March 19, 2001
Tony Palmeri
(Oshkosh) Oshkosh Common Councilor Matt O'Malley held his final "town hall" meeting on St. Patrick's Day, March 17, at the New Moon Coffee Shop on Main Street in Oshkosh. Three candidates running for Common Council in this April's election--Shirely Brabender Mattox, Eric Barlow, and Bill Castle--were the featured meeting guests. Castle had to leave early because of a prior commitment. Candidates Jon Dell'Antonia and Mark Harris told O'Malley they could not attend because of prior commitments. Candidates Terry Knutson and Frank Tower never responded to O'Malley's invitation to attend the town hall meeting.
The candidates sat with their backs facing Main Street. Across the street and directly behind them was the historic First National Bank building, a magnificent structure only partially occupied. To the candidates' immediate left on Main St. and Algoma Blvd. sat the infamous Oshkosh Sundial. With the partially vacant First National Bank building and the Sundial serving not only as meeting backdrops but as symbols of old and new downtown Oshkosh, it was perhaps appropriate that much of the meeting was dedicated to discussing downtown revitalization issues.
Attending the meeting were some well-known Oshkosh residents. Common Councilors Kevin McGee (not seeking reelection this year), Paul Esslinger, Melanie Bloechl and O'Malley stayed for the entire meeting (which lasted from 9:30 - noon). Councilor Stephen Hintz sat in for about an hour. Other attendees included New Moon owner Rick Maki, former Common Councilor Don Kutchera, Democratic Party activist and long time local poll worker Daunita Kline, two-time Oshkosh Common Council candidate and local pundit James Genisio, Oshkosh gadfly Ken Bender, animal rights activist Steve Barney, and Winnebago County Supervisor Tom Pech, Jr. Those were only the people I recognized--many others attended.
Meeting Highlights:
*Matt O'Malley asked the candidates to talk about their vision for the city. Castle, owner of Castle-Pierce Printing and former common councilor and Mayor of Oshkosh, opined that visions cost money but if he had to articulate one it would have to do with greater coordination between the city of Oshkosh and the towns of Oshkosh and Algoma. Mattox, a retired K-12 music teacher, said that Oshkosh needs to develop a sense of what are its "actual boundaries" and take a pro-active stance on the state of Wisconsin's mandate for all municipalities to develop a "smart growth" plan. Barlow, an Office Manager with Oshkosh Tool, said he would like to see a "slowdown in west side development," but was vague on the specifics of how that could be accomplished.
*Councilor Melanie Bloechl confronted Mattox with a pointed question about downtown redevelopment. Bloechl wondered how Mattox could support "aggressive spending" for downtown redevelopment at the same time saying that she (Mattox) says she supports seniors. With so many seniors living on fixed incomes, how can they be expected to pay more in taxes for downtown redevelopment? Mattox argued in response that she is herself a senior, and that seniors living in the downtown neighborhood "need something to do." She said that the lack of activities for seniors in the downtown area drives them to "assisted living before their time."
Listening to the exchange between Bloechl and Mattox, I found myself recalling what one of my UW Oshkosh professor colleagues told me when I arrived in Oshkosh in 1989: "Oshkosh is a very enjoyable place to live, but you're going to discover that we are very slow to get things that other communities have had for a long time and we spend much time fighting battles that were resolved in other parts of the state and country years or even decades ago." His comment was in response to a question I asked about why I couldn't find a coffee shop in town. Indeed, the New Moon didn't arrive until around 1995! (It was then called the Blue Moon). Linking this to the Bloechl/Mattox exchange, it seemed to me that Mattox's call for a critical look at sprawl development is based on what is now widely accepted among city planners across the globe: as a city moves outward (i.e. urban or suburban sprawl), it will incur greater costs for necessities like roads, schools, utilities, transportation, and fire/police/emergency medical services. Not to mention the fact that citizens will spend much more dollars on fueling up their cars. In other words, if a city is interested in protecting seniors on fixed incomes, the worst thing that city could do is encourage unregulated sprawl development while allowing the inner city to rot. Not surprisingly, the Oshkosh Chamber of Commerce has endorsed Jon Dell'Antonia, Mark Harris, Frank Tower, and Bill Castle for Council--the 4 candidates for whom sprawl development is the work of natural "market forces."
