Registered write-ins join city council race

ANTIGO — Several Antigo residents recently filed paperwork to become registered write-in candidates for two long-occupied city council seats in next week’s election.

Brian Zaverousky will be a registered write-in for Ward 3, which has been held by incumbent Tim Kassis for 26 of the last 28 years. Tree Williams, meanwhile, will attempt to unseat Ward 4 Alderman Tom Bauknecht, who has held his seat since 2010.

The Antigo Journal reached out to the four candidates in these contested races about their backgrounds and ideas for the council.

Brian Zaverousky — Ward 3 Write-inZaverousky has lived in Antigo for 43 years and for the past 24 years has owned his own business, B & J Flooring and Glass Block. Two years ago, Zaverousky became the Third Ward Supervisor on the Langlade County Board, where he works on both the Public Safety and Water and Land Use Committees, experiences which he said have readied him to serve on the city council as well.

“Seeing the way the county board has been run and the big changes that they’ve made, my goal is to help make better changes on the city council, obviously for the betterment of our community,” Zaverousky said. “Basically, new blood, new ideas can help any committee, any board. Sometimes I think people being on boards — not that they’re not able to do their job — but I think sometimes just some new outlook for the future is a good asset for helping make changes for the betterment of the community.”

Zaverousky pinpointed the controversial remote voting measure passed and then vetoed in recent city council sessions as a key issue that led him to register as a write-in in the race against Kassis, who has been a vocal supporter of the change. Zaverousky said residents of the ward with whom he has spoken have indicated they disapprove of the change, through which city council members would be able to attend and vote at four meetings per year while not actually present at city hall.

“I’ve been getting a huge response from that,” Zaverousky said. “People feel that if you have a job, you should be here to do it.”

Zaverousky, however, also said he supports some recent initiatives from the council

“One of my priorities is making the community look better. There are some things about the upkeep of our homes and the cleanliness of our yards that I support. There’s other things with the downtown — obviously we’d like to see that grow more and more to bring the downtown back to like what it used to be if at all possible. Also, helping to make Antigo look more attractive for additional industry to come here is important — Antigo needs more industry here,” he said. “But the biggest thing is just change. Change for our community to make Antigo more attractive for tourists, businesses. We have a great community with a lot of good people, and I just want to see things taken care of.”

Tim Kassis — Ward 3 IncumbentLongtime councilmember Tim Kassis worked as an international sales manager for Kretz Lumber for 39 years. Currently with the council, he serves on the Finance, Personnel, and Legislative Committee and as chairman of the Parks and Recreation Committee. Kassis said during his long tenure on the council, Antigo has improved markedly through projects he has supported.

“I’m part of the broadband effort which has helped to keep industry as well as brought new companies into Antigo, which is evident in our industrial park growth,” Kassis said. “I’ve supported many other successful projects including our walking trail, the remodeling of our bandstand in our city park Heinzen Pavilion. I’ve also been a part of the downtown renovation and beautification project which took place several years ago.”

Kassis said that with the remote voting issue, many made “a mountain out of a molehill.”

“I think the support that we had from the community that spoke at the council meeting was overwhelming,” Kassis said. “We had one person that was negative toward it, if you remember when we voted. The vote was 6-3, which is more than two-thirds of the council that was in favor of it. I think remote voting with the technology that we have is a no brainer right now. Other communities are doing it. It’s new, but we have the technology. The thing that bothers me is I can appear at these meetings and be on Zoom, and they don’t allow you to vote. Because you’re there, but all they’re telling you is that you cannot represent your constituents by voting. It’s not allowed, which doesn’t make any sense to me whatsoever.”

Kassis suggested the nature of the discussion regarding the remote voting issue and other highly-charged clashes in the community such as the ongoing one regarding the library’s budget and board members (Kassis indicated he supports the library in the debate) are counterproductive.

“I’m a bipartisan person and I don’t believe that politics of one party or another should overtake the bipartisanship that we should continue to have in our small community,” he said. “It’s concerning. We’re all neighbors and friends — we’re family even. All we want is to have a nice community to live in, a great community to raise our families.”

