Alderperson Joe Martin (District 4) mentioned during the 07/07/2021 Common Council meeting that he was not running for reelection next year. He is in the middle of his seventh term, so once it’s over he will have served as alderperson for the City of Appleton for 14 years.
I had an opportunity to talk to him, and he confirmed that he will not be seeking reelection next year. He knows of one person thus far who is considering running for the seat. He hopes that whoever takes over will be someone who wants to be involved—someone who is focused on service, concerned about Appleton residents, and listens to constituents. He hopes for someone who will work on building consensus among the Council members and who has compassion.
He said that Appleton’s budget is something that needs to be looked at as we prepare for the future. Appleton spends $9 million a year on stormwater and streets, and that does not receive as much focus as things like the library project. Prior to the last redistricting, Alderperson Martin had been the District 8 alderperson but got moved to District 4 and had to run against a four term incumbent. He believes he won because he focused on the city’s budget.
He said that development is important, but so are the parks, and he talked about a project the city received a federal grant for. They plan to build a 10 foot wide asphalt path from the power line substation near S. Oneida and 441 all the way over to Plank Road. The Monarch Society, which he founded, will plant milkweed and wild flowers along the path to help the pollinators.
Pollinators and the plight of pollinators is something he is clearly very passionate about. He said that most people don’t realize that 1 in 3 bites of food is pollinated and we cannot continue to live off synthetic pollen. He wants to protect our pollinators, bees being the big one but also monarchs, beetles, humming birds, trees, and bats. He believes we have to do a serious job of increasing pollinators.
He works with the Monarch Society because he can’t teach with bees. Part of his program is outreach to children, so monarch butterflies are great for that. He was really proud of the fact that Appleton recently became a Monarch City.
He said that seven terms on the Council have given him access to both sides of the aisle all the way up to the governor. He’s able to work with Outagamie and Winnebago Counties. He talked about how county highways used to have wild plants all along them, but now they’re sprayed with pesticides and mowed down. “We need to change that.” He also mentioned that the city did an ADA assessment of its three parking ramps which wasn’t pretty, and there was a lot of work to do regarding that.
Even though he’s not running again, he has really great plans to be involved, and intends to continue as a citizen voice within the Appleton community.
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