MADELINE ISLAND NEWS AND INFORMATION
A Comparison of the 2009 Town Board Candidates Positions by Edward Itor
POSTED: FEBRUARY 17
In the January 23, 2009 issue of The Island Gazette was published, it contained several questions from Evan Erickson, editor and publisher to candidates for the Town Board of Supervisors in the elections coming up on April 7th.
This has been a tradition for quite some time. Many of the questions Erickson asks are usually based on what he perceives as "hot" topics. For many people, in particular summer residents, it gives them a good opportunity to see where the candidates stand on some of these issues.
This years questions all seem to be based on "zoning"; perhaps the "hot topic" that continues to dominate town politics since its inception in 1971. If you are a property owner on Madeline Island, at some point you have had to deal with "zoning". Zoning, simply put, are the state, county, and local laws that determine how you can use your property. In La Pointe, the Town Board of Supervisors has much say in the decisions that affect Madeline Island property owners.
Last year, we included the articles in The Island Gazette from all of the candidates. At the time, we were brand new and many people hadn't heard of us. However, over the course of the next year, that changed. Today we receive about 35 hits a day with a total of around 400 hits per month. You can draw your own conclusion from these statistics.
Over the past year I have tried to communicate with Town Board officials via email about Town issues. Beth Fischlowitz, official "Town of La Pointe Press Liaison" has yet to respond to any of my emails. (Remember, Fischlowitz ran on a platform of "bringing her years of experience in business" to Town Hall. I suppose that's is how it goes in business. Just ignore your detractors and maybe they'll go away!)
This year we considered putting the candidates positions on our website, however doing that is somewhat problematic. Last year we tried scanning some things we found of interest to our readers from The Island Gazette, however, the quality of the paper used in publishing The Island Gazette is too thin. Our other option is to re-type the articles. This, unfortunately is a lot of work; work we would rather not do in this electronic age.
When The Island Gazette came out, we sent emails to each of the candidates for Town Board of Supervisors inviting them to send us an email with their answers to Evan's questions. To date, only two of the candidates responded and we have posted their answers on this site. All of the candidates have publicly available email addresses so the only conclusions that we can draw either: They did not receive our email or they simply do not want to respond.
However, we think it is important to our readers to understand where those who have chosen not to communicate with us, stand on some of these "hot" topics so, for your convenience, we have listed all of the questions with the candidates answers in abbreviated format.
1. Will you support holding separate public hearings for each of the different proposals?
Greg Nelson: No
Mike Starck: Yes
Jim Patterson: No
Larry Whalen: Yes
Ham Ross: Yes
2. Do you support adding permitted and conditional uses for commercial businesses in residential districts (restaurants/taverns in the R1 zone with a conditional use permit for example?)
Greg Nelson: No
Mike Starck: - Refused to answer question
Jim Patterson: No
Larry Whalen: No
Ham Ross: No
3. Do you support allowing the building and rental of guest houses, and, if so, how many should be allowed on a building lot and how many bedrooms should be allowed in each guest house? Should there be a limit on when or for how long a time period that one could rent their guest house? Should open ended (long term) rental of guest houses be permitted?
Greg Nelson: Yes, 1
Mike Starck: - Refused to answer question
Jim Patterson: Yes, 1
Larry Whalen: Yes, 1
Ham Ross: Yes, (couldn’t understand his answer).
4. Do you support the proposed Mixed Use Zoning District on Middle Road? What do you think should be allowed in this zone? What should the boundaries be? The entire Middle Road - or, where should it start and where should it end? Should an emphasis be placed upon the opinions/concerns of Middle Road property owners?
Greg Nelson: Yes, C1 to Greenwood Cemetary
Mike Starck: Refused to answer question
Jim Patterson: Yes, didn't answer the rest of the questions
Larry Whalen: No
Ham Ross: No. No further than Penny Lane
5. Do you support some type of binding protection of historical areas and buildings on the Island, for example, the Nebraska Row area or along Old Fort Road (Mission Hill area) down to Grant’s Point or other historic areas or structures?
Greg Nelson: Yes
Mike Starck: Refused to answer question
Jim Patterson: Maybe
Larry Whalen: Yes
Ham Ross: Yes
6. Do you believe that the proposed text changes are in line with the goals and objectives of the Comprehensive Plan? Would you support a review and a critique of these zoning text changes by the CAPP Committee before final passage?
Greg Nelson: Yes, No
Mike Starck: Yes,
Jim Patterson: Yes, No
Larry Whalen: No, Yes
Ham Ross: No, Yes
7. Do you support delaying action on zoning changes so that summer residents can have the opportunity to attend the public hearings?
Greg Nelson: No
Mike Starck: No
Jim Patterson: No
Larry Whalen: Yes
Ham Ross: Yes
8. Do you support protecting the traditional land uses within zoning districts, even if that conflicts with the zoning committee’s interpretation of the comprehensive plan?
Greg Nelson: Unclear Answer. Wants a direct example.
Mike Starck: Didn’t answer
Jim Patterson: Unclear Answer. Seems to say no.
Larry Whalen: Yes
Ham Ross: Yes
9. If a public hearing results in overwhelming rejection of a proposed zoning change, would you feel obligated to cast your vote to reject that plan?
Greg Nelson: Maybe
Mike Starck: Maybe
Jim Patterson: Yes
Larry Whalen: Yes
Ham Ross: Yes
There you have it.
We are going to post this statement from Mike Starck that appeared in The Island Gazette accompanying his answers:
"This is a response written as an answer to multiple question submitted to me by Evan Erickson regarding the Town Plan Commission and potential Zoning Ordinance changes. The questions fall into two different categories 1)Procedural, 2) Discretionary. (In regards to questions 2,3,4, and 5) I do not feel it is appropriate for me to have formed opinions on these items without hearing from the residents. Only after holding the required Public Hearings will I decide on these issues. All of the other questions are still in the drafting and Public Hearing stages and I am obligated to not have my mind made up on these items. This is not a copout, it is the law."
Starck is correct as so far as he is required to have an open mind on these issues before voting on them however a look at his voting record on the TPC and Town Board over the years may reveal more about his positions on these topics.
Hopefully this articles helps you. However, we encourage you to try to find the January 23, 2009 issue of The Island Gazette to read the candidates answers for yourselves. You can email The Island Gazette at isg@cheqnet.net
Maybe they will answer YOUR emails. Here's their email address if you want to try.
Greg Nelson (received from Town Hall): gpnelson89@yahoo.com
Mike Starck (received from Town Hall): mstarck@cheqnet.net
Jim Patterson (received from Town Hall) jmpjip@yahoo.com
Hamilton Ross (obtained from The Island Gazette): mrmuckle3@yahoo.com
Larry Whalen: (seeking permission to post)
Also, there is a candidates forum where all candidates running for office will be answering questions from the public on Sunday, March 22nd at the Fire Hall.
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