As 2024 comes to a close, the two men looking to be the Mayor of Manitowoc are looking ahead at what needs to be done next year.
Incumbent Mayor Justin Nickels is calling 2024 a successful year, specifically regarding the focus paid to a couple of the city’s most blighted areas.
This includes the former Mid-Cities Mall property, which is currently being renovated into 40 single-family homes, 160 new apartments, and several plots for commercial installations.
The other big move was obtaining a $2 million federal grant to clean up the former Mirro property.
“It’ll be completely ripped up,” Nickels explained. “So the concrete barriers that are still there, the fences will be taken down and it’ll be a flat, green piece of property. And again, we’re working with the developer on the future of that.”
His challenger, Jason Prigge, says he was happy to see the new businesses that have opened up in the City in 2024, including the hotel being built by the AMC Movie Theater and others in the downtown area, “Like the Nook, which provides a nonalcoholic entertainment venue for young people.”
Prigge also praised the work that has been done on the Rahr-West Art Museum over the past several years.
Looking ahead to next year, both candidates have some different goals for the City if they were to be elected.
Prigge tells SeehaferNews.com that his number one focus would be on the tax bill.
“Everybody that I talked to is very disgruntled about their tax bill and tax bills,” Prigge noted “Property taxes are very hard to unravel for the layman. Trust me, I’ve been working on it day and night.”
Prigge says he wants to provide more transparency to the residents about what is happening with the tax bill.
He specifically noted, “For instance, the mayor has said we’re not going to increase any debt. But the reality of it is the general debt obligation will increase by $1.4 million. And if you look deep into the budget, you’ll see that.”
Prigge also voiced concern over the city’s relationship with the Manitowoc Area Visitor and Convention Bureau, which has been ongoing for years.
Meanwhile, Mayor Nickels says he wants to start the year by working with Tycore Inc. as they prepare to break ground on their project on the former Mid-Cities Mall property.
“That will address one major issue that we have in the city, which a lot of communities have, and that’s housing lack of single-family homes and affordable housing,” he said.
Nickels also said he is looking forward to working with a developer on housing on the former Mirro site, which was previously turned away due to the city being unable to clean up the property.
That issue is now in the past, thanks to the aforementioned $2 million grant.
The other issue Nickels is looking to address is keeping Manitowoc safe.
“I think we have an excellent police force that are doing great things in the community in regards to drugs and other things that are happening,” Nickels said. “But really a big focus for the city is just to continue being diligent and all that.”
As of right now, Nickels and Prigge are the only two candidates to have filed their official paperwork with the city.
Any other interested parties have until January 7th to get their paperwork filed.
Both Nickels and Prigge have agreed to participate in a debate in the future, which will be scheduled after the primary in February.
