Oak Creek 6th District alderman candidates talk about resident voices

Oak Creek - Alderman Tom Michalski has two challengers, Chris Guzikowski and Ed Reader, for the 6th District seat on the Common Council.

The two top-voters in the Feb. 21 primary will advance to the April 3 general election.

Michalski, 58, who has been on the council since 2006, is also running for mayor, and he indicated that he would serve in that capacity if elected and relinquish his aldermanic post.

However, if he is not elected to the city's top spot, he wants to continue to represent the 6th District, an L-shaped area on the southwest corner of Oak Creek.

Candidate (and resident) voices

Michalski, a retired journeyman machine repair mechanic at Rockwell Automation, said he has been responsive to his constituents' concerns, evidenced by his work in trying to get a "quiet zone" on Puetz Road, meaning trains coming through would not be able to blow their whistles. He said he has worked with the city and the railroad to come up with an inexpensive solution to do so.

His challengers, however, say they are in the race because district residents' voices have not been heard.

"The constituents I've talked to feel that that is sometimes the case," said Guzikowski, 45, a quality control supervisor with Western States Envelope and Label. "I think a fresh perspective would lend a hand to some openness, some give-and-take. It might be time for a change and fresh ideas."

Reader, 52, a printer, agreed. He said he learned from his neighbors, not his alderman, that a hotel was slated to be built nearby. "I think I would present the facts to the people and let the people weigh in on what's better for them."

The Delphi/civic center issue

Reader and Guzikowski favor a referendum on whether the city hall and library should be relocated to the former Delphi Automotive site, 7929 S. Howell Ave., a plan neither wholeheartedly back.

"It's really what the constituents are looking for," Guzikowski said. "The people I talk to want a referendum."

Said Reader: "Our city hall isn't pretty, but it's functional. And the library, it's OK. It's not a palace like Franklin, but I think the biggest use of the library is our high school students, and it's right there for them."

Michalski, meanwhile, is in favor of moving the city hall and library to the 85-acre Delphi site. And he said a referendum is not needed.

"We have a representative style of government here," he said. "Hopefully, residents agree with the decisions. If they don't, they have avenues to let me know I've gone the wrong way or the right way."