As you all likely know by now, the appointment process for Guy Johnson’s vacant Village Board seat was completed with the appointment of Dawn Anderson of 2511 E Menlo. Nine applicants of diverse backgrounds and qualifications applied for the position.
I did a rough breakdown of the qualifications of the candidates by briefly paging through their applications, and this is what I found.
(Note: Not everyone put the same items on their applications, so it is possible there should be more names in the categories below)4 Masters Degrees (Mangiamelli, Toutenhoofd, Koczela, Taylor)
1 PhD in Urban Design and Development (Mangiamelli)
1 Former Trustee (Erickson)
2 Former unsuccessful Trustee candidates (Koczela, Carr)
1 Former School Board Member (Taylor)
Several business professionals (Stehling, Toutenhoofd, Koczela, Erickson)
PTA, PTO, School activities (Carr, Anderson, Erickson, Taylor)
All applicants had an impressive array of volunteer activities
All are long time residents
Newly appointed Trustee Anderson has a Bachelor's Degree in Journalism/Advertising, and has spent the last number of years volunteering for a variety of cancer related activities. While this is an excellent cause, I question the relevance of these activities to serving as a Trustee in Shorewood, especially in light of the qualifications of the other applicants who put their names in for consideration. She herself points out this fact in a recent
North Shore Herald Story,
“As I told the board, I have seen the village through a few different set of eyes. My intent, my goal is to be a citizen voice on the board. I am not an attorney, I’m not a financial wiz or any of that, but I am really invested in the community.”The part about being "really invested in the community" could have been said by any of the applicants, all of whom have lived in the village for decades. However, many of the other applicants
are financial/business wizzes, or would bring other specific professional expertise which would be of immediate use to the board.
Trustee Anderson goes on to point out the problem inherent in appointing someone with no experience dealing with Village Board issues, which I would have thought would be readily apparent to the Trustees doing the appointing.
“You really gain the background on all of the issues as you are running [for Trustee]. You’re learning as you go,” she said. “So by the time you are sitting on the board, you feel pretty well informed. I am doing a lot of homework, when I volunteer for something, I give 110 percent.”Mangiamelli, Meeker, Carr, Taylor, Koczela, and Erickson would not have had to add this disclaimer. We have all been significantly involved in Village Government, either as former Trustees, former candidates, or as frequent meeting attendees.
Let me close by thanking all nine applicants for their interest in serving. This posting is in no way intended as a personal attack against anyone. Anyone who is interested in participating in village politics should be commended. I do, on the other hand, hope you now share my perplexity on how exactly the appointment process eliminated so many clearly more qualified applicants.
