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I view the primary role for the Mayor is to work with staff to prepare a fiscally responsible and conservative budget. Every dollar of your money spent needs to be scrutinized and defendable. My history at City Hall includes supporting budgets that spent well under our levy limit when the City did not need it and presenting facts and referendums to the voters when we required more. As a rule, state levy limits are ceilings to stay below, not spending caps to hit.
Delafield has a very sensible Comprehensive Plan with a Land Use Plan and zoning that enables responsible development without sacrificing our identity or quality of life. In fact, enabling the planned growth at a slow to modest rate enhances our city's ability to maintain service levels, provide capital improvements to public spaces, and service our parks and preservation areas. I have and will always adhere to our zoning and Master Plans because development can be a double-edged sword. While a city that doesn't grow often dies, unbridled growth is all around us, and I see some of our neighboring communities losing their character and Lake Country charm. Maintaining discipline and sticking to the process when approving new development will keep Delafield the Delafield we know and love.
I am very proud of the dedicated, hard working people, past and present, that have made LCFR what it is today. When I became Alderman in 2009, LCFR was newly formed. Consolidation of services for our three small municipalities made sense on every level and was a huge success. Hundreds of thousands of dollars were saved over the years following. It was a model worth expanding and four new partners joined in 2020. Like any merger, there are challenges, but none as big as the labor crisis that emerged in 2021/2022. The City voters rose to that challenge and passed a referendum to hire and keep 7-10 new full time LCFR employees. I supported that effort and have been participating in the negotiations with our LCFR partners to arrive at an equitable funding formula that accommodates the "new normal" budget requirements not contemplated in the 2020 agreement. We all need to unite on an equitable way to sustain and then grow our world class Fire and Paramedic EMS teams. As Mayor, I will continue to explore all viable ideas to determine the optimal path for LCFR and how to meet the City's emergency services needs.
The primary responsibility of your municipal government is to protect the use, value, and enjoyment of each resident's property. This is provided in many forms such as police and fire/EMS service, street maintenance, garbage collection, and other basic services. However, I believe that nothing fulfills the obligation that the City has to its residents more than strict adherence to our zoning laws and Comprehensive Plan. When you purchase a property, it comes with inherent rights to use it for the purposes outlined in both of those documents. This protects the rights of property owner to develop a property as well as those of their neighbors who expect the reasonable limitations for development to be upheld so they are not impacted in an unexpected way. I understand that not all great plans and ideas conform with existing laws. When a property owner has an idea that is outside current zoning, there is a very regimented, time consuming process that must be followed to enact a change. Count on me to follow the current laws and that process.
With development, traffic often follows. Much of what the City is experiencing is due to the significant growth in surrounding Lake Country. We have limited ability to curtail surrounding increases in population, but we can and have done things to minimize its impact on our way of life in the City. Every development is subject to a traffic engineering impact analysis to demonstrate if/how new development will impact traffic. When improvements are deemed necessary, developers must enact them on their dime to gain approval. In conjunction with that, pedestrian traffic must also be considered and enabled as a part of any significant new development. Examples are new off road paths, increases in public access, and parking spaces downtown. I supported the recently enacted ban on heavy trucking traffic through the downtown area if their destination is not in the City. I also support the Park and Recreation/Public Works trail plan. As Mayor, I will continue to build on those policies and remain open to new ideas.
I have enjoyed Nagawicka Lake since I was a child. It is an integral part of what makes Delafield, Delafield, and it needs proper attention. I support the ongoing efforts by our City's Lake Welfare Committee to manage the City's involvement in Lake matters, whether it is simply awareness or the enforcement of Lake specific regulations. I also support sustaining the City's credentials that help facilitate the periodic dredging projects, both public and private, that help maintain accessibility, enjoyment, and access to the lake. Exploring the availability and leveraging any state, federal, county or private funding that might help share the burden of maintaining the Lake is a priority.
Job #1 for our Clerk and elections officials is to preserve the integrity of the voting process. We have laws and will follow them. When I have had the opportunity to participate in interviewing candidates for City Clerk, election integrity is a point I have emphasized.
Elected officials represent the people they serve. We can't do that without listening and responding. When I became Alderman, I made a pledge to myself that I would respond to every inquiry from a City resident that I received. While email is most efficient, I have always returned calls, texts and even sent a few USPS letters.. I can't promise to agree with everyone, but I will listen and acknowledge all those who take the time to reach out. Anything that makes it easier to hear and understand every resident's voice is a good thing.
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