Four vying for two town board seats in April 7 election

Four people are seeking two seats on the Fredonia Town Board in the April 7 election, including one incumbent.

Supr. John Depies is running along with Kandy Huiras, Eric Schmitz and former supervisor Matt Miller. Incumbent Jim Stemper isn’t seeking re-election.

Each brings a different background and perspective, but all want to keep taxes down, maintain open communication between residents and town officials and keep up the town’s roads, they said at a candidate forum this month hosted by the Waubeka Historic District.

Depies, 71, is retired after working in insurance, manufacturing and farming. He has a bachelor’s degree from the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh and is single and lives on his family farm, which dates to the 1880s.

Depies said one of his strengths is hearing the concerns of residents.

“The most important part of communication is listening. Unless you listen, they’re probably not going to hear your side of the story,” he said.

Huiras, 50, president of the Fredonia Adult Day Center, is married with two children and has a grandchild. She has a nursing certificate from Milwaukee Area Technical College and has lived in the town for 30 years.

Huiras said she has served on other community boards and worked with people.

“I lead by example, learn from my mistakes,” she said.

Schmitz, 46, owns a promotional marketing distributorship and has a sports management degree from UW-La Crosse. He is married with three children. He has lived in the town for 14 years and is a sixth generation resident living on his family’s farmstead that dates to 1860.

Schmitz said his involvement with the Ozaukee Warriors Softball Baseball Association and the Divine Savior School Board is helpful, as is his job.

“I manage the company by myself and have learned a wide variety of management skills, from negotiations to solution problem solving to logistics coordination to accounting to customer service. I do the right thing,” he said.

Miller, 53, is an accident repairman for Milwaukee County Transit and has a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice from Concordia University Wisconsin in Mequon. He served in the military for 27 years, spending time in Iraq and Afghanistan, has been involved in Boy Scouts and Cub Scouts in the town and is married with two children. He was a town supervisor for four years.

Miller cited his experience on the Town Board and “I was a supply and finance sergeant in the U.S. Army for 15 years.”

When it comes to the role of a town supervisor, Huiras said “maintaining our agricultural landscape” is one of her goals and “just being transparent with everybody. Most important is to listen to others.”

Schmitz said he “will rely on my Luxembourg conservative blood to be fiscally responsible and do what is right for the townspeople. I would approach the situation like I would my own personal finances and cut spending on luxury and spend on the necessity.”

Miller said, “During my four years as a supervisor, I made it a point to listen to and converse with anyone who had something to say. Town supervisors are here to represent the constituents of this community. I represent you and want to hear what you have to say.”

Depies said the “best long-term interest of town residents must be the goal I have to focus on. Every decision I make is based on those needs,” adding that following what nearby towns do will likely work for Fredonia.

On recent tax levy increases and changes in assessed values, Miller said his ultimate goal is to keep taxes down. He wants to schedule public assessment reviews at more convenient times so working residents can attend and “better understand how to work with the assessor to lower their taxes.”

Schmitz said he will need more understanding and education on the topic.

“At this point I would become educated and listen to the town folks and experienced personnel’s recommendations on what would be best,” he said.

Depies said the town has managed with budgetary restraints “about as well as it could. The reality in the world is taxes go up.” He said he and his colleagues try to minimize levy and tax increases.

Huiras said she’d try to keep expenses down  — “anywhere expense-wise in budgeting that we can move the money around to keep the taxes at a standstill, even though we know everything goes up eventually.”

All candidates support the Waubeka Historic District and want to see it thrive.

On JXB Performance’s proposal to put an autocross and drifting track along Highway 57 and Jay Road, nobody thinks it would or should happen. The application to rezone the land was withdrawn last week, but the forum was held prior to that.

Schmitz said he “vehemently” opposes the plan, saying the “rights of the townspeople must come first” and new businesses must “synergistically fit” with residents.

Depies is “firmly opposed to it” and said  the plan doesn’t meet the town’s zoning ordinances or the conditional use permit and is inconsistent with the town’s 2035 comprehensive plan.

Huiras said she is concerned about public safety, namely 200 to 300 more people on the highway while data center construction in Port Washington has adds dump trucks, along with regular Road America events and farmers coming through during harvest. She also wonders about emergency medical services during events.

“Who’s going to be out there to support that? I just feel that we should really start looking into that public safety,” she said.

Miller said while he would like the track on a personal level, he believes in landowner rights and understands neighbors’ opposition. He thinks it should be brought to a referendum to let the residents vote on it and said he would side with whatever the majority wants.

“At this point, I don’t think this project will happen due to ordinances,” he said.