By Press Times Staff
SUAMICO – Incumbent Mike Schneider will face challengers Amy Brey and Michael Romes for two, three-year terms on the Suamico Village Board.
There will be at least one new trustee elected to fill the seat left vacant by Sky Van Rossum, who was appointed as Village president in August, following Laura Nelson’s resignation in July.
Van Rossum is running unopposed for village president.
The Press Times emailed each candidate the same question and gave them 200 words to respond.
What do you see as the most important issue facing the Village of Suamico, and if elected, how will you address it?
Amy Brey
A: More people than ever are choosing Suamico as their preferred place to live, raise families and work, so managing land use is what I see as the biggest challenge facing the Village of Suamico.
We need to ensure we have the necessary infrastructure for our residents and businesses within our growing community.
I love seeing so much excitement around making Suamico a place to call home or establish a business.
Additional housing options and expansion of utilities, such as water, sewer, power and broadband, are required to support these changes.
Providing these basic utilities, while maintaining and enhancing the quality of life for villagers, is important.
I will address these needs by supporting the current Strategic Plan 2021-23 and use the knowledge and experience I have gained in the transportation and architectural/engineering industries to support the teams working on these projects, while working hard to maintain fiscal stability.
As a 19-year resident of the Village of Suamico, I look forward to working toward achieving the goals of economic and community development, while working to maintain the rural and residential feel of the place we call home.
Michael Romes
A: I think naming one issue is indicative of a problem.
As a trustee, there is no one issue that should be my biggest concern.
For instance, if you are east of Interstate 41, your one issue might be that there are no trustees from that area of Suamico.
You might think, we need someone who knows the issues of flooding and wetlands first-hand.
If you are in the north of Suamico, you might list your most important issue as security, because you read (or experienced) your door handle rattle in the middle of the night.
As part of the center of Suamico, you might be more concerned about traffic, or other public works issues.
So, to say I have one issue that is the most important ignores the issues of all Suamico residents, and that’s not what I, if I gain consent to serve, would want to be about.
What is important is to have a good, consistent, rational policy-making body.
The reality is if I have one issue, and that is what drives me to be a trustee, then I’m doing this to solve my problem, not yours.
If that’s the case, then I’m doing this for the wrong reason.
Mike Schneider
A: It’s hard to limit the concerns to a single issue, but I would say that fiscal responsibility is probably at/near the top of the list; and one that crosses over into many other areas.
As a trustee, it is imperative that we be good stewards to the residents of Suamico regarding where we save money, and where we spend it.
I’ve been on the board for six years, and in that time we’ve been able to keep our taxes down to the lowest in the area, while still providing and improving services for our residents; planning for the future with funding for much-needed infrastructure projects; and looking to invest in the future to help generate new revenue streams to keep the financial burden the lowest it can be. Part of this fiscal responsibility is to be transparent in our governmental decisions – something I work to ensure.
We post our minutes on the village website, as well as live-stream them on Facebook to give our residents the opportunity to see what we are working on, and to get their feedback on important issues.
I want to continue to be your trustee, because we still have work to do.
Sky Van Rossum
A: While I am running unopposed for village president, I want to share my response with constituents.
Like much of our country, we in Suamico need to build on our sense of community.
To do this, we need to add to our capacity for listening to one another.
We need to seek out and appreciate other viewpoints, while avoiding the temptation to leap to judgment.
We need to expect, and require, of each other that these activities be supported by fact-based analysis without drama and sensationalism.
Reminding ourselves of what we have in common, and why we live where we do, are the common threads that strengthen our sense of being “in this together.”
As the Suamico Village president, I view a strong community as the backbone for effectively addressing any singular challenge and essential to work moving forward.