Readers have a lot to say

Vote Yes to Dissolve on Nov. 4

Residents of Silver Lake, are you happy with the state of things? Are you happy with no new business, rundown buildings in the center of our community, the lack of planning, lack of money and lack of ethics? Are you happy with a Milwaukee TV station comparing our village board meetings to “a dysfunctional family at Thanksgiving dinner?” We can no longer just wait for change.

We must be proactive to achieve change. The village will go broke; we’ll be facing the financial aftermath of bankruptcy. Would you sit by and let your family go bankrupt if a solution to avoid it was right in front of you? And what if that solution would benefit you?

Not one solid argument against dissolution has been presented. There are no good reasons not to dissolve.

Are you happy? If you are, then it must be because you’ve been so busy building a good life for yourself and your family you haven’t been paying attention to where your tax dollars are and are not going.

Now imagine yourself even happier but now you have a little more money in your pocket, your community is being guided by a professional administrator and as you are busy building that good life, paying attention to local government is not so pressing.

Can you picture it? Then, vote Yes to Dissolve on Nov. 4.

Chris Laas

Silver Lake

 

Silver Lake can survive without a village government

 

I have been a resident of Silver Lake for 19 years, and over the past 15 years some Silver Lake residents have made extreme efforts to try and make changes – and every time one small step is taken forward, the same 300 people come out, vote some-one in who is still trying to live in the past and send us all three giant steps back-ward.

Government in Silver Lake is the definition of backward. Village Hall is stuck in 1926 and there are people here who believe that all we need to do is wait for the next tax year, raise the taxes as much as is allowed and all our problems will eventually go away. They won’t.

And even if small improvements could be made gradually, it wouldn’t be enough, and we can’t wait that long.

You know, your tax bill is just the base amount you must pay – you can send in more. If you truly believe in the Village and you want to save this layer of govern-ment, then make your weekly or monthly contribution to the Village of Silver Lake, 113 S. First Street.

Be sure you indicate on the memo line how you want your contribution spent. Maybe on the new library? Sewer repair? Fire department? Road improvements? Cleaning the beach? Employee raises? The list goes on and on.

But, if you have come to the realization that we can survive, and survive quite nicely, without a village gov-ernment, then be sure and vote Yes to Dissolve on Nov. 4.

If you have any questions or need the facts, contact [email protected]

Jo Lasdasky

Silver Lake

 

Supports VanWanggaard

I would like to thank the residents of the 61st Assembly District for their support the past two years. It has been an honor to serve the area as we continue to recover from the economic challenges that we face.

I would like to continue my work to bring more jobs, cut taxes, and expand educational choices with a new 21st District State Senator.

On Tuesday, Aug. 12, there is an important Republican primary for the senate seat. I urge district residents to join me in re-electing Van Wanggaard to the State Senate.

I am proud to say that both Van and I worked alongside Gov. Walker to pass a bold conservative agenda that has put our state back on track. We both voted for Act 10, which helped eliminate a $3.6 billion budget deficit and paved the way for nearly $2 billion in tax cuts.

Together Van and I stand with Governor Walker on many issues important to conservatives. Van has an “A” rating with the NRA, is endorsed by Wisconsin Right to Life, and will work diligently to reduce our overall tax burden. Van was also a leader in passing pro-job legislation and authored several bills that played a key role in the rapid economic development that Kenosha County has experienced.

Van stood up for the taxpayers, supported Gov. Walker’s bold agenda, and was recalled because of it. For Van’s support of Gov. Walker and conservative reforms, he has earned my trust and deserves the ability return to the senate and finish the job he started.

Please join me on Tuesday, Aug. 12 and vote for the proven, trusted conservative, Van Wanggaard.

Samantha Kerkman

State Representative

61st Assembly District

To Whom It May Concern:

On May 22, I attended the meeting where Mike Culat was present at Susan Milligan’s home. In this meeting ATV matters were being discussed, and one of the issues that was brought up is how, quote, “…he could ride down to his neighbors for a beer or people travel to various area taverns to drink a beer.”

He talked about other things, including how the times allowed for the ATV’s to be driven would be from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. Concerns were there for all present.

In the July 21 meeting held at 6 p.m. at the Salem Town Hall after everyone was done speaking, Mr. Culat wanted to speak and said that Susan Milligan lied in her speech in a prior meeting held on July 9, about the meeting that was held at her home, on May 22.

He was the one that did the misrepresenting in front of more than 125 people, and should apologize publically to her (Susan Milligan) for bringing up her name in a meeting that was to have no rebuttal to the speakers in any disrespectful way.

These are residential areas with families that have young children and babies that take naps daily during mid-afternoons or various times of the day/evening, and if this ordinance passes, it will interfere with these families.

Safety needs to be the priority in residential areas where people live, and the trails are put in place for those types of recreational vehicles (ATV’s).

Respect the areas where people live and use the ATV’s where they were meant to be ridden, not residential areas or paved roads. We live in a quiet community, which need to stay a quiet community, where neighbors are good neighbors.

Sandra Milligan

Trevor

 

Dissolving can be like a divorce

The residents of Silver Lake are asking for a divorce from the village government. Divorces are never easy and often times, someone inevitably gets hurt.

But it doesn’t have to be that way, and if the two sides can work together with the help of a reputed Divorce Lawyer, it can turn out to be best for everyone. Years later the question lingers, why didn’t we do this sooner?

The village can no longer afford to provide for the needs of its residents. The divided populace continues to be at odds with one another, current leadership has blinders on regarding current and future financial realities and the lack of business growth leaves the burden of the bills on the backs of the tax payers: 1,000 homeowners and a handful of businesses who are supporting a $1.4M annual budget with increases for sewer improvement ($533,704) and library purchase ($250,000) on the horizon.

Every single reason for the marriage to have happened in the first place is gone. Life is about change, and the time has come to make a change. The village’s insatiable hunger for revenue will continue to increase as costs for services rise. The town provides for their residents every benefit the residents of Silver Lake enjoy and in most cases do a better job and in essence for less money because it is shared by a larger and broader tax base.

Silver Lake residents, please go to the Town of Salem Web site and look at it, look at their annual budget, look at their fire and rescue budget, road maintenance, snow plowing, etc.

If we fold into the town, we’ll be merely an additional 1.5 square mile hamlet, but as it is now, we have total financial responsibility for supporting a municipality that is only 1.5 square miles and requires us to duplicate every service.

This divorce isn’t an “us against them.” This dissolution is about keeping Silver Lake as the idyllic place we all love without the financial distress that continues every year.

We need to dissolve the Village of Silver Lake in order to save the Village of Silver Lake.

Bruce Nopenz

Silver Lake

Supports Wanggaard

I totally agree with Assembly Speaker Robin Vos and the Republican Assembly Campaign Committees backing of Van Wanggaard for State Senate.

Van Wanggaard is a big family man, he understands kitchen table issues which affect all of us.

Van supported Act 10 and Governor Walker from day one.

There is no substitute for experience. Van has served on the County Board and in the State Senate. Steitz has no political record. He can say he’s the most conservative but has no elected record of any kind to prove it. Talk is cheap!

Van is a retired veteran law enforcement officer and believes in opportunity and fairness for all.

I don’t know how anyone else feels but I don’t want another attorney in elected office, like Obama and the two Clintons. All you get are more laws, more rules, more regulations and higher taxes. Soon you will have to hire an attorney to get even the simplest of things done.

It’s time to say enough is enough. We don’t want more roadblocks to our freedom. Steitz said he has a law degree from Northwestern University. I rest my case.

Catherine Thielen

Bohners Lake


Posted

in

by

Tags: