OCONTO – During the spring election on April 7 there will be two candidates vying to be the mayor of the City of Oconto.

The candidates are Nick Badendick and incumbent mayor Cliff Martin.

In an effort to give all candidates an opportunity to present their approach to the mayoral position, the Peshtigo Times reached out to candidates with a questionnaire form.

The response from Martin can be found in this issue. Badendick did not respond.

Cliff Martin

Why are you running to retain this position?

I am most proud of creating and serving on the Tourism Commission who have been working diligently and responsibly in spending the City of Oconto Room Tax dollars on building the City’s Tourism and supporting local businesses; creating and serving on the Old Hospital Ad Hoc Committee who have been working to solicit developers to transform the property and solve a 20+-year-old problem.

This will add to the tax base and create a safe and beneficial addition to the City of Oconto; creating and growing the teamwork environment at City Hall and helping bring back our Building Inspector to help with cleaning up the City to make it a beautiful and safe place for our residents to live; combining the Parks and Public Works Departments after the retirement of our Parks & Recreation Director to increase efficiency and save the taxpayers a considerable amount of money.

If re-elected, what will be your top priorities?

Continue to work with developers to grow the city.

Continue to attract more tourism using tourism dollars.

Work to fill vacant building downtown

What is your approach to handling complex issues?

I will continue to meet with residents to solve any issues. Also use the team at city hall to assist with any complex issues.

How will you involve residents in the decision making process?

I will be forming a Downtown Redevelopment Authority to work as a team.
This Committee will consist of representatives from the City, Chamber, and Business Owners. This will also ensure business owners are included in the conversations around policy and ordinance changes that would affect them.