Who Is Mark?

Lifelong commitment to progressive, democratic values

Decades of community involvement and activism

How we can work for change even though I've withdrawn from the race

 

What people were saying when Mark initially decided to run...

"I have become increasingly troubled in recent years by some of the the City Council's decisions and the process by which they are made.  Mark has dedicated himself to opposing these trends.  I believe he deserves our trust in elevating him to elective office. "

Al Nichols, Dist. 14 resident

I have known Mark Peters for over a decade through various political campaigns. He has always been honest, open and willing to listen, thoughtful and hard-working. He is truly concerned for the common good, and I strongly recommend him for Wauwatosa Alder District 3.

Sandy Zellmer, longtime Wauwatosa Activist

Experience and Values

I was raised on the northwest side of Milwaukee.  attending public schools through 9th Grade. After five years in seminary, I graduated from Marquette and spent most of my career in parish ministry.  Along the way I was blessed with three adult daughters and five beautiful grandchildren. My wife Cathy and I married and moved to Jacobus Park in 2009.

 

Catholic social teaching stresses the importance of social justice, compassion for the less fortunate and working for the common good. I've been politically involved all my life around national issues. Since retirement I've:

  • worked with Fair Maps to end gerrymandering in Wisconsin
  • worked with Voces de la Frontera to organize faith communities push for more compassionate and effective government immigration policies
  • volunteered through St. Michael Parish to help Burmese refugees pass their citizenship and driver exams
  • published a 100 subscriber newsletter, Progressive Tosans, from 2023-2025

Community Involvement

I've been working for social change since my 20's, primarily around alternatives to war, economic and racial equity, and immigrant justice. For 15 years I was deeply involved in community organizing with MICAH, SOPHIA, and Common Ground, which helped me see the power of collective action, which I hope to tap into in  this election and in office.

 

Two years ago I worked  on Andrew Meindl's campaign for Mayor, which helped me understand what was going on, and showed me that more and more Tosans share my concerns. In fact, I've been knocking on doors in Tosa for progressive causes since 2010, so I've gotten to know my neighbors. And if you vote, there's a good chance we've already met!

 

Over the last several years, I've become familiar with groups like Tosa Together, Indivisible Tosa, and most recently Onward Tosa, a group aiming to be a vehicle for voter education on City Hall issues and to foster civic participation as a driving force for progress. You can find some of the issues they've addressed on OT's substack page. All these groups are doing important work and need our support.

What I'm Asking of You

 

How can you make a difference in this election? As I explained, I've decided not to run, and if elected would not serve. But, we can still begin to get the change we need by intensely lobbying the only candidate who is running in District 3 - the incumbent, Ernie Franzen. He has been the alder of most of this area (the old 4th District), for over 15 years.

 

Ernie believes he is serving the best interest of our district, but that's because he's been lobbied harder by the Mayor and city staff than he has by us. He is a good man who I believe will listen if you make yourselves heard. So, call or email Ernie before the election and let him know you want change in the form of:

 

Transparency, Public Input and Accountability

  • More resident input sooner in the decision-making process, especially now that Council is meeting twice per month instead of just once. Without our input, decisions will be made even more quickly with even less public input.
  • More communications from him to us about what's on the Council's plate and how he's leaning, and more opportunities to talk with him about our concerns, e.g. at neighborhood group meetings, alder town halls, via e-communications, etc.
  • Record and publish all city meetings.
  • Utilize current technology to transcribe city meetings and publish transcripts.
  • Allow timed public comment for all items at Common Council and committee meetings.
  • Expand eComment system on the city meeting portal.
  • Create email inboxes for all committee groups so public comments can be directly sent to committee members.

Better Approach to Development

  • Less reliance on TIF funding of development projects, and when it is used, more demands for "missing middle" affordable housing and other community benefits.
  • Create a neighborhood association steering committee on development, including a process for developers to meet multiple times with a neighborhood association's steering committee to discuss development projects that do not meet "by-right" standards before going through the City review process. This allows both parties to find common ground and buy-in for projects and should make the process less adversarial as projects go through the city review process. Allow the neighborhood association's steering committee to present to City committees with the same privileges afforded to developers. This will benefit residents and neighborhood associations equally. 
  • Create a Renter, Landlord, and Affordability Committee made up of Wauwatosa residents that are renters, landlords, and/or members of the Wauwatosa Joint Housing Coalition whose focus would be on  policy and referred items from Common Council that impact renters, landlords, and rental affordability issues. We could do the same with small business owners. 
  • Create guidance and codified districts on Bluemound Road and Mayfair Road for long term planning, similar to the North Avenue Master Plan or MidTown North Avenue Plan.
  • Research and forecast the future of commercial real estate and office parks. If a decrease in demand for commercial real estate and office parks is predicted, begin planning for the next steps, which could include mixed-use single-family homes, medium-density residential (duplex, quadplex), townhomes, condos, senior living, and high-density residential with neighborhood commercial districts to provide more small business opportunities.
  • Create family-friendly housing opportunities to help keep our school population healthy and strong and maintain our neighborhood schools.
  • Encourage more senior living and affordable condo projects for households looking to downsize but stay in Wauwatosa.

Addressing Our Fiscal Challenges

  • Establish a participatory budgeting process so that the community can direct where they want to spend funds.
  • Publish and provide easy access on the City's webpage reports on various community topics to help residents better understand how our government operates and what we are doing. This could include showing if our construction projects are on time and budget, our progress on our housing unit development, the average time to resolve a city service issue, and other areas the community would like to be informed of. This should be published on our website or printed as a yearly statement with other relevant information to our residents.
  • Commit to protect and recognize our parks and green spaces for their impact on our community and environment.

Contact
Ernst Franzen
Alderperson - District 4
First Elected 2018
Up for Re-Election 2026 - District 3
Email

Phone: (414) 510-5575