The city of Whitewater will host its upcoming spring general election April 5 for residents to choose from four Common Council candidates. The League of Women’s Voters in Whitewater Area held a candidate forum at the Whitewater City Hall Saturday, March 12 where the community asked the candidates questions about where they stand on community issues. 

Chuck Mills is challenging incumbent Jim Allen for an at-large seat. Jill Gerber is running unopposed for Aldermanic District 4 seat, which includes Wards 6, 7 and 8. Incumbent Lukas Schreiber is running unopposed for Aldermanic District 2, which includes Wards 9 and 10. He filled the seat left vacant in the summer of 2021, so is running for the seat for his first time, however, Schreiber was not in attendance at the forum.

Chuck Mills – Member at Large

Chuck Mills is the owner of Mills Automotive in Whitewater and has lived in Whitewater for 30 years with his wife and three children. He is involved in the Fourth of July Festival and wants to represent the Whitewater residents. In his position he wants to help bring businesses in the Whitewater economy up to par, bringing in more jobs, increase infrastructure, and help make sure projects are finished before getting other projects under way. He also believes that Whitewater needs to focus more attention on the EMS, police and fire departments. 

“I believe that the fire rescue has been getting cramped. It is not big enough, equipment is laying around and there is not enough room. We need a bigger place for them, I am all in down for infrastructure, but we need to get these projects done. We should look into the pool, especially with the temperature and boil. We also need to work on the commercial businesses in town since they have been leaving town due to the GM plan that made them lose business and Janesville has been attracting them the most,” said Mills about his goals for the community.

Jim Allen – Member at Large

Allen has worked at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater for 14 years in food service as catering director with his business skills at the Erberts & Gerberts. He has worked at Randy’s Restaurant, served on city council, Police & Fire Commission, Finance, and is a founding father of the Birch Restoration Committee. He plans on focusing on the growth and success of businesses on Main Street, bringing the community together, and fostering better communication between the  Common Council and the public. 

“Whitewater and the surrounding communities haven’t been attracting businesses, and businesses haven’t been able to start up. The businesses have incentives, taxes to use, grants to get use against COVID, and completed the housing study especially since we are low on housing stock. That is what is keeping people from living in Whitewater. We can work on that,” said Allen on what key areas he’d focus on in the community.

Jill Gerber – 4th District Council Seat

Jill Gerber has been involved in the Whitewater community for many years. She graduated from University of Whitewater-Whitewater with a degree in business law and worked from 2015 through 2019 as the executive assistant to the Whitewater city manager. She is currently working for UW-Whitewater in the Office of Field Education located inside the College of Education and Professional Studies. She plans on providing information to council members and the public to discuss their understanding of the views they have about community issues. She also believes in changing Whitewater’s housing stock, supports the construction of more single-family homes and advocates for additional housing to increase the chance for a grocery store in town. 

“We should focus on housing. Set up for money in grants to help attract developers to come, work on the process for them to work with us to streamline that,” said Gerber. “I want to work on the school to be more desirable to attract more families into the community since it could help the housing.”

City of Whitewater residents will have the opportunity to vote for these Common Council candidates Tuesday, April 5.