build tax base. If we are going to preserve our tax base, we need to protect the things that make this a desirable community.

McBride

Our challenges are preserving our neighborhoods and parks, maintaining the City's financial strength while continuing to invest in the City's roads, sewers, and other infrastructure, and returning local control to Wisconsin's cities and towns. In addition, I want to ensure that Wauwatosa welcomes all people to live and work in, and enjoy, our community.

Wauwatosa means a lot to me. In many ways the community nurtured me, and nothing was more important in my upbringing than our beautiful parks, in which I spent many hours. My professional and civic background is as a negotiator; I know how to bring people together for positive results. I co-founded a neighborhood group, Support Our Schools (SOS) Wauwatosa, and Friends of Hoyt Park & Pool, Inc. For FOHPP, which built and operates the pool and beer garden at Hoyt Park, I negotiated a 55-year lease with Milwaukee County.

As Common Council president, I mediated problems between the City and the developer of the Mayfair Collection, which allowed that project to move forward.

On my own time, I also mediated a department head's departure from City employment in a manner that was mutually beneficial to the employee and to the City. I also have helped to improve relations between racial and ethnic groups.

In 2002, I participated in creating the Parental Guidance policy at Mayfair Mall, which helped to reduce tensions there, and in 2019, I wrote an application to have the Wauwatosa Historic Preservation Commission (WHPC) and the Common Council designate the 113th Street home of Zeddie Hyler as a Wauwatosa landmark. Joining me as co-applicant was Gerald Williamson, Mr. Hyler's nephew, who now owns and resides in the home. In 1955, Mr. Hyler was the first African-American to build a home in Wauwatosa, despite efforts by some community members to keep him out.

Recently, the Wauwatosa Common Council approved our application, and Mr. Hyler's home is now a Wauwatosa landmark. In such ways, and as a member of Tosa Together, I can help the City welcome its growing racially and culturally diverse population, promote understanding between different groups, and identify potential problem areas that need to be addressed as the City grows and changes.

Berdan

According to the recent Citizen Survey completed by the City of Wauwatosa, 97 percent of Wauwatosa residents are very satisfied or satisfied with life in our city. That demonstrates that we are doing many things well for our citizens. Some areas highlighted in that survey that I would focus on as mayor would be:

• Planning and Management of Redevelopment: I support solid plans for development and redevelopment of our major commercial and industrial areas that protect and complement the unique characters of our neighborhoods and natural areas and facilitate growth in business opportunities that create jobs. Having been on the Common Council through the recovery of the Recession, we worked together to manage the inundation of development requests that were presented to the city, with an eye to grow our tax base and yet preserve what is special about Wauwatosa, namely our variety of neighborhoods and natural areas. I worked collaboratively with my colleagues to maintain a balance by listening to the distinct voices on all sides of the issues. The slogan for my campaign is "Finding Unity in Variety", which signifies that it takes everyone's input to create a product that represents all of us well. Wauwatosa's rapid recovery from the economic downturn was due in no small part to excellent financial management, and I will work to maintain the reputation we enjoy.

• City Maintenance: I support a strong schedule for our infrastructure maintenance and, as mayor, my budget would allocate resources dedicated to that service for our residents and visitors. The condition and smooth operation of our roads and sewers have been, and will continue to be a priority for me. I also will work to balance delivery of our essential services such as police and fire protection, public works, communication, financial management, health services and others by facilitating the various departments as they continue to collaborate to implement their ideas that create efficiencies and manage taxes.