 transport to our workplaces needs to be expanded upon. Like Kohler and Johnsonville, our public transportation doesn't go out to those places. And some people may feel like if they don't have a car, they can't work in these areas, in these jobs. And affordable housing is an obvious must in this day and age. We have so many nice apartments and, you know, all these great things, but you can't work $16 or $17 an hour and pay $1700 for a one-bedroom apartment. And I want to help create a safe community for all of our residents. I think that the Safe Sheboygan has a great program going with the neighborhood associations, and I would love to see that expand. And I would love to help build upon that. I know there's one by my house, and I think that's important to create dialogue between all of our neighbors. And ourselves. Thank you, Roberta. Actually, I agree. One of the biggest challenges is employment. And there aren't enough people for the number of jobs that we have available to us in the city. The second is a little bit more more fiscal. And it relies upon the state infrastructure that puts funding caps and levy caps. It's very complicated. And we don't want to go into it now. And I don't even want to go into it sometimes either. But it puts a cap on what we might want to strive for. And the city does work every month they meet with their representatives at the state level to say, look here, how can we work together to make this work better for both of us? So the funding and the levy limits are a significant thing. And the other thing is the third is we're an older city and we have aging infrastructure. Think roads, think bridges, think community buildings. And some of them are 40, 50, 60, 70 years old. So we have to have a consistent plan to just like you would at home, you know, you know, your roof is going to last for so many years, you have to have a plan to be able to replace the roof on your house. So the city likewise needs to look toward a legitimate and cohesive capital improvements plan. Thank you. And Roberta, you'll also do this next question first. What do you envision as the most appropriate development of the former Armory site? Oh, the Armory site has been much talked about over the years. One of the things that folks might not know is where the Armory sits used to be the Sheboygan River. Many, many years ago before you and I, the river was we, they moved the river, they moved the river further south. So right now that property is tied up in federal and state issues because it's quasi waterway, even though there's no water there now. However, if we can work through all of that, I would think that some mix of there are town homes, apartments to the north of the Armory property. So putting perhaps some town homes on the north side or the west side of that property. And initially, several years ago, we had a proposal to do a boutique hotel so that the bottom of the hotel would be retail restaurant bar. And that particular property is very well positioned to bring people from the lakefront up Pennsylvania Avenue to 8th Street for all of the amenities on 8th Street. So whatever is developed there should be consciously developed to be a walking way toward more amenities that our city has to offer. And it's a combination of many things and hopefully there is a developer out there who would love to do that. Thank you, Zachary. I would agree with the alder. I would like to see townhouses or housing of some kind there and I would also like to see something similar to the city green that we have currently where they have the town homes or apartments right behind it and people can go out and enjoy that space for the community. I think a lot of people utilize that especially in the summer when they have the summer concert series come through. I think that anything similar is a great idea. I mean, I'm always open to ideas, but I think that we should utilize that space for more housing. Okay, and Zachary, you'll begin our next question. The city is increasingly diverse, ethnically, religiously, engender and in many other ways. We see this reflected in our neighborhoods and school classrooms, but not yet reflected in the government and civic leadership positions. How would you include and encourage citizens from these groups to serve on committees and participate in city government? It's a straight white man running. I would love to build a bridge with these communities and I think that we need to show them how having a narrative with their council people, say council people and can affect their communities individually. We may not sitting up here realize what issues certain areas of the city have unless residents come up and talk to us. We aren't out in every part of the city every single day. I would love to create maybe a working group with residents that are culturally diverse in my districts especially and you know as older person I would love to meet with them and even once a month, two months. Just having that meeting and creating a narrative is so vital and I think if the more we show that city government can work for not just the people in city government, the more they're going to be willing to and want to participate in local politics. Thank you, Roberta. Currently and and I just I just looked at the 2020 census. Currently 2020 that was the last that was published so far. 80 percent of the city is white and as of last year 50 percent of the shaboyan area school district think young people under 18. 50 percent are minority. 18 percent are English language learners and 38 percent are reduced to free lunch meaning they have significant financial issues in their household. It's a changing scene and it will change very quickly and we need to do a much better job of engaging people where they are not where we want them to be engage them where they are and and start at city hall. We can do some simple things with employment. We can do some things with we we already have we've had diversity equity and inclusion programs and issues that were required for all city employees. We can focus on the 17 or 18 commissions and boards that ask for representatives from the city and if you're not sure about them you can call the mayor's office and he won't like me saying that but there are 17 or 18 boards that might fit your your skill set and you would be a great asset so if that's at all interest of you I would encourage you to volunteer for one of those and by all means reach out to your elders the the emails and the phone numbers are published offer your services ask ask to be of help and we would be delighted