3-27-18 five candidates for four seats on fdl city council

Five candidates are vying for four seats on the Fond du Lac city council in the April election.  Incumbent council president Karen Merkel,  and incumbents Kay Miller and Derek Terbeest are running for re-election.  Incumbent LeeAnn Lorrigan cannot run because of term limits.  Challengers Ben Giles and Donna Richards are also running.  Giles is the son of councilmember Greg Giles.  “I think it would be an interesting opportunity,”  Giles told WFDL news.  “Obviously my dad is my role model and has meant a lot to me growing up.  But we are different people and we have different opinions on certain things.”   Giles recently moved back to Fond du Lac after graduating from college with a degree in political science.  Giles says the city should try to do more to encourage young people to move into the community.   Terbeest  is running for a second term and says he feels good about the direction of the city.  “There’s a lot of new development with the Retlaw Hotel (renovation) coming and I imagine that’s going to spur a lot of other development in the downtown area.”    Terbeest says while the downtown is important the city cannot ignore what’s happening in other parts of the city, like the area of the Forest Mall for example.   Miller is seeking a second term.  “I’ve really, really enjoyed my first term.  It was an amazing experience.  To see how a city truly runs from behind the scenes its so different than just being a citizen,”  Miller said.  “I really am looking forward to another term.”    Miller says she thinks the Retlaw Hotel renovation project can have a major positive impact on the downtown.   Richards says her top priority is having an engaged community.   Richards is the former North Fond du Lac village clerk and has a masters degree in community and regional planning from Iowa State University. She says one of the big problems facing the city is a stagnation in wages.  She says a lot of people don’t have a lot of money to spend.  “I think that has made the difference in this community over the last eight or nine years.  I think that is partly why we’ve been losing our stores, you see houses that are decrepit.  We’ve been afffected by Act 10.”   Merkel says she spoke with Mercury Marine employees and asked them how many owned boats.  “A half a dozen hands went up and it was a full room of people.”   Merkel  is running for a third and final term.  Merkel says she believes the city is growing and in general  residents are doing well  financially.  “I think we are growing very rapidly and very well.”  Merkel points to recent expansions at Fond du lac companies including Excel Engineering, C.D. Smith and Mercury Marine.  “I think that the economy is doing well in Fond du lac.”