Saukville Village President Candidate, Incumbent Both Talk About Finding Better Ways to Communicate

When it came time to file paperwork to run for Saukville village president, Michael Rintelman had two questions on his mind: "If not me, who?  If not now, when?"

Inspired by those he worked with on Scott Walker’s campaign for governor, Rintelman became even more interested in state and local issues.  The passionate volunteers were "really a catalyst" for him, he said, and got him thinking about running for a local office.  

Rintelman, a former nonprofit executive director and current psychotherapist, has lived in Saukville since 2001.

Since moving here, he said he noticed that many individuals ran unopposed when it came time for local elections.  His opponent, Village President Barb Dickmann, has run without a challenger since 2003.  

"There needs to be another voice in the community," he said.

With a changing political climate and increasing expenses, Rintelman said he believes "there are a lot of challenging issues coming to fruition this year."

Among his priorities are efficiency, frugality and transparency.  Rintelman is now brainstorming how he would make effective changes and already is talking about some of his ideas.

In one idea, Rintelman hopes to keep the village more informed by using technology to keep citizens up to date on local government. 

"With technology," he said, "there are better ways to keep the community connected." 

Dickmann, however, may already be on a similar page as far as improvements in technology usage in the village.

During her Wednesday night State of the Village Address, Dickmann said she hopes to get the village engaged in talks of ways they can utilize Twitter and Facebook to connect with the community.

The two face each other in the general election on April 5.