to have you. Thank you and Roberta will begin the next question Milwaukee, West Bend, Racine and Carcana are offering incentives to city employees if they live in the city would you support this plan for Sheboygan? That's an interesting question. I am not sure that I would partly because if I am working next to a person who is doing exactly the same job as I am and they are earning more than I am I wonder why now my colleagues who are on the other side of that question would say yes but they should be in the city they should have skin in the game and we should reward them for that I would need to be convinced that two people doing the same job should earn a different amount of money. Thank you Zachary. I'm going to be a little different I I don't know if maybe a financial package would be the way to go for something like that I think maybe we'd have to look and see what kind of benefits or unique opportunities we could give these people but also in the same breath I wouldn't support it if we didn't have a budget for it like I would have to see the city budget and I would have to you know we'd have to really talk about it as a city council and see if we could make something like that happen but until we have a budget that we can be like yes we can offer people who live in the city something a little bit more whether it be some kind of benefit package I don't know if I can afford I would support it until I could see that. Thank you and Zachary we'll begin the next question how can we maintain safe neighborhoods? Like I said in the my opening statements and for the first question the neighborhood associations that have been popping up all over the place I think are absolutely wonderful there's one that's upcoming Tuesday if you live in the Farnsworth area there's gonna be a police officer there I would love to see you I will be there myself I think that it is a great opportunity to meet your neighbors and have dialogue so that we can create a better atmosphere for all of us in Sheboygan I think that is such an important thing and something that we can really grow on not just as the city of Sheboygan but everybody as people. Thank you Roberta. Can you repeat the question? Sure thank you. How can we maintain safe neighborhoods? My answer is substantively the same of the neighborhood associations in the community there are currently 12 active ones three of them are in my district and I do go to those meetings and so do representatives from City Hall and so do representatives from the police department in every one of those meetings the police ask for issues that are important to the folks whether it's the speeding car or the funny visits at 2 a.m. to the house that's dark they they want to know what's going on in the neighborhood and the neighbors themselves begin to cohease and understand that they have a vested interest in keeping their neighborhood safe now having said that our city vis-à-vis our city 10 years ago is much safer our ratio of violent crimes which is crime crimes against people we have far more crimes against property you know the theft the car breaking um and it's it's about four to one we have more property vandalism kinds of issues than we do crimes against people um and I think I think the police have been diligent about it they are also very vested in those community neighborhoods it makes the policing effort much easier for them when they know people they can knock on the doors you can talk to them first name one of my officers is also the dog person he has the canine unit first time I walked past his car and the dog growled I went oh so um it it's just it makes a difference when you can greet a placement by first name and you don't feel intimidated about calling thank you Roberta we'll begin the next question what ideas do you have for bringing more people and businesses to the downtown how would you revitalize downtown Sheboygan thanks I used to have a business in downtown Sheboygan a PR and marketing firm um the first thing you do about businesses in downtown is don't lose the ones you have and to that point the city council just it was either the last session or the one previous uh allocated an additional 160 thousand dollars under the federal ARPA money so that small businesses could write grants so they can stay afloat until the economy boosts itself back up especially hard hit have been restaurants and bars during the shutdown they literally had to throw out all of their produce throw out everything that was in the refrigerator and freezer and they don't have the cash flow to put the stuff back so there have been there have been a lot of poignant grant applications saying help us we really want to stay here secondly the it is often seen that the growth in downtowns are native born so your friend your neighbor the person at your church who is thinking about a business by all means encourage them the Sheboygan county economic development corporation has a business person that will help you write a business plan the redevelopment authority has startup money so that it's it's gap funding you go to the bank and the bank says we can loan you this much but not that much and we're going to create two jobs so there are there are mechanisms that would help but again most downtown most downtown businesses are boutiques and most boutiques start homegrown thank you Zachary I agree Walter I mean there's like she said we gotta make sure we protect the ones that are already there make sure that they're successful especially during the last two years I mean it's been hard for a lot of people and I think we that's a very important thing I think we also should find more unique businesses we have the ax bar that opened a few years ago or a year ago on Indiana I think that's a great you know business and obviously it's proven to be moderately successful every time I drive by it it's busy as can be it looks like and I also remember in 2021 we had to pop up storefronts and I remember my wife and I would go and walk and walk into these and some of them were really great ideas and I think it gives people that opportunity to see if first of all if they want to run a business and it gives them a great space to open their business that they want to open I think that that we should keep investing in things like that I mean those are and that's a great opportunity that the city offered businesses that may have just been online only and to make that next leap into a natural storefront thank you and Zachary will begin the next question how can the city repurpose the big box buildings that have been empty for