Gregory
Dickenson
Gregory
Dickenson, a former intern for Ald. Bob Donovan who’s currently working as an
appliance salesman, said he decided to run for the county board to maintain the
quality services expected by county residents.
“I feel that
this area has previously had good representation and I feel that we need to
continue that,” Dickenson said. “I want to be able to serve the people around
me with honest, effective and responsive representation.”
His top
issues are the parks, transportation and seniors’ issues.
“I don’t
support selling the parks, but I would be open-minded to public-private
partnerships, vendors in the parks,” Dickenson said.
He supports
taking the parks and mass transit off of the property tax rolls, an idea that
county voters approved in a November 2008 advisory referendum. But he didn’t
think that the state Legislature would approve the change.
“In the
meantime we need to be smart with our limited resources,” Dickenson said. “We
have to make sure we’re being as efficient as possible with our facilities and
our resources.”
Dickenson
said he would only support an increase in the sales tax if it directly resulted
in a decrease in the property tax.
“I would
love to see dedicated funding for mass transit,” Dickenson said. “I only
support the sales tax increase if there’s a corresponding property tax
decrease. It’s a two-way street. I would like to have discussions with other
entities over a regional transit authority, but that’s not on the table right
now.”
He said he
wants the airport to stay under county control.
Dickenson
also said he wants to preserve programs for seniors, such as meal sites and
keeping the Milwaukee County Transit System and Transit Plus affordable for
seniors and the disabled.
To learn more about Gregory Dickenson, go to
greg4countyboard.blogspot.com.
Jason
Haas
Jason Haas,
a community activist and stay-at-home father, said he is running for the county
board to continue the sort of active leadership demonstrated by its most recent
supervisor, Chris Larson.
Clean parks,
better transit and economic development top his list of issues.
He said that
preserving the parks, especially those in the 14th District, will help promote
community safety and involvement.
“If we let
the parks slide, if they become fallow or are not maintained, then people don’t
use them and the neighborhood around the parks suffers,” Haas said.
He said he
supports increasing the sales tax to support the county’s parks, transit system
and other assets.
“I’m not at
all optimistic that we are going to get it in the next two or four years, given
the current state Legislature and the new governor,” Haas said. “But we have to
try. Without that we are going to face even more difficult choices.”
In the
meantime, Haas said bus ridership could increase if one-way fares were lowered
from $2.25 to $2, or if one-way fares were greatly reduced but free transfers
were eliminated.
“If we lower
it far enough, even to a dollar, I think we could see a surge in people
riding,” Haas said. “I haven’t seen the figures on whether it would be
feasible, but it’s an idea we need to explore.”
Haas said he
would like to increase urban redevelopment, especially of the county-owned Park
East land. He said that more urban agriculture could be established in the
district, just as it has thrived at Sweet Water Organics in the north side of
Bay View. He also supports the aerotropolis proposal, which promotes
intergovernmental cooperation to improve the airport and the businesses around
it. He said that broadening the tax base through business growth would reduce
property taxes for homeowners.
To learn more about Jason Haas, go to
www.haasformilwaukee.com.
Steven
Kraeger
Steven
Kraeger owns a trucking business and specializes in road building and sewers,
but he said he would sell his business if he is elected. He has run for state
Assembly, the county Board of Supervisors and Milwaukee Common Council in the
past, but has never been elected.
Mimicking
Gov. Scott Walker’s slogan, Kraeger said that he wants Milwaukee County to be
open for business.
“It would be
a shame if Wisconsin is open for business and Milwaukee County is not,” Kraeger
said.
Kraeger’s
top issues are balancing the county budget, the Hoan Bridge and constituent
services.
Kraeger said
that the county budget isn’t being adequately audited right now and that he
would “audit, audit, audit” the budget if he is elected.
“You can’t
throw money at it without an audit,” Kraeger said. “Without taking [the budget]
apart, you don’t have any ideas for cutting.”
He said that
he didn’t have any suggestions for reducing the budget without doing a
line-by-line audit.
Kraeger said
that although the Hoan Bridge is not owned or operated by the county, he would
like to see county officials push to have the bridge repaired so that it
doesn’t collapse, as it did in the 1990s. He said the bridge is far more
dangerous than drivers realize and that he doesn’t trust the state’s promise to
fully redeck the Hoan this year.
“I’m not
holding my breath,” he said.
Kraeger said
he is “absolutely against” raising the sales tax to pay for county services,
even with a corresponding decrease in the property tax, since it would
encourage people to shop in other counties.
“I can’t
imagine Walker breaking his campaign promise and approving it,” Kraeger said.
He said the
county could raise revenue by making the county “open for business.”
“If you
increase sales, revenue goes up even without a sales tax increase,” Kraeger
said.
To learn more about Steven Kraeger, go to www.milwaukeesupervisor-stevenkraeger.com.
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