No Fireworks at Forum as Candidates Keep It Civil

Although the election is less than one week away, candidates in Sussex are remaining civil in the final days of the races for village president and trustee.

“You have two candidates here, and there was no mudslinging and we’re good friends,” village president candidate Gabe Kolesari said. “Either one of us, the village wouldn’t lose anything if elected.”

Candidates for Village Board, president and Town of Lisbon positions gathered at Hamilton High School Wednesday night for a forum sponsored by the Sussex Area Chamber of Commerce and moderated by Waukesha County Supervisor Robert Hutton.

About 100 people attended the event, which will be rebroadcast on public access television before the election Tuesday.

All Sussex candidates participated in the event, with trustee candidates Jim Batzko, Tim Dietrich, Michael Knapp and Jason Wegner each taking several minutes to make their case of why they should be elected to serve a one of three three-year terms.

Dietrich and Wegner are both incumbents. Trustee Steve Berger isn’t seeking re-election to the board.

Kolesari, who is president of the Hamilton School Board, is facing Trustee Greg Goetz in the election to replace outgoing Village President Tony Lapcinski. Although the two will face each other in the election, they continued to note their close friendship by joking with each other and applauding for one another during the forum.

Goetz echoed the friendly remarks with Kolesari, and the two candidates also reached out to the Lisbon candidates, saying they would be willing to work with the town and other municipalities in a cooperative manner if elected.

“We do share some of the same services already,” Goetz said. “I’m sure there are more things we can explore.”

Kolesari and Goetz also both said they support installing sidewalks in the community because it would allow for people to easily access the downtown area once the and they also said they support the proposed .

“I’m a big proponent of sidewalks,” Goetz said. “I’m a big proponent of having a walkable community.”

Trustee candidates also kept friendly overtones to their remarks and all stressed their involvement in the community and years of residency as reasons to vote for them. Unlike the village president candidates, they only made brief statements at the forum and didn’t respond to questions.

In a very brief statement, Dietrich said Sussex was recently recognized as one of the best suburban communities in the metro Milwaukee area and that ranking is a credit to everyone in the community.

“It’s been a pleasure to serve the community for the last two years as a village trustee,” Dietrich said. “I really enjoyed it. I felt I added a lot to it.”

Batzko, who works as a Delafield police officer and was a trustee for five years, said he has a lot of involvement with public safety issues and wants to keep it a safe community.

“I spend a lot of time in the community youth sports programs,” he said. “I’d say I have a good experience on the Village Board in the past five years as well.”

Knapp, who served as village president for six years and six years as a trustee in the past, also praised the community and said it is the reason he wants to get involved again in its leadership. He also said he also wants to be part of the decision on what  direction the village will take on either replacing or renovating Village Hall.

Knapp said he is personally in favor of renovating Village Hall, but supports having the choice go to the voters in the future. He also warned of potential loss in state fund in coming years.

“We’ve really got a great village,” he said. “But the state is in difficult financial times.”

Wegner said he is seeking another term on the board because he is glad of the success the community has had and praised it for keeping business space full.

“They’re looking at the village because of our economic tax structure for a village,” he said. They see value in that.”