Economic development and finding a way to fund village ambulance services if a ballot referendum fails were listed as top issues by candidates in a four-way race for three seats on the Antioch Village Board.
Vying for the four-year terms are incumbents Mary Dominiak, James “Jay” Jozwiak and Dennis Crosby, as well as newcomer candidate Ed Macek.
Macek, a lifelong resident who runs an insurance office, said he decided to run for office to contribute to his community and to help combat rising taxes.
“I’ve always given back, he said, referencing his past service as a volunteer with the Antioch Rescue Squad and the police department.
Macek, who said his business background can help the Village Board, noted that taxes for pensions and operations have gone up over 50 percent in the past six years. He said his goal is to shift the burden off taxpayers through additional business revenue.
“The downtown is horrible. That’s going to be my stronghold,” Macek said, adding that empty buildings don’t bring in sales taxes. He said he favors the use of incentives, such as tax breaks for a year, to bring in businesses to fill empty buildings and spark new development.
Jozwiak, seeking his second term on the board, said he sees economic growth, both in terms of luring businesses to the village’s new industrial park and revitalizing the downtown, should be the main goal of the board over the next several years.
He said he also favors the use of business incentives to bring in commercial revenue, but said the village must ensure that they are performance-driven to produce the desired results. He said increasing the downtown’s restaurant and retail options would lead to a larger tax base, bringing in money from other areas, including Wisconsin.
Jozwiak, who works as a manager with Oracle, said his business background in communication services has already helped improve police and public works operations and that that he has been able to personally assist when there have been problems with village communication systems.
He also said that funding ambulance service is a top priority for the board if the referendum fails.
Crosby, seeking his third term in office, said “the largest issue right now is finding some source of funding for ambulance service if the referendum doesn’t pass. We have to find another source of funding to keep it going.”
The upcoming ambulance services referendum is the village’s second attempt at receiving voter approval for tax funding.
Crosby said he also believes there could be long-term cost and operational efficiencies to be gained through consolidation of the administrative operations of the village and township fire departments, which already work together.
With the economy picking up, he said it’s vital for Antioch to properly advance commercial growth, from stores and restaurants to new industry in the village’s industrial parks.
“It’s been a battle royale to keep the village going with the money we have,” Crosby said. “We’ve cut pretty much to the bone.”
Dominiak, seeking her second term on the board, also cited the funding of ambulance services as the board’s biggest current issue, one that officials hope the referendum will resolve.
“Otherwise we have to look at the budget to figure out how to provide ambulance service and probably would have to cut programs and services no one wants to cut,” she said.
Dominiak said she is excited about the ongoing prospects for revitalizing the downtown.
She noted that the Antioch Theatre is reopening with two movie screens, and that combined with live entertainment offered by the PM&L Theatre, an atmosphere has been created to draw more people to patronize new and existing restaurants and businesses downtown.
Dominiak said that during her first term in office, she was instrumental in the creation of the village’s first strategic plan and was also active in a village-wide survey to find out the priorities of residents and help bring them in as partners in village planning.
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