{"id":731,"date":"2024-01-01T11:30:35","date_gmt":"2024-01-01T17:30:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/walz-chojnacki.us\/Pensees\/?p=731"},"modified":"2024-01-04T09:10:59","modified_gmt":"2024-01-04T15:10:59","slug":"why-i-support-dennis-mcbride-for-mayor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.walz-chojnacki.us\/Pensees\/why-i-support-dennis-mcbride-for-mayor\/","title":{"rendered":"Why I support Dennis McBride for Mayor"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Why I\u2019m supporting Dennis McBride.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

To be brief, my support for Dennis McBride comes down to three things: character, competence and experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019ve known Dennis for many years and I understand that personally and professionally he has worked to support progressive values; his work at the EEOC, for example, has demonstrated a commitment to fairness in the workplace and the rights of under-represented people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a civic volunteer, Dennis has played a large role in rescuing and revitalizing Hoyt Pool and the wildly successful The Landing \u2013 whose benefits are enjoyed by people well beyond our city\u2019s borders. He played a similarly important role in the founding of Support Our Schools and the rescue of Wilson School, one example of his long-standing commitment to public education in Wauwatosa. Visit Dennis4Tosa.com to learn more about his unparalleled contributions to the life and welfare of our city.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When considering our concerns about the city, it is important to understand the constitutional, legal, and financial constraints that city officials must operate within.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One example is policing, which has been a source of concern for many of us. People believe that the mayor of Wauwatosa has the power to hire and fire officers and the chief of police. In fact, that power lies with the police and fire commission. But under Dennis\u2019 leadership the city has begun the hiring of social workers to do the public safety work that sworn officers are not trained to do (something that is best described as re-funding, not \u201cde-funding\u201d the police).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another example is that, while the mayor chairs Common Council meetings, the sole legislative power exercised by Wauwatosa Mayors is the ability to break ties in Council votes. Beyond that, the strength of the mayor lies in lending her or his experience and advice to alders who must consider and enact policy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I urge voters to contact the alders they have elected<\/a><\/em> to learn about their experience with the two mayoral candidates, and who they think has the qualities and experience a mayor needs to serve the interests of the entire community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A word about our unelected<\/em> city officials. As a citizen and alderman, I have found our city staff to be unfailingly transparent, respectful and patient in explaining the complexities of the issues before them, and sharing their best judgment as to how to address those issues, from public safety, water, roads, and more. They make themselves available to alders, and to citizens, as time allows. Two of the city\u2019s most nettlesome problems \u2013 housing and transportation \u2013 are being dealt with about as well as can be expected, given the lack of support from the state legislature.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Every American city has significant problems, but under Dennis\u2019 experienced and competent leadership, Wauwatosa is addressing those problems with uncommon success.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

An useful measure of that success is the recent growth of the city\u2019s population after years of decline. This growth is driven in large part by an influx of young people coming to raise their families in one of the most successful municipalities in the state.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another sign of that success is the eagerness of our partners to the east \u2013 Milwaukee Mayor Chevy Johnson and Country Executive Dave Crowley \u2013 to partner with Wauwatosa in a variety of initiatives. And that goes for other municipalities in the region, as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I will close with a very personal observation. As a parent of a child with Down Syndrome, I am aware of Dennis\u2019 support of efforts to provide supportive housing to people with special needs \u2013 part of the city\u2019s broader commitment to address housing concerns in Wauwatosa. There have been setbacks, but I have complete confidence in Dennis\u2019 \u2013 and city staff\u2019s \u2013 commitment and competence to address housing concerns in the city.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This confidence stems from Dennis\u2019 long-demonstrated competence and commitment to the welfare of Wauwatosa and its residents and visitors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We all want progress. I\u2019m supporting Dennis because I know he can make it happen<\/em>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Why I\u2019m supporting Dennis McBride. To be brief, my support for Dennis McBride comes down to three things: character, competence and experience. I\u2019ve known Dennis for many years and I understand that personally and professionally he has worked to support progressive values; his work at the EEOC, for example, has demonstrated a commitment to fairness […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-731","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general","cat-1-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.walz-chojnacki.us\/Pensees\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/731","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.walz-chojnacki.us\/Pensees\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.walz-chojnacki.us\/Pensees\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.walz-chojnacki.us\/Pensees\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.walz-chojnacki.us\/Pensees\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=731"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.walz-chojnacki.us\/Pensees\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/731\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":737,"href":"https:\/\/www.walz-chojnacki.us\/Pensees\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/731\/revisions\/737"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.walz-chojnacki.us\/Pensees\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=731"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.walz-chojnacki.us\/Pensees\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=731"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.walz-chojnacki.us\/Pensees\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=731"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}