By Press Times Staff
ASHWAUBENON – The April 6 race for Wards 11 and 12 in Ashwaubenon will feature an appointed incumbent and a challenger with previous board experience.
Tracy Flucke was appointed in October 2020 to fill the seat and term vacated by Michael Malcheski, who moved out of the district.
Mark Williams, who served for more than a decade in wards 7 and 8, also resigned because he moved out of the district.
Now the ballot will see Flucke face Williams, who applied for the seat awarded to Fluecke.
The Press Times emailed each candidate the same questions and gave them 100 words to respond to each.
Tracy Flucke
Why should people vote for you?
I have been a public servant all my adult life and it is a role I thoroughly enjoy.
With 30 years of municipal government experience, including time as the director of Parks, Recreation and Forestry for the Village of Ashwaubenon, and Administrator for the villages of Harrison and Allouez, I am now ready to serve Ashwaubenon as a trustee.
My work experience and education (master’s degree in public administration) make me a highly experienced and knowledgeable candidate.
My husband Peter, daughters Alexandra and Melissa, and I have called Ashwaubenon home for the past 28 years.
What measures does the village board need to take to ensure growth happens appropriately in Ashwaubenon?
Growth is a relative term in Ashwaubenon because the village is mostly built out.
However, growth is still occurring in the entertainment and commercial districts through in-fill or redevelopment.
The village has an extensive site plan review process.
The process requires input and approval from key staff members, various committees and the village board.
Public input is allowed and encouraged throughout the process.
It is an effective process which results in quality development and controlled growth in the village.
What projects/developments should the village pursue over the next three years?
The village is currently soliciting senior housing projects/development; this is a good thing.
When our seniors are ready to move out of their family home, it is important to have housing options available for them in the village.
Currently, options are limited and many long-term residents are forced to relocate to other communities.
I want them to stay in Ashwaubenon.
New developments must be properly located to allow safe access to services by all modes of transportation; car, transit, bike and foot.
We must think about how our seniors will move through the community to provide for their needs.
Do you support pre-employment contracts for new Ashwaubenon Public Safety hires? Why or why not?
This is not a new idea; other police departments have pre-employment contracts in place.
Ashwaubenon has a unique public safety department where officers are trained in all three emergency response disciplines: fire, police and rescue.
This provides the community with a high level of service, but it is costly to train these officers.
Rarely a new officer is trained in all three disciplines.
I believe we should require pre-employment contracts for public safety hires to protect the village’s investment, but we should also look at our other skilled/technical positions to determine if pre-employment contracts are warranted there.
What can the village do to make up lost tax revenue following a Packers season with few or no fans at Lambeau Field?
Limited fans during Packer season negatively impacted village tax revenue.
The hardest hit was hotel room tax, which produced less than half of projected revenue in 2020.
Luckily, the village is financially healthy and able to cover the room tax revenue loss.
The 2021 budget process required staff and the village board to prioritize needs.
We will continue to adjust as necessary to cope with these difficult times.
Our current circumstances will not last forever.
We will look to the future for other opportunities.
The new Resch Expo is a bright spot.
Mark Williams
Why should people vote for you?
I am a lifelong village resident and business owner here in Ashwaubenon.
I have the experience of being on the village board for 14 years serving wards 7 and 8.
I recently moved and subsequently relinquished my trustee role representing those wards, but I still remain here in the village, now residing in wards 11 and 12.
I want to continue serving our residents by helping them solve any problems they may have, watching our tax dollars, and supporting the continued improvement of our quality of life and services offered in the village.
What measures does the village board need to take to ensure growth happens appropriately in Ashwaubenon?
Ashwaubenon is a land-locked community that has very limited land resources available.
We have to ensure we develop our available land for businesses and residential neighborhoods to best meet our community’s needs, while also considering the service costs and availability of services to those areas.
We are also going through a redevelopment of areas in the village right now, and we need to ensure our infrastructure and TIF incentives make good use of our tax dollars for these projects.
What projects/developments should the village pursue over the next three years?
We must continue to grow the Titletown District from Ashland to I-41.
The business and housing developments that have begun have not yet fulfilled the full improvements required in making that redevelopment area financially whole.
We have a significant amount of tax dollars invested in acquiring and improving blighted property and making those rehabilitated areas a vibrant part of our community.
Another studied and recommended element is the addition of another sheet of ice at Cornerstone, allowing for expanded usages of that community center.
We have to explore that possibility for the benefit of our residents, community and tourism potential.
Do you support pre -employment contracts for new Ashwaubenon Public Safety hires? Why or why not?
I support pre-employment contracts for new Public Safety hires.
The expenses incurred when providing education to new hires should be returned to the village in the event an employee leaves before the village is able to recoup that educational investment, perhaps based on time worked.
I have been doing this for five years in my own business, because not every employee has all of the specific training required to do the job.
I understand that one of the worst things that can happen to an employer is to have an employee leave shortly after receiving training you sponsored for them.
What can the village do to make up lost tax revenue following a Packers season with few or no fans at Lambeau Field?
The village gets most of its income from property tax and shared state aid, neither of which greatly affected our budget this year, though shared state aid is delayed and will have some impact on next year’s budget.
Room tax receipts saw that biggest decline.
Most of that money is earmarked for paying debt on properties like the Resch Expo and Resch Center in Ashwaubenon and KI Center downtown.
Those funds are controlled by the county and distributed to those projects.
Right now we just have to maintain our budget and services to what we collect and prioritize our spending.