Eau Claire Voters' Guide 2001 article

Eau Claire
Voters' Guide 2001

Toby Biegel running without an specific agenda

Toby Biegel

By Alejandra Cabezas
UW-Eau Claire Public Affairs Reporting Student
Wednesday, March 28, 2001

Union organizer Toby Biegel is a candidate to replace retiring Glen Tamke for District 2, in Eau Claire City Council elections this April 3.

This is Biegel's first attempt to hold a public office. Biegel, 1609 Valmont Ave., is a lifelong resident of the Chippewa Valley, he graduated from Memorial High School and from the Chippewa Valley Technical College where he studied construction. He is a carpenter and a property owner.

Biegel is a hard working young man, who has been very active in the community most of his life. When he was a teen he was a member of the 4H Club; later, he was a member of Jaycees; now he is 26 and the organizer for the Northern Wisconsin Regional Council of Carpenters and Vice Chairman of the County Democratic party.

How They Stand

What should be done to keep businesses from moving to a different city?
Toby Biegel: Eau Claire doesn't really have a problem keeping businesses, but we have a problem attracting business that pay living wage jobs.
Fred Urmann: Keeping a stable economy in the Eau Claire area so businesses have something to look forward to in the future..

What can be done to improve downtown?
Toby Biegel: We need to wait for the HyettPalma study, and trust it. In the past, we haven't done what the studies suggested. But parking improvements is one of the most important.
Fred Urmann: Continue to evaluate the the situation, however, let's not go about it piece by piece, but yet find and large idea and stick with it..

What do you think are the major problems of the city?
Toby Biegel: The constantly decreasing revenue sharing. If the current system continues we'll have to either cut services or raise taxes. The flood victims are one of my major concerns, we need to find a solution within the city budget.
Fred Urmann: Revenue sharing is a very big problem, it favors the larger communities like Milwaukee and Madison. Allocations of monetary funds needs to be distributed more evenly throughout the state of Wisconsin and into the smaller cities, like Eau Claire.

What are some of the problems the city will face and their potential solutions?
Toby Biegel: The revenue sharing will get worse. The city needs to keep employees. We need higher paying jobs so people want to stay in Eau Claire. Labor contracts should be negotiated in house .
Fred Urmann: Revenue sharing will continue to be a problem, we must bring the issue to a conclusion. Our excessive rainfall will become a greater problem, figuring out a solution, such as holding ponds should be looked at in the near future.

How are you running your campaign?
Toby Biegel: I've been knocking on doors in District 2. I have attended several neighborhood organizations' meetings and heard their concerns.
Fred Urmann: I've been given speeches is public forums for residents of the community to hear, as well as going door to door and interviewing with the newspaper.

Biegel describes himself as honest and open-minded, more a worker than a manager. In the early 1990s he owned a construction company, Biegel Construction; but he has also worked in real estate.

Biegel says that he doesn't have a specific agenda, "I'm not running with an agenda", Biegel said, "because if you have only your own goals and objectives, you leave behind the city's needs." Biegel said that the city itself provides an agenda for the council.

"This city has employee contracts to settle and flood damage to address." Biegel said. But he doesn't believe it's appropriate to come into the council with an agenda because issues might vary by neighborhood and council district. "As council members, we need to listen to the problems of the people in our district," he said, "that's what we're up here to do -- to represent the people."

Some of Biegel's goals are to promote small business and continue improvement of streets, and promote youth program and activities. "I'll bring youth and energy to the council," Biegel said.

Biegel said that he is not representing a small group of people. He explained that the donations for his campaign have not come from a specific group of people but from many different groups.

Biegel said that some of his neighbors concerns are the same as his own concerns like road construction, the labor contract, property taxes relief, etc.

Biegel said that the biggest property tax increase that would be acceptable to him and that he would support would be a "cost-of living" increase. "We need to meet the people's needs," Biegel said, "but it's not fair for us as a City Council to tax people out of their homes." The problem is that we either raise taxes or we reduce services and, if we keep reducing services, we'll end up paying more taxes in the future and having very few services.

Biegel said he is the kind of person that prefers to pay a little bit more to solve a problem now than to go for the cheaper solution and have to deal with the problem the following year.