years such as the pick and save buildings on Calumet and South Business Drive um from what I understand the city doesn't own these buildings I think that's a that's a big point um I think we can maybe work with the owners to try and help them find something to go into those buildings um I think it's hard for city council to go up to an owner of that property and be like you need to put something in here don't care if you lose money on it put something in I think we just need to have a narrative with those owners and create an environment where they can put something in there thank you Roberta similarly the city can encourage development they can help facilitate in some instances they can provide some kind of financial support but the city is not a developer developers are people who put their own money together bring it to a place invest it where they can presume they will get a return on their investment and then they will move forward on the project we have had some success the shopco big box out near the mall is going to have a hobby lobby and a Ross's dress for less the folks both the developer who there is a developer and then the developer gets the people who move into their development so it's like three times removed to get a retailer into our community but they they developed a position of a building in Fond du Lac and then realized that should we can also have this vacant building and came here and interestingly enough the investment here was a larger investment for them because we were a robust community which was really kind of fun to hear but they will be remodeling and they will be moving and as to the big box on the south side we don't own it we can encourage but it appears at this point in time that there's not a great deal of impetus to fill it up thank you and Roberta will begin with the next question how can Shaborgen attract and retain young talent and how can we retain and service companies that want to expand about a third of the city is under 25 years old and obviously the 18 years and under are in school here but first we have to have a place for young people to live they might not want to live with their parents or their grandparents or their aunts or their uncles or whatever which means that we need we need apartments we need affordable housing so that the younger people who are just getting their feet wet in the economic cycle of the world can sustain themselves here independently the city did a housing study and it was indicated that within seven to eight years we're going to need about three thousand more living spaces whether it be individual homes or apartment buildings or condos or multifamily living houses and senior housing so we need we somebody said to me why are we building all of these apartment buildings when we have sustained or lost population and I said the reason we have sustained or lost is there's nowhere for people to live inside the city limits so we are working diligently to provide housing both affordable housing senior housing and systematically moving forward to create new niches and spaces with new kinds of designs pocket neighborhoods condo developments to keep this city moving forward and it's vibrant as it has it has been in the past thank you Zachary um just like Alder Roberta said we have to keep investing in housing it's must like I said in the opening I am truly lucky that I am a homeowner in Cheboygan and I got in it when the market was hot but still gang to where it is right now um I also think that we have to have we have a lot of entertainment in Cheboygan and I think as long as we keep pushing for more entertaining entertainment things that maybe are a little bit more unique to maybe a bigger city I think we can create an environment where young people want to stay in the city as well and raise a family because they see all these great things that we have as a city I think that I mean I'll say I work to push for better wages but City Council has no control over that you know and or be more of a voice for helping people and trying to help work with companies to understand that but I think affordable housing is the biggest thing and I think if I'm finding entertainment for our residents is another big thing thank you and Zachary will begin the next question how can the city reduce the number of homeless people what can be done to assist these individuals um I think we have to work with the county to create more services that we can offer to everybody I think that uh we also need to invest in addiction help invest in social workers and I think those are very important things whether it is having a social worker or two on hand with the police department all the time so they can come to these calls and really work with these people and understand where they're coming from I think that those are such important things I mean we have some great programs to help homeless people in Sheboygan but we can always do better I mean there are a lot of non-profit organizations and I think the city can and county can do more to invest in these as well thank you Roberta I agree with my colleague here at the table um one of the things that is is popping up around the state and indeed around the nation is pairing police police workers police men police women with social workers so that the first response for a call is not someone with a gun and a holster on their hip and there are some stunning statistics and I don't have them at my fingertips but in the larger communities in the state of Wisconsin um where police calls police proper calls went way down because they had a specific task force of social worker first responders and um there are there are repetitive calls often from from the same person from the same family and and pretty much they know what they're going to meet when they get there so um investigating that and the other is again working with the county the city county has a joint dispatch for 911 calls and and there has been discussion about placing a skilled social worker on the 911 network if you will when the calls come in so that the social worker can screen whether it's indeed a police call a fire call and obviously the that there are trained 911 people right now but adding a social worker at the very onset of a phone call um and having that particular social worker or a follow-up team of workers um move through the system and assist the person who obviously has multiple needs um and and needs to be handled with multiple organizations and we do have some very fine not-for-profits in this community who are working diligently to handle that issue. Thank