Does Lisbon board ‘bickering’ matter?
Living Sussex Sun,Posted: March 31, 2009
Town of Lisbon Delores Scharmer and Beverly Mudlitz are two voters who believe that preserving the town’s rural residential character and fixing its roads are among the most important issues in the April 7 municipal election.
Mudlitz said she agrees with some of incumbent Chairman Michael Reed’s ideas. Scharmer said she has not decided whether she will vote for Reed or his challenger, Supervisor Matthew Gehrke.
But, she said, the “bickering” among Town Board members must stop.
While Reed and Gehrke generally agree on preserving the rural residential character of the town, they have differing positions about how to fix roads and have quarrelled over procedural issues.
Scharmer and Mudlitz were among more than 100 citizens who attended a forum for Town of Lisbon and Village of Sussex candidates sponsored by the Sussex Area Chamber of Commerce last week.
During the forum, Reed rattled off a list of what he claimed were his administration’s accomplishments. Reducing costs by abolishing the police department and replacing it with a less-expensive police service contract with the Waukesha County Sheriff’s Department was high on that list.
Reed also asserted he had helped save the town hundreds of thousands of dollars by encouraging the Fire Department to purchase rebuilt, rather than new, firefighting equipment.
He said he had worked with Maple Avenue residents to resolve their water issues and with Sussex officials to improve relations between the two communities.
He defended his proposed 12-percent increase in the town’s tax levy because it would have provided nearly $200,000 for road repairs.
Lisbonites voted to roll back the highway budget and tax levy by $100,000 each during the town’s annual budget meeting.
Gerhke told the forum that the proposed tax levy and Reed’s confrontational management style were evidence that Reed lacked fiscal discipline and failed to provide respectful leadership.
“If I had felt that the Town Board was being led by the principles of respectful leadership and fiscal discipline, I would not be standing here tonight,” Gehrke told the audience.
Plan Commissioner Steven Panten and Fire Department Lt. Dan Heier are seeking the Town Board seat Gehrke is vacating to run for chairman.
Incumbent Supervisor Joe Osterman, appointed last year after former Supervisor James Stadler resigned his seat following a felony conviction, is being challenged by Ron Fricke, who served as a supervisor until last year, when he was defeated by Dan Fisher, completing a sweep of the town’s “old guard” that began the year before.
Two years ago, Reed and Gehrke appeared to be reform-minded allies swept into office by voters angry with a previous administration plagued by squabbling within the town Police Department, controversy over a new fire station, and what appeared to be a series of costly administrative bungles.
With about 27 percent of the town voters casting ballots an unusually high town election turnout Reed mustered 1,248 votes to win as chairman, while Gehrke earned about 1,061 in his race for town supervisor.
A year later, Reed and his wife, Valerie Linton-Reed, worked for two other challengers who upset the remaining incumbents on the previous Town Board.
In both elections, Reed and his supporters might have also been helped by voters on the west side of the town who were angry over a proposed residential development along Highway V V and unsuccessful attempt to raise the speed limit on Lake Five Road from 35 to 45 mph.
Shortly after the 2008 election, Reed and Gehrke parted ways.
Gehrke grew increasingly frustrated that not enough was being done to reduce town spending.
He said he would support “a responsible road maintenance program,” but has claimed Reed has exaggerated the conditions of the town’s roads.
Furthermore, he said, Reed was treating Town Administrator Jeff Musche and other town employees unfairly and disrespectfully.
Reed countered that day-to-day spending was being tightly controlled, but more money had to be spent to fix town roads and pay off a large debt inherited from the previous Town Board.
Reed said Musche, who he claims has endorsed Gehrke, has been standing in the way of the changes Reed has been trying to make.
“Sometimes it takes conflict in order to bring change,” Reed told the forum.