Write-ins only for New Berlin village mayor
NEW BERLIN – When Village of New Berlin voters go to the polls March 15, they’ll see two candidates listed for reelection on the board of trustees – but none for mayor.
That doesn’t mean nobody’s running for the village’s top office, though. In fact, incumbent Mayor Wade Schrag and trustee Terry Potter are both seeking the title as write-in candidates.
Schrag said he completed his petition and handed it in by the deadline Feb. 9, but a review by the village clerk found unregistered voters had signed it, making their names ineligible. The mayor has now launched a write-in campaign to help secure his second, two-year term.
Trustee Terry Potter completed his petition to run again for his board seat, but at the time didn’t have intentions of running for mayor. Potter said this would be his 11th two-year term as trustee, but people have urged him to run for mayor instead. He launched his own write-in campaign just over a week ago.
So while ballots will feature candidates for the two seats on the board – Potter and fellow Trustee Michael Conroe – voters will have to write in their choice for mayor.
“And spelling counts,” said Schrag, who explained misspellings of the candidate’s names would render those votes invalid.
Schrag knows just how important the technicalities can be. During his first mayoral election in 2009, he went against 14-year incumbent Mayor Carol Riley, who launched her own write-in campaign after initially deciding to step down. Schrag won that election by two votes and the village clerk later reported four votes – all cast for Riley – were discounted because voters wrote Riley’s name in the slot meant for trustees. The votes were credited to Riley for trustee, even though she never sought the position.
Before being elected mayor, Schrag was a village board member for ten years, two as deputy mayor. He’s currently on the Youth Days Committee and the New Berlin Ambulance Committee. Schrag also coaches youth soccer and little league baseball.
Potter has been on the board for 10 years and for that entire time, he’s held the position of youth commissioner. He is an active committee member for Dollars for Scholars, the Spirit of Christmas and the finance committee at St. Theresa’s Catholic Church.
Both Schrag and Potter said they’ve shared a friendship since middle school, and agree they’ve supported nearly identical agendas over the last two years. “Our kids play together all the time,” said Potter.
One issue that has recently garnered attention and sets the two apart is how they handled negotiations with Milford Academy over an ongoing land deal dispute.
After more than two years of talks, Milford Academy sent a letter to village trustees in February announcing the school no longer wished to buy the property. The deal would have sold 10 acres of land, called Fish Field, to Milford Academy for about $4,600 an acre. The parcels of land are located just behind Milford’s main campus (the former New Berlin High School) and were to be developed into a home field for the Milford Falcons football team.
The school pulled out of the deal, citing frustrations over making long term arrangements for a little league team that has used the site for several years. While board members worked to include a clause in the sales contract to allow the teams to play on the site until a certain deadline, Milford decided it wanted the land no strings attached or not at all.
During the process, Schrag, who also coaches one of the teams, argued for a delay until the village could get replacement fields. However, locating a site proved difficult and after a few attempts the league still had nowhere to play.
Potter, who often acted as a “liaison” between Milford and the board, said he approached a business partner about donating money to build new field for the village.
Potter works with yogurt manufacturer Agro Farma through his personal business, Millennium Entertainment, and arranged to present a donation by the company to the board this past summer. Since that first introduction, Potter has excused himself from all votes relating to the issue, he said. Despite the offer, Milford still walked away from the deal in January.
Now, however, both Schrag and Potter have reported that the village is again in negotiations with Milford and they’re hoping to make headway in the deal by this summer.
Potter said after Milford’s decision to end the deal, he and another community member attended a meeting with Director Bill Chaplick that resulted in a new round of talks. Potter said the deal will effectively remain the same, but there will be no conditions for the little league.
While Potter says he has long endorsed an open engagement with Milford, he admits to voting with the board and Schrag’s recommendations on many of its proposals. Often during the meetings, he would argue from Milford’s perspective and convey information from its leadership.
“Everyone had their own perspective, but I think they were all looking out for what they thought was in the best interest of the community,” Schrag said.
Schrag said he’s disappointed about dealings with Milford, but said other business relations in the village have improved. He said he attended quarterly meetings at the Preferred Mutual Insurance Company and Town of New Berlin board meetings.
Both candidates said they supported the idea of a study that would look at the possibility of consolidating the village and town, but said they wouldn’t commit to a study that would force the village to agree to dissolution if the findings called for it.
“I would consider it as long as it makes sense and it’s practical. It has to ultimately make sense to the taxpayers and it’s certainly something we’d take a close look at,” said Potter.
Schrag agreed and pointed to a number of efforts the village has begun in the last two years that have generated cost savings and shared services. He said he’s been a member of the Ambulance Committee since it started and that billing for the service was now actually costing taxpayers less than when it was all done by volunteers. Schrag said the municipalities used to pay for much of the training and equipment, but the paid service is able to cover about 75 to 80 percent of its costs through by billing insurance providers. He also noted that at the start of 2011, the ambulance began operating 24/7. Though not on the ambulance committee, Potter said he always supported the group’s recommendations while serving on the board.