Tree Williams — Ward 4 Write-inOriginally a transplant in the community, Williams has now lived in Antigo for 18 years and worked in a variety of jobs including everything from truck driving to banking. In 2010, she founded Awakenings Ministry, which she said has organized a number of events for families, including a recent Valentine’s Dance.

“Seeing the parents and the kids out there dancing was very, very heartwarming,” Williams said.

“To see people come out — and if you’re not a drinker and you like to dance, where else are you going to go? — so that’s our goal, to have more things like that that people can come and enjoy with their family without having to worry about where they’re going to do it or without having a lot of money.”

Like Zaverousky, Williams said the remote voting issue led her to register as a write-in.

“Especially in Ward 4, we have a lot of older people who don’t necessarily know how to get on the internet and know how to find you,” Williams said. “That is one of the things that I’ve been campaigning on. I’ve been going out and meeting people in my ward, so I’m going to be here. I don’t own a vacation home out of state or anywhere else, and I want to be here so that if there is an issue, they will have someone that they can talk to. They’ll know where I live, they’ll know my number, and they can drop by. I’m pretty easy to find. I just think that they deserve that. We all deserve that, to have someone that is really their voice, not just somebody that wants to call in every once in a while and vote.”

Williams said if she were to be elected to council, she would focus on the largest issues in her ward such as fixing the streets, and would give her constituents “a real voice.”

“I would want to be as involved as I possibly could be, because sitting back over the past few years and watching some of the things that have gone on here and just going, ‘How did that happen?’ has been bad,” she said.

“I’ve been to some city council meetings when they voted for things that I objected to — I know how it’s run because I’ve been to meetings. But I know that it takes being out there and really knowing what’s going on, not just coming to a meeting and saying, ‘Oh, yeah, I’m ready to vote,’ without really knowing all the facts.”

Tom Bauknecht — Ward 4 IncumbentBauknecht chairs the Public Works Committee, serves as president of the Economic Development Corporation, and has a number of other leadership roles as the council’s president, a title he has held 12 of his 14 years serving on the body. Prior to his time on the council, Bauknecht worked for 30 years in manufacturing, retail, and management roles for a tire business. He said his entire life spent in the community has helped him serve its people through the council.

“I chose this as my place to live and raise my kids here — they all went to Antigo High and everything else,” he said. “I think even your lifetime experiences prepare you for where you are right now. I just had the time and curiosity and willingness to run for office. You have to run for the right reasons. I know I represent the fourth ward, but in reality, I represent the whole city. You’re obligated to look beyond your own neighborhood.”

Though Bauknecht voted for the remote voting proposal and said he still supports it, he said he himself has missed only one meeting in 14 years.

“It may be an issue with one person because he goes on vacation, but I was all for it, and I think it was kind of blown out of proportion in a way because everyone has Zoom meetings these days,” Bauknecht said. “The technology is there, so why not use it? I can only speak for myself, but I’m always there. I not only just missed one council meeting, I even only missed one or two committee meetings in all those years. In all the time I’ve been on the council, I also only had one person actually come to my house, but I’m out and about in the public — I’m part of the Elks Club and I’m part of other things — and anybody that has ever had an issue, even if it’s not in my ward, I’ve addressed it.”

Bauknecht complemented the work of city officials such as Parks and Recreation Director Sarah Repp and Clerk, Treasurer Kaye Matucheski, and Economic Development Corporation Director Angie Close, who he said have been vital to the city’s success. Bauknecht said one of the largest issues the city as a whole must attempt to solve moving forward is retaining employees and residents.

“Really, employee retention is big,” Bauknecht said. “Getting affordable housing — the Hogan St. project has addressed some of that. But a lot of it is quality of life issues. It’s kind of disheartening to see how many graduate and leave and never come back. You have to give people a reason to stay besides just the paycheck. I think Antigo has quite a bit to offer in that regard.”