Mayoral Candidates Square Off on Issues in Forum

With the primary election just a week away, voters will want to focus on the differences between three candidates for mayor in choosing which two will advance to the final round on April 3.

But Monday night's candidates' forum demonstrated that in at least two key areas, Peter Donegan, Kathy Ehley and John Pokrandt are all fairly well-informed choices and largely in agreement.

All three identified:

• the fiscal challenges of meeting rising costs without increasing tax levies; and
• the concurrent looming costs of sewer upgrades throughout much of the city

as the two greatest concerns for Wauwatosa government.

In general, all three also agreed that a balanced, responsible approach to furthering economic development to increase the city's tax base was the only answer to the revenue problem.

And all three admitted that they had no easy answer or magic bullet to solve the sewer problem.

This article is distilled from Monday night's Mayoral Candidate's Forum, sponsored by Wauwatosa Patch and the Wauwatosa Chamber of Commerce, with support from the City of Wauwatosa. The forum was video-recorded and will be broadcast in its entirety a number of times before next Tuesday's primary on Wauwatosa cable access Channel 25 (AT&T U-Verse via Channel 99).

The differences that separate them are more subtle, with Donegan casting himself as the most pragmatic candidate – sometimes to the point of negativity; Pokrandt coming on as the most far- and forward-thinking; and Ehley striking a middle ground of cautious optimism.

Donegan, in fact, led off the forum with an opening statement that began: "I have some bad news." He ticked off imposing challenges imposed by the state's freeze on local tax increases and warned of a coming period of austerity in which it would be difficult for the city to continue to provide the accustomed level of services.

Donegan, a six-year member of the Common Council and retired insurance executive, noted that the city's tax base had not grown in five years, since long before the state's tax freeze went into effect, and that while economic growth might be on the horizon, it was not going to solve short-term fiscal needs.

Later in the evening, Donegan would even go where few local politicians dare to tread, suggesting that even the police department would have to find ways to "do as much with less," shaving away any costs not necessary to keep patrols on the streets and crime at bay.

Ehley was sunnier, saying that while the challenges Donegan outlined are real, they are not unique to Wauwatosa and that it will continue to be "one of the most desirable communities in Wisconsin to live in."

Ehley, director of the Village of Wauwatosa Business Improvement District, touted her experience in developing a master plan that built the Village into a vibrant, upscale economy during those same five years of stagnation Donegan had cited. She suggested she could spread that success across other districts.

Pokrandt said in opening that he was passionate about the city and that as a parent of young children he did not see cutting police, fire and other basic services as an option.

Pokrandt said that he wanted to lead Wauwatosa toward thinking not five, 10 or 15 years down the path, as most development plans do, but to consider how what we do today will affect Tosa 50 years hence.

Size of the Common Council

The first among questions posed by citizens was on the size of the Common Council, and it did produce three differing positions. (The council has already approved a non-binding referendum on reducing the council for the April ballot.)

Ehley went on record as favoring a reduction in size of the council, but only with careful investigation of the consequences and without assuming any particular number now as the right size.

Pokrandt went the opposite direction, saying that for the moment he would not favor down-sizing the council because it would be no more than a largely symbolic gesture that would increase the workload of aldermen who are already paid little.

He said, however, that he was glad the current council had approved the advisory referendum and welcomed the coming discussion.

Donegan said he was frankly ambivalent on the question. He said he had voted for the referendum and thought it would send a supportive signal to city employees who are being asked to take cuts and work harder if government showed the same willingness to trim and sacrifice.

On the other hand, he said, he sees the point that a reduction in aldermen would really amount to a reduction in representation during a trying time to come. He suggested though, that as mayor he would stand back rather than lead the debate and let the citizens and the council itself decide the matter.

The mayor's position

Another citizen posed a question about the mayor's salary and status as a full-time or part-time official – and on that, the three candidates were essentially in agreement that the question was already settled by the December vote to raise the office's pay from $22,500 to $30,000 a year.

Pokrandt said he was comfortable with the new status quo, and that with a well-paid city administrator taking care of day-to-day operations, the mayor should focus on policy-making and promoting the city.

Donegan agreed, saying that it had taken 28 years for the city to raise the mayor's pay this time and he expected it might take nearly as long to do it again. He echoed Pokrandt that "we've got it right," with the city administrator doing a professional job that should not be challenged by a more powerful mayor's office.

Ehley kept to that line, calling the mayor "the face of the city" and agreeing that the mayor should be a facilitator but not a micromanager of city business. As for part-time vs. full-time, she said, no one takes the job for the pay or hours: "You do what you have to do."

Stance on sewers

To a question about fixing sewers and basement backups, again there was no real disagreement but rather a dire consensus that it is a massive problem admitting of no easy solution.

Donegan called it the "signature issue facing the city," and said that the city should have moved sooner and faster to address it. He said leadership in coming years would be tasked with finding the best resolutions but could be forced to look at options including the least desirable, such as special assessments or a contentious referendum to raise taxes.

