AFSCME District Council 48 Profile Alderman Joe Dudzik

Workers
Serving
Milwaukee

Alderman Dudzik Goes Right to Work

Dudzik's pre-primary opinions appear below and he was also the subject of a recent Community Profile

Finally! A nice race with meat on the table. The candidates for 11th District Milwaukee alderman, AFSCME's own Joseph Dudzik and police captain Susan Edman, by all accounts conducted a neighborly neighborhood campaign that focused on experience, demeanor and process.

With wife Lynn at his side, Joe Dudzik was sworn in as our newest alderman April 9, 2002.

    The race was forecast as too close to call, but on April 2 Dudzik won clearly, with 52% of the vote.
    He cited several factors. First, he refused to allow any complacency among his backers, tempted though some were to take it easy. After all, Dudzik had won the February primary with 32% of the vote, so a lot of his supporters thought the final run would be a shoe-in.
     But final runs are different and there were a lot of worrisome factors at play. The turnout in that primary was light, less than 6,000 voters. But virtually all the losers in that election had thrown their support to Edman. The turnout April 2 was likely to be strong given the county executive race, though fortunately both candidates in the 11th District had labor credentials (Dudzik more than Edman) plus backing from public workers, so there was no chance as there had been elsewhere to try to hook union candidates into the Ament issue.

Dudzik celebrated his primary victory with his parents (Jerry is former police union head) and then got right to business winning the April 2 race.

     Dudzik also credited the mild February and March that allowed him to constantly campaign door to door. Moreover he and Edman largely stuck to their non-negative guns. There was little disagreement on the needs of the district, there were some pleasantly stated differences on how it would be best to get things done on the Common Council.
    Both candidates were newcomers to elected office and both could point to community support.
     The daily newspaper's nod went to Edman, continuing its trend to endorse the candidate with the most educational credentials. In the real world of aldermen and supervisors and school boards, master's degree don't have more validity than life experience, as journalists of all people ought to know and voters in the 11th District certainly did.
     The next week Dudzik immediately took office and went to work.

Dudzik's Ideas in Race
for 11th District Alderman Editor's Note: Dudzik outlined his ideas before the Feb. 19 primary, which he won. He now goes on to the April 2 general election.

Joseph Dudzik, an active union member from an active union family, had never been shy about saying he had political interests and someday might act on them. It just happened a little earlier than he envisioned.

Dudzik at Euclid Park near his home.

    Now he's one of a crowded field of candidates for city of Milwaukee 11th District Alderman. Coincidentally, the probability that he might be in the race emerged after AFSCME 48 was finishing up a Community Profile of him for our December edition about his interest in neighborhood associations and his establishment of one for Euclid Park.
    After our interview, the popular 11th District alderwoman whom Dudzik often worked with, Annette Scherbert, pulled a mini-surprise and announced her retirement. (Why were insiders surprised? Though Scherbert had talked about leaving to spend more time with her family, she also regularly joked that she would leave office "one day after Mayor Norquist does. ")
    So Dudzik had a decision to make and he did within weeks, announcing his candidacy and asking District Council 48 for its endorsement. Which he received January 10.
     Now he has to survive in a congestion nightmare of 11candidates for the Feb. 19 primary. Among the competitors are a police captain (Susan Edman), a schoolteacher (John Helmenstine), a union steward at Klement Sausage (Kurt Kronhelm), a pharmacy technician (Mark Brodaczynski), a child care consultant in the nonprofit world (Lori Lutz), a freelance policy consultant (Josh Zepnik), an office clerk (Susan Karr), and another District Council member of a city local, property assessor James Haack of Local 40.
    Dudzik has spent 20 years with the city of Milwaukee Department of Public Works, rising to Inspector 2 level, has served as vice president and trustee for Local 47, is the son of a past president of the police union, and has active credentials in church and community activities, all of which our newspaper detailed last month.
    This race, he believes, should be decided on who can best serve the needs of the district and best understands how to make things happen through the Milwaukee governmental process.
    So we asked him to submit to a question and answer session:
    AFSCME 48: Is there a danger in becoming locked into a city hall office? What ideas do you have about how as alderman you can listen to and respond to your constituency? How specifically do you plan to be accessible and available to the needs of your district?
    Dudzik: I would maintain personal relations with my constituents on an ongoing basis. I will continue my door-to-door visits to people's homes to learn specific concerns. I will regularly hold town hall meetings around the 11th District.
    Finally, I will work to establish a satellite office, and fund its operation from my aldermanic salary. Taking government to the constituents will be even more important after the long-anticipated Marquette Interchange project hinders ready access to City Hall.
     AFSCME 48: You're a longtime employee of the city and a union member. Does that bring special qualifications and insights to the role of alderman?
    Dudzik: My 20 years for the Department of Public Works affords me particular insight. Likewise, my service [for Local 47] and as delegate for the Milwaukee Labor Council would provide additional perspective for me.
    I realize, for example, that inefficiencies exist in city operations. I also know firsthand how tax dollars are spent and how they could be more wisely allocated. I'm acutely aware that we must maintain essential city services to best serve our constituents.
     AFSCME 48: What long term goals to you have for your district and for the city as a whole that an alderman can effectively influence?
    Dudzik: I want to promote fiscal responsibility and maintain essential city services. We need to foster greater collaboration on major issues between neighborhood, civic, labor and business groups.
     AFSCME 48: How important is fiscal insight into the workings of city government for this job? And how do you envision the aldermanic role in holding the line on expenses and improving efficiency of city government?
    Dudzik: Fiscal insight into the workings of government is a real attribute. The aldermanic role in promoting greater efficiency is to set broad parameters, yet not micro-manage the city's various departments. City departments must be allowed to properly administer their given area on a day-to-day basis.
     AFSCME 48: By all accounts, serving on the Common Council can be a contentious environment. What skills will you bring to working with other alderman, with city administrators and with the mayor?
    Dudzik: I'm a natural coalition-builder who will work with disparate groups in common cause on vital issues that affect us all.
    I think my good nature and people skills will enable me to reach out to all members of the community to effect change.
     AFSCME 48: Still, there are constant moves afoot on the Common Council to cut city services in order to keep the budget in line. Meanwhile, in your district and elsewhere, many households on fixed income want the services but are being devastated by tax increases. How in both human and practical terms do you address this conflict?
    Dudzik: First, we must improve Milwaukee's tax base by identifying ways to retain and attract people in their early or prime earning years.
    By generating additional revenue from taxpayers other than those on fixed incomes, we can better address the tough question of how to keep city services intact without taking it out of the hide of those affected by tax increases.