Meet the Candidates

With the April 1 election just days away, we asked candidates in contested races throughout the county to answer a few questions. This week we present all three of the candidates for the two positions on the Sevastopol Town Board – challenger Victoria Cerinich and incumbents Chuck Tice and Dan Woelfel.

Victoria L. Cerinich

Contact information:  920-559-7337, [email protected]

Age: 61

 Education:  Northwestern University Traffic Institute, Evanston IL; School Of Police Staff and Command Certification – 1998; DePaul University, Chicago IL, Master of Science, Liberal Arts and Sciences, Computer Science – 1991; Chicago State University, Chicago IL   Bachelor of Arts, Board of Governor’s Degree – 1981.

Occupation:  Volunteer.

• Door County Economic Development Corp. (DCEDC) Technology Council member since 2005
• DCEDC Buy Local Committees: Steering member and Co-Chairman for Agriculture since 2010
• For Buy Local: organized Mixers at Waseda Farms (2012) and Draft Haus (2011), designed agriculture/food rack card (2013)
• Interviewer for Sevastopol’s Access Door County Video program (Charter Cable TV Channel 986)
• League of Women Voters of Door County since 2008.  Board member 2013-14.
• Published articles, including Sevastopol Zoning Options, Buying Food Locally and Green Boating
• Maintains bluebird house trail and reports to Wisconsin Association  (BRAW) since 2008

Relevant Experience or Civic Involvement:  Retired Sergeant from the Chicago Police Department, serving in patrol, mounted police, Communications and Deputy Director for the Chicago CivicNet Project. As Contract Negotiator for the Public Building Commission of Chicago, I led a team of legal advisers, risk managers, architects and local government representatives. Earlier, as warehouse foreman at International Harvester, I provided 24-hour support for farmer customers during their planting and harvesting seasons.

• Attended more than 35 county and Sevastopol meetings in 2013
• Sevastopol resident since 2001 and Plan Commission member since 2008
• Sevastopol Election Inspector for local, primary and general elections since 2008

What is the biggest challenge facing Sevastopol and how would you address it?

To achieve a regular exchange of information and coordination of activity, as appropriate, between the three Sevastopol elected boards: our Town, the School and the Sanitary District.  I would propose that Sevastopol invite the School and Sanitary District Boards to join with Sevastopol and work out a schedule for elected member representation and report at each other’s regular meetings.

If the board were forced to make budget cuts, what would be the first thing to go?

A budget study may reveal economies.  Supervisor salaries are a starting point.  Just as the County compared salaries for the employee salary schedule, Sevastopol should compare its board member compensation to boards of similar size and responsibilities. 

Requests for Quotations (RFQ’s) or “bids” should be issued for purchases over $100.  As a member of the Wisconsin Towns Association, Sevastopol should use their services when they are less costly.

Local businesses should receive first consideration on RFQ/bid opportunities. A local business should not be disqualified if it can accomplish the task within a reasonable time and cost.

What do you see as the board’s duty to the residents and businesses in the municipality?

I believe that actions taken at the Town level must support a good quality of life for residents now and in the future. I want the community to be well-informed by encouraging more discussion at board meetings.   I will listen, do my homework and go outside of existing sources for information. I ask for your vote on April 1^st.  Thank you.

Read my full bio at http://www.wyattsgallery.com  on the blog page and see me on YouTube at http://youtu.be/I9P8LXjXUag

Chuck Tice

Age:  63

Education:  Sevastopol High School graduate; post-graduate courses in fruit orchard practices and management, law enforcement, business management, and numerous training seminars on town government

Occupation:  Retired carpenter-contractor

Relevant Experience or Civic Involvement:  Sevastopol Town Supervisor for the past eight years; member of the Door County Coastal Byway Council and the Door County Tourism Commission; Sturgeon Bay Visitor Center Board member; past president and secretary/treasurer of Peninsula Gun Club; past secretary/treasurer of Door County Rod and Gun Club

What is the biggest challenge facing Sevastopol and how would you address it?  The biggest challenge we are faced with today is protection of our ground water resource. This is not only a local issue, it encompasses the U.S. and beyond. With the increase in concentrated animal feeding operations, non-metallic mining, failing private wastewater treatment systems, and overburdened municipal sewage facilities our groundwater resource is being contaminated. Taking into consideration the current low water table and the extraction of more water by high capacity wells we need to be concerned. To address this problem the public has to accept its responsibility and take ownership of its role in the situation and solution. Through education, cooperation, and implementation of sound management practices we may be able to reverse the condition.

If the Board were faced to make budget cuts, what would be the first thing to go?  I scrutinize the town budget as I do my personal budget. I would not say that any one item should be cut out. We need to look at the public benefit received from each line item. Some items cannot be cut or reduced. Those that could be reduced or non-funded for a short period of time without irreparable harm could be examined more closely.

What do you see as the Board’s duty to the residents and businesses in the municipality?  The town board’s duty to our residents and businesses is to manage town government in a fair and equitable manner. It is essential to manage our finances so that we receive the most value for our tax dollars. We need to stay vigilant and keep local control of town government. We cannot allow big business and state government to take local control away from the town.

Dan Woelfel

Contact information: 920-743-8686

Age: 66

Education: University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, degree in Business Administration & Marketing

Occupation: Retired, 30 years in Sales and Marketing with Xerox Corp.

Relevant Experience or Civic Involvement:

Current Town Supervisor, Vice Chairman of the Town board, Chair of Fire Protection, member of Park & Recreation Board, Former Chair of the Planning Committee and Ad hoc Building Committee, responsible for overseeing the construction and design of the town hall. 

Outside activities include membership and volunteering in the Door County Land Trust, and the Door County Humane Society

What is the biggest challenge facing Sevastopol and how would you address it?

Controlling costs to insure we can keep property taxes low while addressing the needs of our townspeople. Addressing the cost problem is a true challenge. Our budget is approximately $1million, of this  $200,000 is spent on road maintenance,  construction and repair, $350,000 for Fire protection, $100,000 for snow removal, $50k for salaries and $38K for  Parks and Recreation, another $60K is spent on our 1st Responders, Assessor and our revaluation fund. This consumes $800,000 of our budget in mostly fixed cost. We have very little discretionary spending to adjust or reduce. Each year in the budget process, we review each of those items to see where adjustments or tradeoffs can be made. It is my 10 years of experience and thorough understanding of the town’s operations that guides me in this process and enables me to make good business decisions.

If the board were forced to make budget cuts, what would be the first thing to go?

Great Question, we had to do exactly this in 2013. Over the past few years, we made a conscious effort to cap our budget and minimize property tax increases by using money from our contingency reserve fund. The economy hit us hard as it did many of our townspeople. Our revenues were being reduced while our expenses continued to grow. Housing starts were down and our property valuations declined. Each year during this economic turmoil, we dipped into our cash reserves to balance the budget and reduce the property tax impact to our taxpayers. Last year we had to  to replenish our reserve and did so by  greatly reducing the spending on our roads. We reversed our finances, and have started to build back our cash reserves without significantly affecting our town.

What do you see as the board’s duty to the residents and businesses in the municipality?

To continue to rein in costs by focusing on controlling the towns budget and holding the line on your property tax increases.

To support and reflect the wishes of our townspeople. This means protecting the rural nature of the town, farmland preservation, and supporting the growth and expansion of our local businesses.

Enhance tourism, which is vital to the economic viability of our existing businesses.