Nagler challenging Newman for Lannon president

Posted: March 19, 2013

Village of Lannon - Incumbent Lannon Village President Jerry Newman and his challenger in the April 2 municipal election, David Nagler, share similar positions on some key issues in the village.

Both candidates responded to questions from the Sun.

Which should be the greater priority for the Village Board, maintaining the friendly, small-village atmosphere, or attracting as much commercial development as possible in order to expand the tax base, reduce individual tax rate and offer economic opportunities?

Nagler: "I don't feel we need to have to prioritize these efforts differently. They both warrant top position.

Newman: Because Lannon has a small amount of land to develop … we decided when creating our "smart growth" plan that Lannon would concentrate on residential development. We have an area that would be for office buildings in a future tax increment financing (TIF) district. Developers are interested in assisted-living facilities due to our proximity to hospitals and clinics.

State law imposes a limit on the amount of real estate tax revenues that can levied by the Village Board, yet the inflationary costs of providing basic government services continues to grow. What specific and unique proposal do you have for increasing nontax revenues or maintaining, or reducing, present spending levels?

Newman: The Planned Unit Develop (PUD) contracts have provided a revenue source in addition to property taxes. They have funded a major part of our water system and new lighting in our parks. I would want all future developments to be PUDs. The proposed phosphorus rules could cause Lannon to reduce spending for other services.

Nagler: The village is now able to look at the possibility of cutting costs by working with Menomonee Falls to possibly provide fire and emergency medical services to Lannon.

Do you support the proposed consolidation of the Lannon and Menomonee Falls fire departments because you believe it can save money and improve service levels? Or are you concerned that the village would lose the control and identity of its local fire department and eventually face having to depend on fulltime firefighters rather than paid, on call volunteer firefighters?

Newman: I began talking with Menomonee Falls over three years ago to develop a consolidated new fire station. This has progressed to the possibility of a consolidated department. Lannon doesn't have the tax base to support fulltime employees and paid, on-call members are difficult to secure during daytime hours. Consolidation has happened in other communities and will be increasing in the future due to levy limits.

Nagler: As much as I personally would like to see an independent Lannon Fire Department, the reality is that the costs will make it prohibitive to keep the Lannon department cost-effective as a stand-alone entity.

Jerry Newman (I)

Age: 67

Occupation: Owner/partner of four businesses

Education: Wisconsin Lutheran High School; civil engineering studies at University of Wisconsin-Platteville; business management studies, Marquette University

Previous Offices held or sought: Lannon Plan Committee, Lannon trustee, Lannon village president

Years in village: 41

Family: Wife Kok Lin Tjen, no children

David F. Nagler

Age: 56

Occupation: Sales

Education: Bachelor of science, University of Wisconsin-Madison; secondary teacher certification; various advance degree work

Previous offices sought or held: Lannon Plan Commission, Lannon Village Board

Years in village: 12

Family: Wife Liz, teenage son