Votes can be cast at the New Berlin Village Office on South Main Street from noon to 9 p.m. on March 15.
That doesn’t mean nobody’s running for the village’s top office, though. In fact, incumbent Mayor Wade Schrag and trustee Terry Potter are both seeking the title as write-in candidates.
Schrag said he completed his petition and handed it in by the deadline Feb. 9, but a review by the village clerk found unregistered voters had signed it, making their names ineligible. The mayor has now launched a write-in campaign to help secure his second, two-year term.
Trustee Terry Potter completed his petition to run again for his board seat, but at the time didn’t have intentions of running for mayor. Potter said this would be his 11th two-year term as trustee, but people have urged him to run for mayor instead. He launched his own write-in campaign just over a week ago.
So while ballots will feature candidates for the two seats on the board – Potter and fellow Trustee Michael Conroe – voters will have to write in their choice for mayor.
“And spelling counts,” said Schrag, who explained misspellings of the candidate’s names would render those votes invalid.
Schrag knows just how important the technicalities can be. During his first mayoral election in 2009, he went against 14-year incumbent Mayor Carol Riley, who launched her own write-in campaign after initially deciding to step down. Schrag won that election by two votes and the village clerk later reported four votes – all cast for Riley – were discounted because voters wrote Riley’s name in the slot meant for trustees. The votes were credited to Riley for trustee, even though she never sought the position.
Before being elected mayor, Schrag was a village board member for ten years, two as deputy mayor. He’s currently on the Youth Days Committee and the New Berlin Ambulance Committee. Schrag also coaches youth soccer and little league baseball.
Potter has been on the board for 10 years and for that entire time, he’s held the position of youth commissioner. He is an active committee member for Dollars for Scholars, the Spirit of Christmas and the finance committee at St. Theresa’s Catholic Church.
Both Schrag and Potter said they’ve shared a friendship since middle school, and agree they’ve supported nearly identical agendas over the last two years. “Our kids play together all the time,” said Potter.
One issue that has recently garnered attention and sets the two apart is how they handled negotiations with Milford Academy over an ongoing land deal dispute.
After more than two years of talks, Milford Academy sent a letter to village trustees in February announcing the school no longer wished to buy the property. The deal would have sold 10 acres of land, called Fish Field, to Milford Academy for about $4,600 an acre. The parcels of land are located just behind Milford’s main campus (the former New Berlin High School) and were to be developed into a home field for the Milford Falcons football team.
The school pulled out of the deal, citing frustrations over making long term arrangements for a little league team that has used the site for several years. While board members worked to include a clause in the sales contract to allow the teams to play on the site until a certain deadline, Milford decided it wanted the land no strings attached or not at all.
During the process, Schrag, who also coaches one of the teams, argued for a delay until the village could get replacement fields. However, locating a site proved difficult and after a few attempts the league still had nowhere to play.
Potter, who often acted as a “liaison” between Milford and the board, said he approached a business partner about donating money to build new field for the village.
Potter works with yogurt manufacturer Agro Farma through his personal business, Millennium Entertainment, and arranged to present a donation by the company to the board this past summer. Since that first introduction, Potter has excused himself from all votes relating to the issue, he said. Despite the offer, Milford still walked away from the deal in January.
Now, however, both Schrag and Potter have reported that the village is again in negotiations with Milford and they’re hoping to make headway in the deal by this summer.
Potter said after Milford’s decision to end the deal, he and another community member attended a meeting with Director Bill Chaplick that resulted in a new round of talks. Potter said the deal will effectively remain the same, but there will be no conditions for the little league.
While Potter says he has long endorsed an open engagement with Milford, he admits to voting with the board and Schrag’s recommendations on many of its proposals. Often during the meetings, he would argue from Milford’s perspective and convey information from its leadership.
“Everyone had their own perspective, but I think they were all looking out for what they thought was in the best interest of the community,” Schrag said.
Schrag said he’s disappointed about dealings with Milford, but said other business relations in the village have improved. He said he attended quarterly meetings at the Preferred Mutual Insurance Company and Town of New Berlin board meetings.
Both candidates said they supported the idea of a study that would look at the possibility of consolidating the village and town, but said they wouldn’t commit to a study that would force the village to agree to dissolution if the findings called for it.
“I would consider it as long as it makes sense and it’s practical. It has to ultimately make sense to the taxpayers and it’s certainly something we’d take a close look at,” said Potter.
Schrag agreed and pointed to a number of efforts the village has begun in the last two years that have generated cost savings and shared services. He said he’s been a member of the Ambulance Committee since it started and that billing for the service was now actually costing taxpayers less than when it was all done by volunteers. Schrag said the municipalities used to pay for much of the training and equipment, but the paid service is able to cover about 75 to 80 percent of its costs through by billing insurance providers. He also noted that at the start of 2011, the ambulance began operating 24/7. Though not on the ambulance committee, Potter said he always supported the group’s recommendations while serving on the board.
Votes can be cast at the New Berlin Village Office on South Main Street from noon to 9 p.m. on March 15.
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