Candidate Questionnaire: Meleesa Johnson – District 5
Gazette Staff
STEVENS POINT — General elections are on the horizon, and the Portage County Gazette asked candidates from multiple districts questions about why voters should pen them in on April 2. Answers are verbatim.
Candidate: Meleesa Johnson – District 5
What is your general background?
I will turn 63 on March 18th! I was born in Medford, Wisconsin and am the oldest of 5 children. My parents moved to Junction City in 1959 and later moved to Whiting in 1969. I went to Stevens Point Area Schools, but did not graduate. I dropped out to get married and have the first of my 3 children. The marriage ended in divorce after 14 years.
I have held a variety of jobs to support my children, including being a bookkeeper and service writer at a salvage yard/repair shop, selling car parts for NAPA, bartending and selling bridal gowns. In April 1996 I could no longer withstand the rigors of being on my feet all day, because of severe rheumatoid arthritis, and filed for disability. Later that year I would start my college career at UW Manitowoc. I matriculated to UW Green Bay in 1998 and graduated in 2000 with B.S. in Environmental Policy and Planning and did so with a distinction in the major and summa cum laude.
After college I worked at the Manitowoc Domestic Violence Shelter as a client advocate, Point Beach Nuclear Plant as a maintenance procedure reviewer and as Sheboygan County’s emergency management director. In 2003 I moved back to Portage County and became the county’s solid waste department director, later taking the same position with Marathon County, where I am still employed.
I am a family-centered person and believe that the finest people I have ever met are my children and granddaughter. They are the loves of my life and are my guidepost.
Do you have any background in local government?
My experience in local government is fairly extensive. I have worked in local government for near 2 decades, first as an emergency management director, then in the world of solid waste management. Currently, I administer a $4-7 million municipal budget and run the operations of a regional solid waste facility, all without tax dollars…I run a business within county government. I work with policy makers throughout central Wisconsin on waste management issues and am focused on helping municipalities affordably manage their waste/recycling budgets.
I also have experience working at the state level, currently chairing the Dept. of Natural Resources Waste & Materials Management Study Group and serving as president of the state’s premiere waste reduction and recycling organization. In both capacities I work with lawmakers and policy makers to craft laws and regulations that are focused on environmental protection and maintaining a robust recycling industry.
I am a supervisor on the Portage County Board and am in my second term. I chair the Portage County Health Care Center Committee and am the first woman to be elected to the county’s Executive Operations Committee. As chair of the HCC, I led the way on ensuring a referendum was on the November 2018 ballot to provide additional levy support for the HCC. As a part of this massively complicated process, I worked with many local officials, administration at the Department of Revenue and attorneys at the Elections Commission.
What is your vision for Stevens Point? What, if any, changes would you like to see in the city?
My vision for the city is that Stevens Point is that we are the preferred place to live, work, visit and do business, with a mission to be the regional leader on economic development, fair and just opportunity for all and strong environmental protection. We achieve this mission and vision by developing agreed upon strategic goals. For instance, one strategic objective could be to increase home ownership by “X” percentage by 202X. A strategic goal within that could be to develop a program to work with local builders/developers to build modest starter homes (i.e.: imagine the Habitat for Humanity model) or to provide support to homeowners transitioning rentals into single-family homes. Another strategic goal within this could be to ensure the zoning codes allows for a wide variety of home ownership models (i.e.: co-ops, tiny homes).
I know my vision for the city is a bit lofty, but dreaming big is how we start charting a course for the future. In fact, had I not established my vision for the Health Care Center, of a facility that would serve residents for decades to come, the successful referendum would never taken place. Instead would be in the process of closing down the Health Care Center. Now we are planning its future!
What changes, if any, would you like to see come to common council and local government?
I would like to continue my work on managing the balance of power between administration and council. The dual system of power needs to be balanced to ensure the fair execution of democracy. Statute lays out the powers, we need to follow those.