Ehley agreed that over the next 10 years, the sewer issue will be the most important matter Tosa faces – both in getting the job done and finding a way to pay for it. She pointed out that studies showed the problem was mainly due to repairs needed on private properties, but nevertheless it was a community-wide issue deserving of a balanced solution.

Pokrandt said that it was important to engage now with the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District to gain the maximum assistance and minimize costs and any special assessments to private citizens. He said the estimated individual assessment now was from $5,000 to $7,000, and said, "I can tell you right now I couldn't write that check."

A sustainable city

Conservationists can be glad that, given their answers to several related questions, any candidate they might vote for is likely to support their key causes. Citizens wanted to know where they stood on a sustainability plan for the city, on further development on the County Grounds, on alternative transportation and on a civic agreement on reducing carbon emissions.

All three agreed that Wauwatosa was becoming a more green and sustainable place almost by default but that an adopted plan could only help matters. They also agreed that with the UWM Innovation Park project, there should and would be an end to any further talk of more development on any remaining open spaces.

They also agreed that reducing emissions was a worthy goal, but none of them had ever heard of a 2007 agreement toward that end signed by the city. Fortunately, former Mayor Terry Estness, now interim director of the Wauwatosa Chamber of Commerce, was on hand to explain that it was a non-binding agreement of the Confeerence of Mayors that had gotten little attention and had no force in policy.

On only one matter did any disagreement arise: on the matter of alternative transportation, Ehley and Pokrandt both said that the city should continue to pursue greater accessability for bicycle riders in providing better paths and lanes as well as racks in key locations.

Donegan, however, said that in an era of austerity, he would not support expenditures for bicycle traffic while weightier matters loomed.

All three said loudly and clearly that the city needed to keep up the pressure on Milwaukee County to do something about the atrocious condition of the parkway roads that make bicycling, not to mention driving, hazardous and uncomfortable.

Diverging on economic develoment

Each candidate has made economic development a key part of every statement since they declared for office, and each clearly recognizes that in a no-tax-increase environment, it will be the lead item on the next mayor's agenda.

In response to several questions, including one specifically on the subject of the Burleigh Triangle, the candidates began in about the same place but ended up a little way apart – but those were important ways.

Ehley and Pokrandt ticked off half a dozen areas where the city has taken proactive steps with plans to push new development or redevelopment, such as the Burleigh Triangle, the Village, North Avenue East and Innovation Park.

Donegan, however, challenged the proliferation of tax-incremental financing districts – in which the city puts money up front into developments with a mechanism to recover its costs over time from additional tax levies on the developers.

Burleigh Triangle, he said, was an example of a city plan that didn't reach its potential. The Common Council and Department of Community Development had created a mixed-use plan for which "there were no takers," and had to settle on a developer's proposal for a lower-scale retail plan.

"I estimate it will take 15 years," Donegan said, for the city to realize a return on its investment in a special tax district for the Triangle.

Ehley and Pokrandt easily conceded the point that not all city investment in promoting development was smart investment and Pokrandt said, "We have to get what we pay for."

But Ehley called the current Burleigh plan for The Mayfair Collection retail development "very welcome" to the neighborhood and well worth some cost to do away with the "bombed-out" appearance of the area.

Pokrandt, too, defended the adoption of the HSA Inc. plan for the Triangle, saying that it was the "western gateway" to the city and a disgrace in its blighted state. He said he knew of people who would not get off the freeway at the Burleigh exit just to avoid seeing it, whereas soon it will be a destination.

Watch on North Avenue

Donegan also took some slight issue with a program nearer to the hearts of Ehley and Pokrandt – the North Avenue Plan.

His opponents more than once cited their support for the long-term plan for revitalizing the district from North 60th Street to Wauwatosa Avenue, a plan that has been adopted into the city's master plan.

Donegan did not by any means attack the Avenue plan, but at one point in the discussion he raised it as an example of a program that might cost the city in resources without bearing hoped-for fruit.

He specifically pointed out the recent news that an auto parts store would be occupying the former Blockbuster Video site and suggested that so far, at least, the vision for the district was not being realized.

In the long view

When the candidates were asked to express their broad visions for the future of Wauwatosa, Donegan again took a stance apart from his opponents, and in an unusual way.

Ehley and Pokrandt each looked 10 to 15 years out and saw, similarly, Wauwatosa's sewer woes behind it and its neighborhood economic development plans complete and paying back the community with solid business foundations in every district.

Ehley went a step farther and saw also a city of neighborhoods and districts interconnected by sensible, innovative pathways for driving, biking and walking.

Donegan, though, declaring himself an "incrementalist" by nature, declined to look anywhere beyond the next four-year term of a mayor and returned to his theme of carefulling controlling costs so as best to preserve services.

To that end, he said – and this was where he referenced the North Avenue Plan – "There are more questions than answers as to how much we should spend to draw something that may not pay us back. Some of our plans are not what we envision."