Redevelopment key issue in Thiensville trustee race

Thiensville - Longtime village trustee Don Molyneux says this is the first primary election in the community during his years of service on the Village Board. Molyneux's service stretches over 40 years with a break of a couple of years in the middle.

Although unusual, five candidates will square off in the Feb. 21 primary elections, hoping to be one of the four who will advance to the April 3 ballot.

What has churned up interest in running for local office seems to be development and redevelopment of vacant sites in the village. All five candidates, incumbents Molyneux and Toni Ihler and challengers, Kim Beck, Kenneth Kucharski and William Read, want to see vacant land filled by vibrant businesses that will add to the village's tax base.

Downtown projects needed

Although redevelopment has been scarce everywhere during the country's economic downturn, a new Fiddleheads bakery and roasting facility on Main Street is a development that everyone wants to see replicated.

"Overall we have been pretty passive about our downtown," Beck said. "I think Fiddleheads was a great step but you can go up and down the street and see vacant sites. The village needs to build relationships with the people who own the land and who own businesses."

Beck is a member of the Plan Commission.

The owner of Skippy's Sport Pub, Kucharski thinks the viewpoint of a business owner would be valuable for the Village Board.

He suggested developing an indoor farmers market in the village. The Business Association sponsors the farmers market on Tuesdays during the spring/summer/fall months.

"It's one of the best spots for vendors," he said. An indoor winter market would be unique for the area and likely to draw shoppers, he said.

Kucharski disagrees with the village's recent purchase of 108 Main Street.

"I see and hear over and over that our village needs to stay out of the real estate business," he said.

Molyneux and Ihler, however, believe the purchase, along with the work done along Pigeon Creek, will help bring in businesses and upgrade the area.

"We plan to rebuild Main Street," Molyneux said. "We will use that land for awhile as a parking lot, but will develop it if we can find a business. There is also the possibility of developing the second floor of the old Town Hall (next door).

Ihler said the extension of municipal water on Main Street could help spur the redevelopment the board and community are looking for.

"We also want to remain fiscally sound as we work on the water and redevelopment," she said. Ihler believes the village should bring back its Economic Development Commission to work on bringing businesses to the community.

Read, now retired, managed and operated shopping centers.

"As a trustee I would make a strong effort to get a developer in here," he said. "I know a lot of them. Through tax breaks or tax incremental finance districts, the village can also encourage redevelopment."

Read said he is particularly interested in village taxes.

"Everyone else - state, county, school district - lowered their taxes except for the village which went up 1 percent," he said.

Bringing some fiscal practices used in business to the board would benefit the village, he said.

While sharing services such as police and fire with Mequon might seem a cost effective way to lower taxes, all the candidates believe residents like the level of services provided in the village and want to keep them.

Brief profiles of the candidates follow:

Toni Ihler

Incumbent Ihler, 52, has a Bachelor of Arts degree from Marquette University and a master's in Public Administration from Texas A & M University. She is a program educator for Columbia St. Mary's Hospital and an EMT with the Thiensville Fire Department. The only woman on the board, she is completing her first three-year term and wants to be re-elected because there is work yet to be done.

"Thiensville is at a crossroads," she said. "There will be a new village president and that will bring a new tone. There will be a new police chief and in a town this small, that is huge."

Don Molyneux

Incumbent Don Molyneux, 92, has served as a trustee for 28 years and as village president for 12 years. A retired zone manager for NCR, Molyneux was an Army officer in World War II and with his wife, LaVerne, has seen Thiensville grow from 528 residents in 1953 to the current 3,300 plus.

"I have seen a lot of improvements made over that time," he said. "We have put in sidewalks, hopefully corrected the flooding on Pigeon Creek. We won't purchase anything unless we can pay for it. That's been our policy since we became debt-free and it has helped keep our tax rate down."

Kim Beck

Kim Beck, 56, is Director of Arts, Humanities and Science at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee School of Continuing Education. He has two master's degrees, in humanities from the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh and in theater and drama from UW-Madison. A member of the Plan Commission, he is a first-time candidate for the Village Board.

"I feel it is important to have an urban and modern look with a quaint feel," he said of the village." If I were building a community in the 21st century, it would look like Thiensville."

He and his wife, Pamela, have a son at Steffen Middle School.

Kenneth Kucharski

Kenneth Kucharski, 55, is a first-time candidate for the board. He has an associate degree in business management/marketing from Milwaukee Area Technical College and has owned Skippy's Sports Pub for 15 years.

"I want Thiensville to stay Thiensville," he said. "I am a believer in small communities. It is the diamond of Ozaukee County and we need to get more people to know that."

Kucharski and his wife have two adult sons and a daughter-in-law.

William Read

William Read, 60, lost by 55 votes in a run for the board last year. A retired property and operations manager of shopping centers across the country, he has a Bachelor of Science in business administration from Lakeland College in Sheboygan. The subdivision in which he lives petitioned the village for assistance in installing municipal water, which spurred his interest in serving on the board.

"The Village Board needs to be transparent," he said. "There are so many secret things that go on in Thiensville. I would let people know what is going on. When we were dealing with the water issue, I don't feel the village kept up with letting us know what was going on. Better communication is necessary."

He and his wife have an adult son.

Editor's note: Election letters for the primary are due by 5 p.m. Feb. 3. Letters are limited to 300 words; email to snord@cninow.com.