Get to know the three candidates running for two Whitefish Bay trustee seats this election

On April 2, Whitefish Bay voters will select two out of the three candidates running to serve on the village's Board of Trustees.

Current trustee Jacob Haller is competing with newcomers Bruce Kruger and Sam Dettmann for Haller's seat and Trustee Raisa Koltun's seat, which both expire in 2024.

While Haller is running again, Koltun filed a notice of non-candidacy on Dec. 22, indicating that she would not be seeking reelection in 2024. 

In an email to the Journal Sentinel, Koltun said she's proud of the village's accomplishments in embracing a more "proactive and strategic" approach to governance, which has brought positive momentum for the village.

In particular, she reflected upon the Village's work in joining a statewide climate change coalition, supporting economic and business development on Silver Spring, supporting the village's first affordable housing development and working to hire a community development director.

The three candidates discussed these topics and more with the Journal Sentinel. All three are self funded and not soliciting donations.

Jacob Haller (incumbent)

Background: Haller currently practices as a civil legal aid attorney for Legal Action of Wisconsin, Inc. Before that, he received a Juris Doctorate from Marquette University's Law School and worked for the Office of the State Public Defender. Haller was first elected to Whitefish Bay's village board in 2021. He also currently sits on the Public Interest Law Section's board for the Wisconsin State Bar.

Supporters: Haller is endorsed by Trustees Jay Balachandran and Raisa Koltun, who is vacating one of the expiring trustee seats.

Website: www.hallerfortrustee.com

Haller outlined his vision for the community development director

Haller has been supportive of efforts to hire a community development director throughout village board debates on the role.

In May 2023, he voted in favor of creating the position, which passed 4-3. Two months later, Haller voted in favor of a salary range of $80,000 to $100,000, which passed 5-2. Late November, he voted to approve a tax increase above the village's 2024 commitment, which contained funding allocated for the role and passed 5-2.

Haller said the community development director role is necessary to carry out residents' visions for the village's future. He said the village's staff doesn't currently have the capacity to take on all the planning and public input gathering necessary to take on the projects the board hears residents want, such as bike and pedestrian safety and silver spring development.

"The truth is our community has always needed community development services," he said.

While neighboring communities have this role, Whitefish Bay contracts with third parties to do this work.

"Bringing that position in house, we would get a better end-product, because that person would only be focused on Whitefish Bay instead of whatever other community is paying them," he said. "It's just a better value."

Included in Haller's vision for community development director endeavors is galvanizing public input on re-examining village-wide zoning codes.

Asked about the thorny approval process of the village's first affordable housing development, Haller commended the board of appeals' thoughtfulness in weighing neighborhood resistance with village ordinances and priorities. However, he said the village board still needs to reassess its zoning.

Haller wants to continue momentum built around bike and pedestrian safety, park improvements and business development

While Haller said he's proud of the board's work in drawing new businesses to Silver Spring. Yet, he noted that a handful of vacancies remain, and the Fox-Bay theater still hasn't opened. Haller hopes to continue the board's momentum in helping Silver Spring live up to its full potential.

As a trustee, Haller also worked to help pass a comprehensive outdoor recreation plan that lays out strategy for improving Whitefish Bay's parks. But as he was working on the renewal project for Klode Park, it became clear to him that many, if not all of the village's parks, needed attention.

Similarly, if re-elected, Haller said he'd continue pursuing traffic calming measures throughout the village.

Whitefish Bay is unique in not providing buses to transport students to and from school. On one hand, this encourages students to walk and bike, which Haller said is beneficial for their health, wellbeing and the community.

However, he said that if the village isn't going to bus kids to school, then it has a duty to make sure they have safe streets to get there.

As a member of the board, Haller approved a study examining bike and pedestrian safety in the village to be released next year and approved the a Whitefish Bay roadway safety fund that stocked up funds for addressing street concerns.

Haller also supported the board's efforts in lobbying for state legislation in 2023 that boosted funding to local governments across Wisconsin by increasing the amount of revenue that returns to those governments from the state, known as shared revenue.

Bruce Kruger

Background: Kruger spent over 40 years in executive healthcare administration before retiring in 2015. Throughout his career, he has overseen multiple physician-governed boards, including the Dean Health System board, Medical Society of Milwaukee County, and Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield Wisconsin. He also previously served as a board member of the Wisconsin Medical Group Management Association and Wisconsin Policy Forum. Kruger has resided in Whitefish Bay since 2003 and has been involved in the village Garden Club. He is also a founding member of the Whitefish Bay Environmental Group.

Supporters: Kruger is endorsed by Balachandran and Koltun.

Website: www.brucekrugerfortrustee.com

Kruger regularly attends Whitefish Bay village board meetings to speak on environmental issues

Kruger has been a regular at board meetings since he first attended to support the board's approval a racial equity statement in 2020. Since then, he has regularly advocated for a more strategic approach to addressing environmental issues in the village, particularly in reducing single use plastics, improving composting and embracing solar energy.

He said this planning should include land use management, stormwater management, waste reduction and disposal, and other conservation and sustainability initiatives.

Kruger also helped run the Grow Solar Greater Milwaukee program, which allows homeowners and businesses to pool their purchasing power to buy solar panels at a lower cost.

Kruger wants more proactive board activity in line with Whitefish Bay's comprehensive plan

Kruger said the fundamental issue he's had with village board lies in its lack of a proactive attitude and forward-thinking decisions.

At recent board meetings, trustees approved hiring CP2 Consulting based in Geneva, Illinois to solicit resident feedback and develop a strategic plan for the village. Kruger said the board has done this and already has a guiding document: the village's comprehensive plan, which was adopted in 2019 and serves as a blueprint to guide decision-making efforts in Whitefish Bay over the next decade, according to the plan.