*Ken Bender of 806 Oak St. argued that the city needs a long range comprehensive plan. In response, councilor Paul Esslinger said that a comprehensive plan in Oshkosh is only as good as the 4 members of the council needed to support it. Esslinger asked the candidates to state specifically what steps they could take to slow down growth in the city. Mattox argued that the city needs to remain committed to the LDR plan to revitalize downtown, while Barlow said that the best the city can do is encourage individuals to renovate already existing downtown homes and other buildings.
*Former councilor Don Kutchera asked the candidates if they would support an ordinance creating smoke-free restaurants. Barlow said no. Mattox said that she would like to see the city "work with" restaurant owners to develop a way to get them on board a ban rather than the council simply mandating a ban. She said that the council cannot have a no-smoking ordinance "rammed down the throats" of businesses.
*Paul Esslinger asked the candidates to comment on the city's negotiations with Time-Warner cable over the length of the cable contract and the city's desire for more funding for PEG (public, educational, and government) access. Mattox said that Time-Warner's insistence on a 15 year deal seems excessive, and she also believes that the 2 access channels the city currently has (i.e. Oshkosh Cable Access Television channel 10 and Titan-TV 2) are enough. Barlow said he did not have enough information to state a firm opinion on this topic. Matt O'Malley said snidely that Essliner is an "impartial juror" on this topic, apparently referring to the fact that Esslinger is employed by Time-Warner competitor Charter Communications.
*Daunita Kline wanted to know why Frank Tower and Terry Knutson were not at the meeting (O'Malley explained that they never responded to his invitation), and then made a statement to the effect that the city needs to control northern and western sprawl. In response, Barlow and Mattox essentially repeated their prior statements on development.
*A young woman employee of the New Moon criticized Mattox for her claim that seniors would benefit from downtown revitalization, and also argued that the west side development is a good thing for Oshkosh because the people who live there pay taxes and contribute to the economy. Melanie Bloechl applauded wildly after the young woman's statement. Make of that what you will.
*Matt O'Malley, only the second student ever elected to the Oshkosh Common Council, asked the candidates to comment on how they would involve students in city government. Barlow said he would meet with student leaders if elected and try to formulate goals with them. Mattox said she regularly watches the student senate meetings on cable television and would like to help the students address their concerns about rental properties.
*Tom Pech, Jr. gave a mini-speech in which he argued that downtown could only be redeveloped with the cooperation of government, business, and the private sector. He asked the candidates to comment on how they would bring those three parties together. Pech also said that the city once had free bus rides downtown and said that was an example of the kind of program that is needed.
*Melanie Bloechl got up to correct Pech's "misinformation" and said that the free bus rides were the result of a grant that the city no longer has. She then asked the candidates to comment on how they would cap spending, especially considering the fact that the city will be negotiating union contracts next year. The candidates answered in general terms, with Mattox saying that the council members need more time to examine the budget documents in order to make informed decisions about what to cut.
*I asked a question about how the public can become more involved in evaluating the Oshkosh City Manager. As support for my question, I pointed out that the Winnebago County Executive is a largely administrative position, yet we get to vote for her. When I expressed my opinion that Mrs. Van De Hey has gotten a "wake up call" this year in the elections, Bloechl and Esslinger expressed audible disagreement. For what it's worth, Van De Hey was an open supporter of Bloechl in her campaign against State Representative Underheim last year, while Esslinger has contributed money to Van De Hey's reelection campaign. Barlow said he did not like the fact that the City Manager only has to keep 4 members of the council happy to keep his job, but he did not think there was a better system and he would support keeping the system the way it is. He did say that he might support having a town hall meeting to discuss the manager's performance. Mattox said that perhaps the city could include a section on its web site to give the public a chance to offer comments on the manager's performance.
*Rick Maki thanked O'Malley for the town hall meeting and urged the candidates to pay attention to downtown issues. Melanie Bloechl thanked the candidates for participating in the forum and wished them luck. Paul Esslinger asked the candidates to remember that if they get elected they have a great responsibility to watch out for the best interests of the taxpayers. O'Malley closed the meeting by saying that Shirley Mattox is the candidate most likely to continue to the town hall meetings if she is elected.
All in all, Matt O'Malley should be commended for having these meetings. While the attendance for them was never as high as he or others might have liked, the meetings were always highly informative and worthwhile for those who did attend. Since O'Malley is not running for reelection, there is a good chance that the St. Patrick's day forum was the last one we will see in a while. I hope at least one of the new councilors or the incumbents will continue the tradition--Oshkosh needs it!