Meet the candidates running for Stevens Point Council District 9 in the April 4 election

Keith Kedrowski and Sam Lang will vie for the District 9 seat on the Stevens Point City Council in the April 4 election. Incumbent Polly Dalton is not seeking reelection.

Alderpersons serve a two-year term.

To learn more about registering to vote and to find your polling place, visit My Vote Wisconsin.

The Stevens Point Journal asked each of the candidates to address important issues in the district and why they are running for the position.

Keith Kedrowski

Age: 64

Residence: Stevens Point

Occupation and education: Information technology-onsite support

Relevant experience: Experience with government procurement and logistics, worked to streamline processes and save taxpayers’ money through logical procurement and implementation methods

Campaign website/Facebook page: Email kedroforcommoncouncil@gmail.com

Sam Lang

Age: 36

Residence: Stevens Point

Occupation and education: Retired, attended some college, National Alliance on Mental Illness-certified group facilitor

Relevant experience: Community activism/outreach, volunteer work/mentoring/peer support. Years worked in food service and lodging, manufacturing and agriculture industries

Why are you running for office?

Kedrowski: Residents should always have a choice of who represents them. I grew up in Stevens Point and would like to see it remain an affordable and safe place to live. Escalating property taxes and rising crime rates are making that more difficult.

Lang: To give back to a community that has done so much for me. I see the need. I have the time to take this opportunity to serve with greater impact than volunteering ever would have.

What are residents telling you are the most important issues in District 9, and how would you address them?

Kedrowski: Rising taxes and the effect they have on the affordability of living in my district (and the city as a whole). My support for a fiscally responsible city government will serve to best address this issue. People move here because they like what they see. It seems our current city government is constantly trying to push change onto the community, too often where none is needed.

Lang: What I have heard is resentment at the lack of affordable housing especially for low-income households, passionate concerns opposing the relocation of the courthouse out to the edge of the city, and frustration and dismay over staffing/retention of the city emergency services. My plan is to develop a healthier city budget, invest in public housing and build for the future needs of our city.

What are the top two issues that you believe need to be addressed in the city?

Kedrowski: Rising property taxes, as I outlined in the previous question, is issue number one. Balancing taxes and infrastructure expenditures is equally important. The 2024 budget could become a real dilemma with tax levy restrictions. This goes hand in hand with citywide road repair issues, not to mention the Business 51 situation.

Lang: 1) Public safety. We must ensure that as we build the future of Stevens Point our health and safety take top priority. The citywide housing emergency adds stress to our already under-resourced city emergency services. All of our emergency services need to grow to reflect our city's needs, both current and for the foreseeable future. 2) Financial stewardship. We have a golden opportunity to decrease the interest rates on some municipal debt by refinancing through federal programs. The share of the city budget spent servicing our debt has an opportunity to be significantly reduced. Let's be savvy financial stewards and save some money.

Readers often mention affordable housing as a top concern in the city. What can the City Council do to ensure truly affordable housing is available for residents?

Kedrowski: This is an excellent question that is important to many Stevens Point residents. With that said, I would need to do more research on this as it is an extraordinarily complex issue. The city can, however, do their part with a fiscally responsible budget. They are currently attempting a trickle-down effect by allowing a considerable amount of new multiple-family housing projects. Time will tell if these dilution efforts make housing more affordable. Without the city literally becoming a landlord or subsidizing rent there is not much more the city can do.

Lang: Commit to building more public housing of single-family homes which targets low-income families and individuals. Consolidate housing bureaucracies to streamline processing housing cases.

Increasing taxes in the city is another complaint we often see from readers. What can the City Council do to keep increases to a minimum?

Kedrowski: City government expenses are experiencing the same inflationary increases as its residents. City taxpayers are having to meet their obligations with smaller budgets because of it. City government must do the same. Continuously increasing taxes to offset rising expenses is not the solution. City Council must assist the city government in finding areas where expenses can be trimmed to keep tax increases to a minimum. It can be done. We need to do our due diligence through procurement to find the most affordable costs for all projects, planning and physical work. Efforts need to be made to stop all wasteful spending.

Lang: Save money by refinancing to lower interest as much debt as possible. Decrease risks of future city liability by investing in our emergency services.

More:What Stevens Point voters need to know about the $4.2M road projects on the April ballot

More:Meet the candidates running for Stevens Point mayor in the April 4 election

Editor Jamie Rokus can be reached at jrokus@gannett.com or follow her on Twitter at @Jamie_Rokus.