Opinion: A Bipartisan Opportunity for Peninsula Township

(Editor’s Note: Erin Gartland explains why she’s voting for four bipartisan candidates to serve as Peninsula Township trustees. Read on for her thoughts. -jb)

I am excited to see an opportunity to have a bipartisan Board of Trustees elected on November 5th.

We already elected two Republicans to Peninsula Township offices in the August Primary — Maura Sanders as our next supervisor and Katie Clark as treasurer — along with Democrat Becky Chown, our incumbent clerk.

Adding the three well-rounded Democrats and the one excellent Republican I will be voting for will give us a well-balanced board with the skills and experience to shape our next chapter.

Like most of us, I care deeply about our community. Living here and raising my family here on Old Mission Peninsula has made me very grateful. That gratitude for this place, and what it means to my family, is what drives me to be sure I am choosing the best candidates.

I know what a difference competent trustees make. And I also know we need people with the understanding, experience and personal character to lead us into our best future. I have chosen to vote for two incumbents, Dave Sanger and Isaiah Wunsch, and two new candidates, Warner Queeny and Julie Alexander. Let me tell you why.

Our incumbents, Isaiah and Dave, bring experienced life skills to the board — Dave from a life in business and finance, and Isaiah from years of farming, along with degrees and professional work experience in public policy. And they a have a solid track record of accomplishments under their leadership, including:

• The DNR grant that brought us the new Kelly Park
• The Pelizzari boardwalk, made possible with grants and private matches
• Two grants retained to further the development of a non-motorized trail and multi-modal transportation system

These are examples of making our township better without using our local tax dollars. And when our residents said, “yes,” and voted to use tax dollars to improve our quality of life, Isaiah and Dave did their part to ensure the work was done well and on time. For example:

• Upgrading Bowers Harbor Park with new playground equipment and a resurfaced basketball court
• Having two community police officers for policing
• Transforming our fire department into one that’s now able to serve the needs of our growing community. Our once volunteer department is now a full-time professional staff with advanced life support services and an amazing maximum response time of only six minutes to any location in the community. In fact, Dave chaired the board that oversaw the transformation of the fire department.

All of these accomplishments happened despite the distraction of the winery lawsuit – a situation Isaiah and Dave inherited but did not create. They remain focused on defending residents from the potential financial harm of the lawsuit.

Now let me tell you about our new candidates. Julie Alexander and Warner Queeny both bring skills and experience we need for a Township Board to operate with transparency and consistency, and that listens and strives for balanced, responsible growth.

A retired educator, Julie is a natural leader and collaborator, as anyone who’s worked with her on several of our Township committees knows. Warner is a technology and financial leader. Having launched startups in India and Europe, he’s now doing the same here. Warner has extensive experience finding resolutions in high stakes conflicts between entrenched opposing stakeholders.

This bipartisan group of incumbents and new candidates will continue a farsighted approach to balancing our many interests with solutions that work to the benefit of the entire community.

I’m excited about these candidates. I cannot overstate the importance of this election. Regardless of your party affiliation, I encourage you to join me and vote Wunsch, Queeny, Sanger and Alexander. Let’s not vote a straight ticket, let’s vote for this bipartisan group of candidates.

-Erin Gartland

(Read all Peninsula Township Election 2024 News, Opinions and Candidate Questionnaires here. Read all winery lawsuit news and opinions here. -jb)

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