The Wausau City Council candidates, Part II
Here are the final three of six candidates vying for seats on the council
Yesterday we gave you a look at the first three candidates for city council, covering Districts 1, 4 and 5. Today, we will give you districts 8, 9 and 10.
The Wausonian’s policies are to provide all election content, save possibly some election analysis, free to all users.
(Also note, The Wausonian made some corrections/clarifications to Orlando Alfonso’s section.)
Here is the post for the first three candidates, in case you missed them:
District 6
Becky McElhaney (I), 60, is an occupation case manager at Multicultural Community Center Wausau Resettlement Agency. McElhaney is the current council president. McElhaney is seeking her fifth term and says before she makes the decision to run, she always evaluates why, what her goal would be. McElhaney says her passion for transit is one of those reasons; with a new transit director, she wants to work this term toward filling the gaps in the transit service. Besides that, she sees Wausau’s challenge as traditional kitchen table issues: she says her constituents are being stretched to the limits. Their wages aren’t increasing but their taxes, their water bills and the costs of goods are. She says despite the perception that council members are all rich, those higher bills affect her too. She says with the cost to continue services every year adding $1 million to the budget, the city needs to start closing TIF districts to realize the gains from them. Besides transit, and water rates and cleanliness, she says the city needs to get a handle on taxes increasing every year. On economic development, McElhaney says people are under the impression that only housing developers are interested in Wausau; but actually she says the city gets a lot of interest from retail and other developers. They rarely become public though because they ask too much in terms of incentives. McElhaney says she wants to see more transparency around that. McElhaney prides herself on answering every constituent question, she regularly attends neighborhood meetings in her district and aims to truly represent the people in her district and says that’s why voters should vote for her.
Bronson Lobato did not respond to multiple emails and a phone call requesting an interview. The Wausonian will update this story if Lobato responds.
District 8
Josh Dirks, 46, is currently the landscaping director at Down to Earth Greenhouse in Wausau. This is his first time running for office. Dirks says that in the course of his work with a lot of different people in the city, he hears a lot of disappointment with the city government. He says he felt a responsibility to run for election in order to bring his knowledge of government and business to the city council. Dirks says the slow progress on the redevelopment of the former Wausau Center mall site has been a concern for many people, and that while the project appears now to be heading in the right direction, he still has concerns. He cites a need for the city to be more careful about spending tax dollars on such developments when there are other needs in the community to be addressed. Dirks says the recent water rate hikes are hitting residents hard, and he would advocate for subsidizing rates using some of the potential earnings from Wausau’s recent lawsuit regarding PFAS contamination. Dirks is in favor of removing the PILOT payment from Wausau water bills but he also agrees that removing it would substantially reduce the city budget. He says he will have to look into the issue further to determine how the city should make up for the lost revenue. Dirks wants to improve communication and accessibility, saying that the council should communicate better with residents and also that residents should more easily be able to provide feedback. On the subject of reversing Wausau’s demographic decline, Dirks says the most important element is having a clear vision for the city’s future, and that this will attract business and new residents. He says that ideas, energy, and caring for each other is what will improve the city in the long term.
Sarah Watson (I), 44, is a social science instructor at Northcentral Technical College. She was first elected to the city council in 2020. Watson says she is running for re-election to continue the work she has been involved in since she was first elected. She says there are still a lot of ARPA (American Rescue Plan Act) funds to be disbursed, and that she has been involved in this work in her role on the finance committee. While the council has spent 85-90% of it, by her estimate, Watson would like to see the program to its conclusion. She also thinks that ARPA funds could be used to help offset the recently increased water rates. Another priority of Watson’s is affordable housing, which she says will help to address the current housing shortage. She cited the construction market, interest rates and supply chain issues as recent obstacles that have slowed these developments. Watson is dedicated to getting ARPA funds spent on developing the planned apartment complex in the former Westside Battery and Electric Service building, which she says is confirmed to begin. She says the council is working on infill housing bids for city-owned property around town. Watson is also hopeful about the redevelopment of the former mall site, and says that the additional market-rate housing will also help with the housing shortage. On the subject of Wausau’s demographic decline, Watson points out that the entire region is dealing with the same problem. She suggests that we should work on retaining our area’s young people by keeping them here with good post-secondary educational institutions and housing that is affordable for people just out of college. Watson reiterates that increasing Wausau’s supply of affordable housing will bring people to the city, which will in turn attract businesses in search of labor.
