Tim Ryan, tryan@wolfrivermedia.com
Shawano mayoral candidate Jeanne Cronce is declining to meet with opponent Jim Oberstein for a debate ahead of the April 5 election, saying she is not hearing any demand for one from the public.
“Not one person has suggested that the candidates need to have a debate,” Cronce said.
She said the forum held during the primary, along with newspaper coverage and a meet-and-greet at the library, “have given the interested citizens enough information to make an informed decision on who they would vote and endorse for mayor of Shawano.”
Oberstein disputes that, saying that he is being asked wherever he goes in the community why the two are not debating.
“She’s absolutely wrong,” he said. “I’m hearing it all over. Everywhere we’re going, people are saying, ‘Why is there no debate?’”
Oberstein said “multiple people” have told him they would like an opportunity to hear what the candidates have to say and make a judgment based on their responses.
Cronce and Oberstein are vying to replace incumbent Mayor Lorna Marquardt, who has held that post for 14 years and who has chosen not to seek another two-year term.
The Shawano Leader, which organized a forum in February in which Cronce did participate, attempted to arrange a debate between the two remaining candidates following the primary, but those efforts fell through after Cronce said she would not participate.
“We found considerable community interest, following the forum, for a debate that would enable the candidates to more completely describe their visions of growth and development in Shawano, and to discuss the city’s key issues and their solutions in more detail,” said Roger Bartel, editorial director for Wolf River Media, which publishes the Leader. “We’re disappointed we could not provide that for our readers.”
Cronce said that honest answers and positions on the immediate issues facing the city have already been discussed and explained.
“There is no hidden agenda on my part; only a desire to work with our city administrator, Common Council and department heads in moving forward with the comprehensive plans that are in place with yearly review to update, enhance or delete things that are not working so that Shawano continues to grow now and in the future,” she said. “Every opportunity that we can extend to possible new businesses and industry will be offered to encourage this growth.”
As a result of debate plans falling through, Oberstein has scheduled a solo town hall meeting March 30 at Four Seasons Resort in Shawano.
“I’m disappointed,” Oberstein said. “I feel that we need to be open and transparent to the community and the voters. We need to have an open discussion on the opportunities and challenges facing the city.”
About 120 people turned out at the forum in February to hear from the six candidates who were in running at the time.
A candidate meet-and-greet at the Shawano City-County Library with Cronce and Oberstein on March 7 attracted fewer than two dozen people.
The candidates also appeared jointly to take questions from the Shawano Rotary Club on Monday.
Though there were differences in viewpoint, the candidates took few opportunities to directly challenge or rebut one another at either the library or the Rotary events.
Exceptions centered around Oberstein’s plan for an economic summit to address the city’s business needs and his call for a youth apprenticeship program, which is currently run through the school district.
Cronce countered that both of those things are already in place in the community, though she was open to improving them.
Oberstein said the youth apprenticeship program could be expanded and he said the economic summit he envisions would be more intensive than what is currently offered by Shawano County Economic Progress Inc., which he described as “a cocktail hour, a dinner and a couple of hours.”
Cronce, a 14-year member of the Shawano Plan Commission and former Shawano School District teacher and principal, has stressed her lifelong ties to the community and her work with the school district and numerous community groups during the campaign.
Oberstein, retired director of credit and collections in the building efficiency group with Johnson Controls in Milwaukee, has emphasized his 45 years’ experience in business management, including banking, finance and credit collections.
Both candidates have focused their campaigns on getting out in the community to hear from the public and meet directly with voters.
Oberstein has held several breakfast meet-and-greets at downtown restaurants, though he has not publicized or promoted them. He has also attended several Shawano County Republican functions as a guest, noting he is not running as a partisan political member.
Oberstein said what he is hearing from residents is that the community is looking for a mayor with “a more pro-business attitude.”
On Friday, Cronce held her second “Java with Jeanne” at Fannita’s Bakery, 128 S. Main St. She previously held one at the Home Plate Cafe, 804 S. Main St., and said she has two to three more planned before the election.
“It’s been a good way to get a personal feel for the citizens of Shawano and for them to get to know me,” Cronce said.
Discussion topics, Cronce said, have included keeping taxes low, the fate of the former Shawano Medical Center, and the job duties and powers of the mayor’s office.
Cronce said no one has asked her about debating Oberstein.
“People have not been addressing Mr. Oberstein with me at all, other than, ‘Who is he?’” Cronce said. “I just say, ‘He’s my opponent.’”