Of course, I wish to see civility in government. I work with so many people with a wide, wide variety of backgrounds. I have worked with Republicans to get bills signed into law and, despite my progressive leanings, we always discussed the merits of policy and never the demonization of any one individual. I have disagreed with a fellow council member’s, or mayor’s, perspective, but avoid personal attacks. We absolutely must be civil, because to do otherwise shines a negative light on this great city and the citizens in it.
As for city government, we should always stay focused on being a “well-oiled” machine. We have done a great job of that, but I think we have reached a point at which we will realize diminishing returns. Staff is stretched thin, whether police officers or support staff. We need to critically evaluate and prioritize not only adding staff, but also turning up the dial on the compensation staff is currently receiving.
What are your thoughts on some of the more controversial local projects? (Stanley Street, Roundabout, New City Hall)
I guess I am still wondering how a couple of public works projects got to be controversial. I travel the state quite a bit and encounter these types of traffic management devices all the time. Again, I am still puzzled how these things became “controversial.” I know that it takes a bit for folks to get used to new concepts…I remember when the “bypass” was built and how my parents and others were quite skeptical, but now an interstate highway is the norm.
Roundabouts are everywhere (and I realize can be intimidating the first time one encounters them), but are an extremely efficient means of not only slowing down traffic, but also effectively moving traffic. Safety conversions are used across Wisconsin. I have two professional colleagues, both public works directors (one from Tomahawk and the other from Shawano), who worked to deploy safety conversions in their communities. There was a degree of skepticism by some in their communities, but once implemented the skeptics became believers. In fact, one U.S. DOT webinar I attended, indicted that safety conversions are well-suited for corridors with 18,000-24,000 vehicles per day and are one of the best ways to allow all users of the corridor to do so safely.
I do understand that citizens were worried about cost, which is why I listened to my constituents (who supported the safety conversion, but asked that I find a way to get the cost down) and served as a bridge between the mayor and council on facilitating the purchase of the new striping machine, which significantly reduced the cost of striping Stanley Street. And, now the city can get caught up on its long-line striping (we are 2-3 years behind because there wasn’t money to hire contractors) and staff can add in that work to their regular road maintenance schedule.
There is a real need to find appropriate accommodations for a city hall. Space needs for both the city and the county have been an issue for over a decade. As well, the courthouse/city hall is sorely in need of important repairs and each year that price tag grows. From making elevators ADA compliant, to completely renovating the HVAC system to not having city staff working in closets. We need to decide whether we invest 10s of millions I the courthouse/city hall, or look to other options.
I supported the building of a new city hall until the bids for Edgewater were opened and the costs for that building were nearly 5 times the estimate. Finding affordable senior living options have to be a priority over a new city hall. Of course, now we are exploring the land swap with the county, which may provide the city the room it needs to grow and save money.
What, if any, housing concerns in Stevens Point would you like to see addressed?
Now that we have a number of housing projects in the works, I think our focus should be on affordable single-family homes. Starter homes, tiny homes, renovated rentals are all options. We also need transitional housing for those moving from the streets and into housing.
For this I do think we need to look to community partners. For instance, a Chicago hospital started investing in transitional housing/apartments for the homeless because they realized they were spending a great deal of money on emergency room visits, for which they would never get paid. After an evaluation, the hospital carved out a sum of money annually to house and provide preventative care for “frequent flyers.” The program is a success.
We also need to broaden the focus of the neighborhood improvement grants, using the Whitetail Subdivision money. While CAP Services has a great program to assist low-income people afford a home, there are those whose income is just above that line, yet not enough to enter home ownership.
If elected, what do you promise to do with the power of your position?
I will use my power/position as I conducted myself…with honesty, respectfulness and helpfulness. These are the core values of the department I operate and those values follow me into my personal and elected life. Power is an awesome and dangerous thing and one must be always vigilant to not abuse it. Now this doesn’t mean that there won’t be disagreements or that I will be able to help all who ask for it. It also doesn’t mean I know everything or that I am perfect or above other people. I am a person who loves service to my community, enjoys aiding those in need, solving problems through evaluation of facts and a wide variety of variables and using honest dialog to turn issues into actions to move the community forward.