Who Is Mark?

Lifelong commitment to progressive, democratic values

Decades of community involvement and activism

Why I'm running and how you can help

 

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!

Why I'm Running

Over the last several years, I became 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.

 

I'm one of several who Onward Tosa has encouraged to run as a "reform" candidate. Onward Tosa is a non-partisan organization which includes people across the political spectrum finding common ground around city government concerns. You can find some of the issues we've addressed on OT's substack page. Again, however, I will be my own man on Council and follow my constituents guidance after fully informing them on the issues, not anyone else's.

 

How You Can Help

 

How can you make a difference in this election? First, have a plan to vote on or before April 7th. If you live in District 3 (approx. Hawley to Glenview, Bluemound to Wells, with some sections extending south of Bluemound or as far north as State St. Come back to this website for info on early voting, which will start in March.

 

Second, spread the word to your neighbors that an important election is coming up and direct them to this site. If you want to help me knock on doors, message me at peters4tosa@gmail.com. 

 

Last but not least, donations are crucial for yard signs and literature and targeted mailings. You can contribute to my campaign below. More options for helping this campaign can be found here. Thanks for your support!