District 9
Victoria Tierney, 59, currently works in accounts receivable for a medical company. This is her first time running for political office. Tierney says her decision to run is based on a few different issues in the city, namely water rates, the redevelopment of the former mall site and the replacement of lead service line pipes. On the subject of water rates, Tierney says it is understandable that water rates would increase somewhat due to the new treatment facility, but the degree to which they have gone up is unacceptable. Tierney would like a drastic reduction or end to the PILOT payment. She says that water bills should only go towards water and not to the general fund. She says removing the PILOT payment would reduce the water bill to an acceptable level. On the subject of replacing the lead service line pipes, Tierney says it is an important project but that the city did not exercise due diligence when choosing CIP as the contractor. She says CIP does not have enough experience in similar projects, and so there was no track record for the city to evaluate. On the topic of the redevelopment of the former mall site, Tierney thinks it was a mistake to sell the property to WOZ, particularly because this meant WOZ selected the contractor rather than the city. She says T. Wall Enterprises’ countless delays are unacceptable, and that if the new extended deadline in June is not met, she thinks the city should cut its losses and move on. Tierney also says that reducing the city’s debt is critical, and in order to do so the budget needs to prioritize what is necessary and find ways to cut costs. As an example Tierney doesn’t agree with raising water rates to pay for raises for water utility workers. Tierney says she is the best candidate because her opponent has had three terms on the city council and hasn’t made a positive difference in the way the city is operating.
UPDATE: The name of the contractor in Tierney’s writeup has been updated to reflect the correct name CIP. CIP leadership were former employees of Corvais, which faced allegations building substandard military and student housing. Tierney’s statement water utility workers has been updated to accurately reflect that she has a problem with raising water rates to fund raises for those workers, and that they shouldn’t be differently than other city workers, and not through starting salary. Her initial wording in the interview made that unclear.
Dawn Herbst, 81, is retired and previously worked in management. Herbst was first elected in 2018 and now serves on eight committees. Herbst says she is running for re-election in order to continue work on a number of projects that are still in progress. She says residents of her district should vote for her again because she has the knowledge, experience and honesty to represent them. She mentions that the work she is involved in on a number of different committees is exciting and she would like to continue. She then lists some examples of this work. On the Human Resources Committee, Herbst says her priority is hiring and retaining good city employees, and she says this is accomplished by doing what is best for the employees. On the Parks and Recreation Committee, she highlights plans to install a new playground in Marathon Park as well as another plan for an ice rink that Herbst hopes will keep people in the area through the winter months. She says that a recent example of her work on the Planning Committee is the approval of Kolbe & Kolbe’s plan to build workforce housing in the city, which will house employees. Herbst is also a member of the Wausau Water Works Commission, and she says she is tired of hearing about water rates, saying that it is not the city council but the Public Service Commission that sets the water rates in Wausau. However, she says the council has tried to offer solutions, including rain barrels and education on how to reduce water usage in the home. Herbst says she is excited about all of the new developments and construction taking place in the city, mentioning Foundry on 3rd and the Riverlife development as examples. She says that the work of government is slow. She says although from an outside perspective it can seem easy to get things done on city council, once you are elected you realize that things take time. Herbst also feels that the city government is already as transparent as it can be. She says that all meetings are available on YouTube, and also that meetings are often scheduled at convenient times for the public to join. As an example of transparency, she says that there was some initial pushback on a proposal to install solar panels. After a number of open sessions, Herbst thinks many people have been convinced about how useful solar panels will be to reduce electricity bills. Herbst reiterates that sometimes it takes time to get the wheels of government in motion, but she remains excited about the work to be done.
Editor’s note: After publication, The Wausonian received Josh Dirk’s headshot so this post has been updated with his photo.
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