Two vie to lead Waterford Village Board

By Patricia Bogumil

Editor

Incumbent Waterford Village Board President Tom Roanhouse is challenged in the April 7 election by board member Don Houston, who has served three years as a Village Trustee.

Information provided by each candidate follows. See the March 20 edition of the Waterford Post for additional biographical information on each candidate.

      • Don Houston said he believes the Village needs to utilize and promote its existing sources of new tax revenue, rather than place more burden on its already over-taxed residents.

The Village has land designated for development that has been stagnant far too long, he said, and progress is needed to avoid future tax hikes.

“We can avoid huge tax hikes, and keep the small town feel we have all come to know and love, in Waterford,” he said.

As a trustee, Houston said he strives to be responsible in managing taxpayers’ money by fighting extravagant, wasteful spending. “I voted against the very expensive, village-wide interior revaluation, which was not necessary, but was approved by the board,” he said.

While voting against such measures, he has supported measures that did not raise the Village’s tax levy, Houston said.

His business and real world experience has been, and continues to be, a huge asset in confronting the tough decisions facing the Village, Houston said.

He noted he has owned and operated a successful business owner in Milwaukee for the past 20 years, volunteers with Absolutely Waterford to work on revitalization of the downtown and is a chair member of the Village Heritage District Committee.

“Together, we have made great strides in stimulating business, and helping bring our downtown area back to life,” Houston said.

      • Tom Roanhouse, the incumbent Board President, said serving another two-year term as Village President would allow him to continue his long tenure of community involvement.

This includes 13 years on the Village Board, preceded by two years on the Planning Commission; an elected position in 2014 as District 18 Supervisor on the Racine County Board, representing the Village and parts of the Town of Dover; more than 30 years (11 as chairman) with St. Thomas Country Fair; two terms as a member of Waterford High School’s Six-Year Strategic Planning Committee; and an organizing member of Absolutely Waterford’s Main Street Program, the downtown revitalization effort.

Roanhouse names the most pressing challenge facing the village as the “continued stabilization, sustainability, growth and development of the Waterford Fire and Rescue Department.”

Without question, delivery of emergency service within the community is the highest priority, he said. The Village Board recognizes the daily challenge of helping transition a former all-volunteer department serving a community of 2,000 to an organization that is a quasi-volunteer/paid department serving a population almost three times larger, Roanhouse said.

“Delivery of government services is always a work in progress, which means the physical Village also is always changing,” Roanhouse said.

Its infrastructure, above and below the ground, either needs perpetual maintenance, replacement or needs to be expanded, he said. “Regardless, in order to accomplish any of this, means spending large sums of money, usually through long-term borrowing.”

Currently on the table for funding is replacement of sewer and water lines in conjunction with the highways 20/83 project, a potential facilities expansion partnership with Gateway Technical College, The Riverfront and Ten Club Redevelopment Plan, and possible development of an industrial park, Roanhouse said.

“Projected costs are in the millions and it is obvious all the projects cannot be done in the same two- to three-year window,” he said.

This proposed capital spending comes with a backdrop in which the village has not increased its village tax levy for seven years in a row, Roanhouse said. “The Village Board has been good stewards of the taxpayers’ money, and please be assured I will continue to work towards that same diligence, prudence and vigilance going forward,” Roanhouse said in his candidate statement.

Another area the Village Board is turning its attention to in 2015 is property assessment, in an attempt to bring greater parity and fairness to village taxpayers, Roanhouse said.

All residential and commercial property will be re-evaluated by the Village assessor. This is being done in conjunction with a state revenue administration mandate to electronically record and store residential/commercial property assessment information, he said.

It means transferring the current paper documented assessment information to electronic storage, which is arduous and labor-intensive, Roanhouse said.

Given the timing of the electronic mandate ­– which will create new data information bases and in which the Village will be penalized for non-compliance – the Village Board decided to also include reviewing the inside of assessed dwellings.

“This practice has not been utilized before in the Village, and is recommended by state revenue administration to be undertaken at least every 10 years,” Roanhouse said.

He said much of his personal and professional life has been related to government service ­– lifelong experiences he said have prepared him “to continue to be the strong leader Waterford needs as its face the challenges of a community experiencing tremendous growth.”

His father, said Roanhouse, was a great mentor, whom he watched “contribute to his church, his schools, and to his community, which included 25 years on the Racine County Board.”

Roanhouse’s first professional job was with the Racine Journal Times, covering and reporting on government meetings for 11 years on national events, state and county meetings and local governments.

He also worked for U.S. Congressman Mark Neumann and was manager of his Racine office and Kenosha office during his first term.

He believes government service can not be taught other than by doing. “The learning curve in government cannot be ignored and must be taken seriously,” he said.

Besides all his related experiences, Roanhouse said he is most proud of and passionate about his 15 years with Village of Waterford government.

“I want to take everything I learned in those 15 years, my 11 years listening at other government meetings, and my dealing with constituent issues for Mark Neumann and parlay all that learned collateral into a greater positive for Waterford.”