Glewen Issues Statement On Recall Petition

(Beaver Dam) Beaver Dam Mayor Becky Glewen released the following statement regarding the petition being circulated for a recall election:

I was very disappointed to hear that Ms. Flaherty initiated this recall action. I believe my leadership and service to the City of Beaver Dam has been true to my campaign, and I am confident we are moving in the right direction.  I have no hesitation in letting my record stand for itself.

Ms. Flaherty has made inaccurate and unsubstantiated allegations regarding my leadership in her filing and public documents that have been reported by local media.

There is a process involved in government to prevent one individual from having unilateral decision making and that is exercised during every budgeting cycle. Capital Improvement Expenditures (CIP) expendituresmust be agreed-upon by at least 75% of Council leadership. I ran on and was elected on a platform of change and economic improvement for the city. As elected mayor, I am responsible for putting forth that vision but, have no direct control over spending. However, Ms. Flaherty did have direct input into the budget as a representative on Council and she voted forthe budget and CIP plan for 2018.

Also, to suggest that our community investments have had negative impact ignores the fact that these investments are generating an increase in the tax base. To date, we have two upcoming additional apartment developments that will add almost $12 million to our tax base, another $8 million for a hotel development and nearly $1 million of private investment has been made into our downtown. In addition, we have implemented initiatives to reduce costs to the taxpayer. For example, our two renewable energy projects are conservatively expected to save Beaver Dam over $800,000 within the next 20 years. These projects contribute to an increase in the tax base and reducing the tax burden to the individual tax payer.