SHEBOYGAN — The hot topic at the alderman candidate forums for Districts 2 and 5 Wednesday night was unsurprisingly the Kohler Co. golf course project, and some in the audience couldn’t help but chime in throughout of the night.
The event opened with the District 2 candidate forum featuring Todd Wolf and John Belanger, immediately followed by a forum with District 5 candidates Scott Lewandoske and Markus Savaglio.
Due to a reduction in staff and a reorganization of the Municipal Council, the four men are incumbents.
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District 2: Todd Wolf and John Belanger
Perhaps one of the few topics Wolf and Belanger agreed on was confidence in the Common Council’s decision to annex land from the town of Wilson last year for a proposed golf course Kohler Co.
Moderator Nanette Bulebosh read the question raised by an audience member: “What are your opinions regarding modifying our beautiful Kohler Andrae Park to accommodate a private golf course, with the potential to damage Lake Michigan and the park land? »
Wolf said that question was difficult to answer because the only decision the city faced was annexation itself.
“The owners of the property came to us, like any property owner, and asked to be annexed,” Wolf said. “The situation the city found itself in was really this: Do we annex them or not? Should we bring them into the city and help guide and monitor them, or do we not let them join the city and may not get additional benefits?
Wolf said he understood the property was surrounded by “beautiful” parkland, but it was private property.
“What people tend to forget is that it could be worse. It could have become residential with houses and streets and streetlights and all that – or it could have become manufacturing,” he said.
Bélanger noted that the question was “a little biased in one direction.”
“I have a great deal of difficulty with anyone who owns private property being told what they can and cannot do on that property, as long as they follow local ordinances, state laws and regulations and that he obtains all the necessary permits,” said Bélanger. “I have no problem with that.”
Belanger said two of his sons had worked at Kohler Co. in the past, particularly at Whistling Straits, as part of the grounds crew and golf course. He said the way they treat classes with chemicals is a “very minimalist approach.”
“That allowed us to expand further south as well,” Bélanger said.
Another topic of discussion was an ongoing study of Sheboygan City Fire Department operations being done by an outside firm, tasked with reporting back to council with recommendations for the department in several months.
“I will say that I was not for it. Personally, I believe that we should listen to the managers of our departments. We pay them very well. They’re highly educated – that’s why they work in these departments,” Wolf said. “We should listen to the people who run the city for us. »
Belanger said he was the one who initiated the review and received support from Fire Chief Mike Romas. He also received support from the union “as long as he had no preconceived ideas or outcomes for the study.”
“I told the union that I don’t care what comes out of the study,” Bélanger said. “I want to have a long-term plan.”
Bélanger said the department had in the past delayed long-term planning and that “infighting” between management and the union was making things even more complicated.
“We pay for college all the time,” Bélanger said. “People don’t know everything about every subject. »
District 5: Scott Lewandoske and Markus Savaglio
The forum featuring District 5 candidates included audience questions directed at Savaglio about whether he should have recused himself from the Kohler Golf Course annexation vote because of his employment.
“I work for a Kohler entity; I’m an independent contractor for Village Realty and Development,” Savaglio said.
But Savaglio said there was no personal benefit to annexing the golf course.
“As a real estate agent, I am very concerned about personal property rights. I want to make sure that if you buy land, you can do whatever you want with it, as long as it complies with local and state ordinances and national regulations,” Savaglio said.
Lewandoske said he felt Savaglio’s vote was a conflict of interest and claimed Savaglio would have put his job in jeopardy if he had voted against Kohler.
At this point, the audience erupted with comments despite the rules of silence during the candidates’ responses. Later in the evening, the same question came up with more unsolicited comments from the public.
On the biggest challenges facing the city, Savaglio and Lewandoske agreed that solving the city’s drug problem is a priority.
“The mental health crisis is a bigger problem than many of us realize,” Savaglio said. “The opioid epidemic, combined with mental health issues, is putting people in crisis situations, and if we can manage that, we will have a safer, better city for everyone.”
Lewandoske agrees on the importance of the city’s drug problem and the need to provide more resources to families to combat it.
“We need to start reaching out and letting people know where to go for help,” he said.
Regarding the future of the Armory, Savaglio said that he was not a native and did not have the same ties to the Armory as the others, but that he would be in favor of saving it based on resident feedback he received – on one condition.
“I will vote in favor of the proposal to save the armory provided there is a provision that the city will take it back if they fail to have a viable operation,” he said.
Lewandoske had no hesitation in fully supporting the saving of the armory. He was on the Sheboygan Historic Preservation Committee years ago when they were talking about demolishing it and said he changed the mind of someone who was planning to vote against it through a speech, through a only votes for a 90-day suspension.
“I was in favor of saving it then, and I am still in favor of saving the Armory today,” he said. “And that’s how I would vote.”