you and Roberta we'll begin the next question What are the greatest assets of the city of Sheboygan and how would you build upon them? Well as anybody who's ever worked with a real estate person they say location location location and we have a great lake in our side yard and and that is our greatest natural asset um and that asset needs to be enjoyed it needs to be protected we can lead with that asset we are the freshwater surfing capital of the world I think um and we need to appreciate that we also need to spend a bit of um thoughtfulness about keeping our environment sustainable keeping it clean uh this city just entertained a solar farm in one of our industrial parks so we have a responsibility um with that with that great lake and then I guess our next greatest asset I don't guess I know our next greatest asset are our people we are a hardworking group we are middle America we are core values we live in a city that is human scale and we like it that way so um just that stick tuativeness that that we have as a community I think uh will will take us far thank you Zachary I'm going to lead with our residents we have such a culturally diverse like Alder River said earlier our young people are 50 percent of them are are minorities I think that is such a wonderful thing in our city I think that is really a truly an explanation of what America is like we are I was always told growing up we are the melting pot of the world and I think that is such a great thing and I think we as like Alder River said too we are hardworking people we we have core values and we all need to keep building on that and the lake is definitely our great greatest natural asset I I know the edge wire plant is closing the next few years I personally would love to see more beachfront that's just me for that space but I think that we need to keep preserving and protecting the lake that we have and the front that we have because it is so important for all of us and I think also we have some really like I said before unique businesses for a city our size three sheeps is a pretty big brewery I would say I think it's a great great brewery we have paradigm coffee which is a nice little coffee that's pretty unique you'd only see in a larger city I think and I think as long as we keep building on unique businesses similar to those I think sheboygan is heading in the right direction thank you and Zachary will begin the next question the city's marina has always been a financial burden on the taxpayers contrary to the rosy predictions when it was being built it is still two to three million dollars in debt many of the docks have never been leased ice damage is a big cost in severe winners what is the future of the marina as it continues to struggle from what I've gathered from talking to people that know that it made more it made money last year from what I was told and I think that it's proven that a lot of people want to utilize it I think maybe people in the gang were a little apprehensive but now that they've seen that businesses can see that they can utilize this space and invest in it I think that it's still a worthwhile investment Bernadette again the the marina is a corollary to our greatest asset which is our waterfront and my colleague is right it did make money this past year and if you recall we have had multiple years of super duper high water levels unseen in decades in the Great Lakes and it is now receded to a more moderate level there has been some damage to docks docksides which is to be expected the marina was built in the early 90s and again like any infrastructure it needs to be maintained it needs to be supported and and it needs to be cared for I think we should tread carefully about what we do with the marina again because it's it fronts one of the unique assets that our community has and I think it's an important asset thank you and I know you'll be sad to hear this but this is our last question of the evening we could stick with the two of you all night but we want to be fair to you so this will be our final question and this begins with Roberta how can the city generate revenue other than increasing property taxes we can generate more revenue by getting more tax-based growth which means attracting more businesses maintaining the industries that we have encouraging those industries to grow and and the the tax base is not we all understand tax base because we get our we get our tax bill every year but taxes are spread all around the city so we need to understand what portion comes from where and continue to expand um so when when a developer comes calling and somebody says why are you giving them $200,000 to create $250,000 to create 10 jobs alone we say because they create jobs they add to the taxes that those people pay buying things here and they expand their own base within this community so I think growth conscious growth and specifically guided growth to us to a plan growth to a plan is how we can expand our tax base and the other is basically it's revenue sharing which is again goes back to the state in the very complex formulas whereby the state collects state tax and then shifts it back to communities within Wisconsin so we need to keep working on on that that space also thank you Zachary um like alter reverse said we need to we need to bring in people and make sure that they stay we don't want Sheboygan to continue to be a place where people start their careers and then leave after five to ten years we want Sheboygan to be a place where people feel comfortable and want to stay here for the rest of their lives we have so many great stories from our senior citizens in the city where they're like you know I came for a hot second and I now I'm here for 35 40 years you know like I think we need to create an environment for that to happen that's obviously an easy way to expand our tax bases having people stay here and more business opportunities obviously the more businesses that we have in the city the more that they're going to pay taxes and also like like my colleague said we need to keep working with the state I mean the state's a different animal I understand but we have to create a narrative with every on all levels of the state to so that they can understand our needs and how we can better serve our city and our citizens in our city and I think and that's basically I think that's a that's a really important issue thank you this concludes this evening's candidate forum thank you all for coming special thanks to scott me live from wsc s for recording the candidate forum series thank you again and take care