By Kevin Boneske
Staff Writer
ASHWAUBENON – The village board is back to seven members after it appointed new two trustees Tuesday, Oct. 27.
The board was down five after Michael Malcheski, who represented Wards 11 and 12, and Mark Williams, who represented Wards 7 and 8, submitted their resignations effective Oct. 1 after announcing they were moving out of their respective districts.
To fill out the remaining months of their three-year terms in office expiring next April, the village accepted applications from residents of the two districts with four expressing an interest in Wards 11 and 12 with eight applying in Wards 7 and 8.
The board held a special meeting an hour before its regularly scheduled meeting on the fourth Tuesday of the month to interview all 12 applicants, who were asked why they feel they are the most qualified to serve their district, what their views are on the services the village offers, and what one thing they would want to change.
Williams was one of the four to apply in Wards 11 and 12, but on a motion of Trustee Gary Paul, the board selected Tracy Flucke – a former Ashwaubenon parks, recreation and forestry director – to fill out the remainder of the term.
Flucke, who also previously served as the administrator of the Town of Morrison and Village of Allouez – is vice president of WE BIKE, etc., which specializes in pedestrian and bicycle consulting in the areas of engineering, education and enforcement, with her husband, Peter, as the president.
She said she believes her experience brings “a lot of different insight in the community” while also having “a lot of background that I can bring to help the community move forward.”
Flucke said two key challenges the village faces include replacing the village manager following the resignation of Allison Swanson and filling the clerk and treasurer positions with Patrick Moynihan Jr. planning to resign as village clerk-treasurer upon being elected Brown County Clerk.
“With my background and all the years of personnel management, personnel manuals, hiring and firing, disciplining, I think I can help the village as they move forward with those two key positions,” she said.
Flucke, who worked 12 years for the village, said she considered running for trustee for a number of years, when the vacancy provided her an opportunity to get her “foot in the door and see if it was something that I really wanted to do and spend my time doing.”
“Not only would I like to do it, but I think it’s a way to give back to the village for all the years I worked for them,” she said.
With Flucke appointed as a new trustee, the board took two votes before appointing someone in Wards 7 and 8.
Board members split 3-3 when they defeated a motion by Paul to appoint Chris Atkinson, a 13-year village resident and citizen member of the Site Plan Review Committee, with Village President Mary Kardoskee and Trustee Chris Zirbel voting in favor and trustees Allison Williams and Steve Kubacki joining Flucke in opposition.
The board then unanimously appointed Jay Krueger, Ashwaubenon’s current varsity baseball coach who appeared remotely before the board while in Florida and also took his oath of office remotely.
Krueger, who has lived in Ashwaubenon since 1963, emphasized his networking connections in the village, where he worked 23 years at Paper Converting Machine Company.
“What I see myself as being is a strong communicator,” he said. “Anybody who’s worked with me knows that I communicate a lot. I work hard on organization. What I feel I bring to the job is that management organization.”
With the seats of the two appointed trustees up for election next spring, some of the other board members encouraged all the applicants still interested in serving in those positions to run for office so that their constituents could select them.