The plan, conducted by the engineering, planning, and design firm Graef, outlines priorities of housing affordability, community engagement, business and economic development, as well as land use, natural resources and parks.

On March 4, a representative from CP2 Consulting told the village that a comprehensive plan is more focused on land use, whereas a strategic plan is concerned with building a vision for what the village will look like in a decade. Kruger is adamant that the 2019 plan addresses that.

Kruger said the issue isn't that the village needs a new plan. Instead, he said the board needs to discuss and strategize more based on the priorities in the comprehensive plan.

His support for The Hampton, the 17-unit development that is the village's first publicly financed affordable apartment development, is rooted in its alignment with the plan's prioritization of affordable housing. However, he said the village could have done more to facilitate conversation between the developer and neighbors who had concerns about the project.

Transparency and visibility of local government is a top priority for Kruger

Kruger hopes to make village government more transparent and accessible to residents.

Even before the COVID-19 pandemic that spurred local governments across the country to offer virtual options for attending meetings, Kruger had advocated to village staff that streaming meetings would make information about the board more accessible and promote public participation.

He also urged Village Manager Paul Boening to maintain and expand the remote option even a pandemic restrictions subsided.

In 2022, the board would purchase equipment that would improve the village's broadcasting abilities, using $11,973.94 in federal grant money through the American Rescue Plan Act.

But there's still more the board could do to increase its accessibility and transparency, he said. Kruger wants residents to be able to offer feedback and comments virtually, which is not currently allowed is Whitefish Bay meetings.

He also hopes to better publicize the issues facing the board, so residents don't find out how to get involved too late in the process, which he said was part of the problem with the community development director debacle.

Kruger's take on financial responsibility emphasizes investing in new, better revenue sources

While some trustees have criticized the community development director role for its partial responsibility in raising taxes above village goals in 2023, Kruger is supportive of the position and sees it as an "investment in establishing better sources of revenue for the village."

He said Whitefish Bay's tax increase is not significant compared to other municipalities across the state and that a community development director would be able to pursue grant funds and develop corporate partnerships.

Kruger said the village should also consider consolidating resources, such as refuse pickup, with other nearby municipalities, replicating the North Shore Health Department and North Shore Fire and Rescue. These two entities serve Whitefish Bay, along with Glendale, Bayside, Brown Deer, Fox Point, River Hills and Shorewood.

He said state grant funding is available to aid municipalities in consolidation processes that would help lower budget costs long term.

Sam Dettmann

Background: Sam Dettmann is a licensed CPA in Wisconsin with experience in budgeting and strategic financial planning for multinational companies. Since he moved to the village with his family in 2016, he has been a member of the village's board of review until early 2023 and is currently the treasurer for both the Whitefish Bay Civic Foundation and the Whitefish Bay Public Library Foundation.

Supporters: Dettmann is endorsed by Whitefish Bay Village president Kevin Buckley and Trustee Jay Saunders.

Website: www.samdforwfbtrustee.com

Dettmann hopes his CPA experience will help the board budget better

While watching the budget approval process last year, Dettmann believed there were more questions trustees needed to ask, opportunities where trustees could have communicated better with the public and more ways the trustees could have lowered the tax increase.

He said he would have liked to see the village stick to its target and would have worked to get the budget there as a trustee as a way of managing the high cost of living in the village.

Dettmann said creating sound budgets is his bread and butter, along with explaining gritty budget details in a comprehensive way for others to digest. As a CPA, he is no stranger to balancing the goals of different stakeholders and navigating government regulations throughout strategic planning processes, he said.

As treasurer for both Whitefish Bay's Civic Foundation and Public Library Foundation, Dettmann has experience lending his finance and accounting insight to the community.

He said those roles have helped him build his network in Whitefish Bay and given him a good pulse on community issues as they've arisen. He also occasionally watches the streams of the board meetings.

Dettmann vision for Whitefish Bay is of 'consensus and compromise'

Dettmann said he understands both supporters and opposers of the community development director position. When asked whether he would have supported it as a trustee, he said he wouldn't comment since the matter is settled, and he wasn't privy to the closed session conversations the board had.

Instead, he said he would focus on assisting the board in finding the right person to hire and supporting them in developing aspects of the community. In particular, Dettmann is hopeful that the position can be leveraged to attract and support businesses to Silver Spring.

When asked about his perspective on The Hampton development's approval process, Dettmann said he "isn't big on reopening past disputes."

"The developer followed the process and received a satisfactory outcome," he said, though he isn't sure the village board could have done much else to change the way residents clashed with the developer, since it was a private sale.

Instead, he hopes to build "consensus and compromise" within the community as a trustee.

He said he'd be open to reexamining the ordinance and language directing Architectural Review Commission decisions.

Dettmann seeks to improve the village's parks, business district and public safety

Dettmann wants people to use Whitefish Bay's parks and playgrounds more often. He hopes to attract them by accelerating improvements with public-private partnerships that could expand funding. He also hopes to make them more inclusive of and accessible to people with disabilities.

While he's excited about improvements underway at Klode park, he hopes to revitalize parks in other areas of the village near him.

One of Dettmann's biggest priorities is supporting and promoting the village's business district. As a trustee, he plans to review local regulations to ensure they are best suited to promote business creation.

He also said he would advocate for state legislation that supports local businesses and help protect Whitefish Bay's Lake Michigan shoreline.

Dettmann is also concerned about traffic and pedestrian safety in the village, particularly in school zones. He plans to reduce driving speeds and promote more bike safety education in schools.

He also pledged to support the village's police department by ensuring it has the resources it needs to recruit, train, and retain talented officers.

Editor's Note 3/19/2024: This story was updated to include current Trustee Jay Saunders endorses Sam Dettmann.