Menasha mayoral forum provides insight into candidates' qualifications, ideas

MENASHA — The four candidates for Menasha mayor highlighted their qualifications and vision for the city Thursday during a forum sponsored by the League of Women Voters of Winnebago County.

Kyle Coenen, Austin Hammond, Rebecca Nichols and Stan Sevenich face off in the Feb. 20 nonpartisan primary election, where the top two finishers will advance to the April 2 election.

Sevenich and Nichols touted their experience in local government. Sevenich has served on the Common Council for 30 years, and Nichols has served on the council for 11 years.

"I am a Menasha Bluejay," Sevenich said. "I'm the only one who can say that here. I was born and raised here in the city of Menasha and educated here. For the past 30 years, I've achieved a combined level of leadership experience and community involvement that rivals any of the other candidates here tonight."

"I ask for your vote on Feb. 20," Nichols said, "because Menasha deserves an experienced, committed and responsive leader to be our next mayor."

Hammond, with two years on the council, and Coenen, with none, emphasized the fresh perspective they would bring as mayor.

"I'm running to be the next mayor of Menasha because I love it here," Hammond said, "and I believe that the city of Menasha deserves a public servant in the mayor's chair."

"I am the candidate who has not held an elected office before," Coenen said. "I'm a Menasha homeowner and taxpayer."

More than 100 people attended the forum at the Menasha Public Library. The mood and banter among the candidates were largely cordial.

The winner of the race will earn a four-year term as mayor and succeed incumbent Don Merkes, who didn't seek reelection after 16 years in office.

For information about registering to vote and polling locations, visit the MyVote Wisconsin website at myvote.wi.gov/en-us.

During Thursday's forum, a moderator read questions from the audience, and each candidate was given an equal opportunity to respond. Here is a sampling of those questions and answers.

What is your experience with public budgets or nonprofit budgets?

Nichols: "There have been several (city) budgets where I took the initiative to remove things from borrowing that could have been paid for on the levy, instead of extending the cost of those things over the years."

Sevenich: "I've been on the council more than 30 years, and I have never missed a council meeting. I have never missed a budget meeting. We have a budget now of $58.4 million, but we are in good shape. We are in better shape, I should say."

Coenen: "He (Sevenich) has 30 years. I have zero years as an elected official, so I have no public budgeting experience. ... As a taxpayer, I see the other end of it, and I know that I made the decision to run because their experience was unpleasing to me."

Hammond: "My public budgeting experience is my time on the Common Council and really seeing the collaborative effort that is put into it with all of the department heads, the mayor's vision and the council going through the details."

Related: Hammond, Nichols each raise more than $2,500 for Menasha mayoral campaign

Questionnaires: Menasha mayoral candidates explain how they would address important issues

What can you do to moderate property tax increases?

Coenen: "Growing the city is how you bring in tax revenue, so to level out the property tax on homeowners, we need to grow the city and bring in new revenue. That's going to happen when all of the vacant lots and empty buildings and (former) Shopko center (are filled)."

Hammond: One thing is "looking for revenue-building opportunities to expand businesses and make sure we're utilizing our land that's for sale to bring in new homeowners and new developments for folks to be able to call the city of Menasha home."

Nichols: "Menasha's neighborhoods are one of its best assets. We can improve the value across the city by placing housing and neighborhoods at the center of our policymaking."

Sevenich: "We need to grow Menasha. That's how you increase the tax base. ... I also want to continue our efforts with the Fox Cities Regional Partnership. What's good for the Valley is also good for the city of Menasha."

What specific plan or idea do you have to improve our downtown and bring new businesses to our city?

Hammond: "I would put some kind of committee together to really work with the people who own the businesses and are in the struggle and know what it's like."

Nichols: "The next step in securing downtown Menasha's long-term success is a business improvement district or similar organization that represents and advocates for businesses and the overall health of the district."

Sevenich: "If I am mayor, I am going to push for a Menasha Action Council, something that we had once before here in the city of Menasha. It was an advocacy group that worked with the downtown merchants."

Coenen: "I think the most important thing to support downtown businesses is to make sure that we have people in this city who use them. We can't support businesses downtown that people aren't going to use. I go downtown. I live in the Jefferson Park neighborhood. I walk it. I shop at Club Liquor. I dine at Club Tavern. I dine at Parker John's. I'm at Mihm's so much they miss me when I'm not there."

Contact Duke Behnke at 920-993-7176 or dbehnke@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter at @DukeBehnke.

This article originally appeared on Appleton Post-Crescent: Menasha mayoral forum provides insight into candidates' priorities