GREEN BAY, Wis. — A pair of Green Bay natives who have spent years in government and public service are vying to become the city’s next mayor in Tuesday’s spring election.
Incumbent Mayor Eric Genrich is facing a challenge from Chad Weininger, who heads up Brown County’s Department of Administration.
Weininger said three main issues prompted him to run: economic development, infrastructure and community safety.
“Right now, we’re actually falling behind five of the other smaller municipalities and the city is striking, according to the Evers administration,” Weininger said about economic development. “We need to create new economic development opportunities and new tax base. The tax base is the lifeblood of our community, and we need that to invest in the things that make a community what it is.”
Weininger said those development efforts are directly tied to the cost of living in Green Bay.
“With the massive tax increases and tax shifts over the last four years, it’s making it harder to afford to live in Green Bay and that’s very difficult for a lot of folks,” he said.
Genrich has served as mayor for the past four years. He points to several development projects the city has landed during his term.
“We’ve engaged in some really significant economic development efforts with the expansion of Carnivore, which is a dog food company out on the far east side of Green Bay, a $30 million investment there,” he said. “We also have the Legacy Hotel, which is also under construction near Lambeau Field. That’s another $30 million project.”
On public safety, Genrich said the city has invested in its departments.
“We added seven additional police officer positions to our police department,” he said. “We added additional firefighters as well as new technologies like body cameras and a drone team at our fire department and Flock (license plate-reading) cameras to help with solving crimes around town.”
Meanwhile, Weininger said he’ll work collaboratively to move the city forward over the next four years. That includes in efforts to reduce crime.
“What I’d like to do is go back to the way where we used to get the mayor into neighborhoods through the Mayor’s Walks and Talks,” he said. “That puts the mayor in the neighborhood to help solve community issues and to help solve neighborhood issues. All neighborhoods in Green Bay are different.”
Genrich said one of his leadership ideals is inclusivity.
“I think it’s really important that somebody in this position send the message to the broader community that Green Bay is open to new faces and new ideas and people of new backgrounds,” he said. “The communities that are growing are those types of communities.”
The winner of the April 4 election will serve a four-year term.