Subject: [NEXTEL-1] Nextel Engineer Richard E. Levandowski Turns Politician-

From: Marcel <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 24 Oct 2002 15:48:40 -0400

http://cnniw.yellowbrix.com/pages/cnniw/Story.nsp?story_id=33853178&ID=cnniw&scategory=Business+and+Finance&

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Budget is key issue in 59th District race

Source: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Publication date: 2002-10-24

ELECTION 2002

Budget is key issue in 59th District race

LeMahieu, Lawton, Levandowski expect quick impact in capital

By JEFF COLE [email-masked], Journal Sentinel

Thursday, October 24, 2002

Each of the three candidates running for Assembly from the newly
created 59th District expects to make a difference almost
immediately in Madison.

Republican Daniel R. LeMahieu, 55, of Oostburg, Libertarian
Richard E. Levandowski, 46, of Cascade and independent Catharine
Lawton, 40, of the Town of Barton are running for the seat.

The district covers the northern quarter of Ozaukee and
Washington counties and the southern part of Sheboygan and Fond du
Lac counties. It also takes in the Town of Theresa in Dodge County.

All three candidates agree that the first issue they are going to
have to deal with is the state budget crisis.

LeMahieu: board chair

LeMahieu is the Sheboygan County Board chairman and publisher of
the Lakeshore Weekly, a small newspaper based in Oostburg in
southern Sheboygan County. He won the Republican nomination in the
September primary over seven other Republicans.

"I am running because, as county board chairman, I have seen the
relationship between state and local governments deteriorate,"
LeMahieu said. "I feel they need to get a local perspective in
Madison when they start dealing with the budget problems."

LeMahieu says he will be able to form an allegiance with six or
seven other conservative Republicans in the Assembly. Seven votes
could be enough to sway decisions.

Levandowski: inn owner

Levandowski owns the Timberlake Inn bed and breakfast in Cascade
in southern Sheboygan County and is a systems engineer for Nextel
Communications.

"I first decided to run when I saw this was a new district
without an incumbent," Levandowski said. "I can make the tough
decisions because I will have no strings attached to me when I go to
Madison."

While Levandowski is a member of a minority party, he feels other
Assembly members would seek him out to hear his ideas. He also said
he could often be the swing vote on close votes.

Levandowski has had run-ins with state and local authorities.

According to state records, Levandowski repaid a total of $53,903
in 1999 and 2001 to the state for taxes he owed. He said he thought
the amount was closer to a total of $25,000. He said he owed the
money because during the 10 years he was in the merchant marine, no
state taxes were taken from his paychecks.

In addition, Levandowski was arrested July 21, 1999, and
convicted the next month of disorderly conduct. At that time, he was
sentenced to a year's probation.

Court records show that Levandowski created a disturbance at the
bed and breakfast he owns.

"It was a situation of a clash of personalities," Levandowski
said. "It all worked out well in the end."

On Nov. 15, 1999, Levandowski asked Sheboygan County Circuit
Judge Timothy Van Akkeren to modify the sentence. The judge agreed,
lifted the probation requirement and ordered instead that
Levandowski pay a $279 fine. A year later, Van Akkeren dismissed the
case entirely because Levandowski had no other contact with
authorities.

Lawton: financial consultant

Lawton is a financial consultant with a Chicago-based company.

"I decided to run because I could no longer tolerate the
financial mismanagement going on in Madison," Lawton said.

Lawton said she decided to run as an independent because it is
the Republican and Democratic parties that are at the root of the
state budget crisis and caucus scandal. She also said she does not
want to be tied to any party's ideology.

Being an independent in the Assembly will not be a problem,
Lawton said. The current caucus scandals are going to ensure that
major changes are made in the way both houses of the Legislature are
run.

Lawton was active in a citizen opposition movement to a proposed
wind energy farm in the Town of Addison in Washington County.

All three candidates also said the Legislature is going to have
to work hard to restore Wisconsin's reputation for clean government.

"People are pretty apathetic right now," Lawton said. "They know
the system is corrupt."

Lawton said she hopes that the indictments of the legislative
leadership stir voters up.

"People keep asking me why I want to be a member of Assembly
during the caucus scandal," LeMahieu said. "I think people are much
more cynical about government than they used to be."

The only way to solve the problem is to enact term limits,
Levandowski said. That will get rid of career politicians, he said.

Views on the budget

All three candidates agree the state budget crisis will be the
overriding issue facing the Legislature when its session opens next
year. Each has different suggestions for balancing the budget:

-- Lawton believes that since the state's approximately $10
billion of revenue equals what was collected in 1998, spending
should be cut to 1998 levels.

The growth in state spending has outstripped both the rate of
inflation and the growth in the state's population, Lawton said.

-- Levandowski said he would balance the budget by cutting
spending. As an example, he said he would push to release non-
violent criminals from the state's prisons as a way of reducing
spending. He also favors selling excess state property to raise
revenue.

Local governments also have to reduce their dependence on state
shared revenue as a way of cutting spending, Levandowski said.

-- LeMahieu said that it will take a great deal of thought and
work to reduce state spending to the point where the budget is
balanced. He is against raising taxes and favors a comprehensive
review of all state spending programs, including shared revenue. He
noted Sheboygan County was able to cut its dependence on shared
revenue by 15% by instituting a hiring freeze.

Other issues

All three have solutions for other issues, including:

-- LeMahieu favors leaving the current school funding system in
place. Schools have enough money, they are just not spending it
properly, he said. He noted that when the Sheboygan School District
was faced with declining revenue, the district cut five
administrative positions. In that way, the district ensured the
quality of education was not affected.

In addition, he wants to cut government regulation of farming.

-- Levandowski said he favors lowering the drinking age to 18. He
said it isn't fair that 18-year-olds can vote, get married and serve
in the armed forces, yet cannot drink.

He also favors enacting a "right-to-carry" law for gun owners. He
also favors forgiving a portion of tuition at the University of
Wisconsin-Madison for students who agree to stay in the state after
graduation. That would be a way to end the "brain drain."

-- Lawton said that the state can help local school districts
reduce spending by removing the mandates that require programs such
as special education and English as a second language, although she
does not favor eliminating the programs. She noted some districts
spend as much as $50,000 per pupil because of state requirements.

She also thinks legislators should be part time.

Catharine M. Lawton

Independent

Age: 40

Address; time in district: 7039 Mount Pleasant Drive, Town of
Barton; 12 years

Date of birth: April 7, 1962

Occupation: Financial consultant with InteCap Inc., which is
based in Chicago

Elective offices; other government experience: none

Education: Palatine (Ill.) High School, 1980, University of
Illinois at Champaign/Urbana, bachelor's degree in finance and
economics, 1984

Family: married, three children

Daniel R. LeMahieu

Republican

Age: 55

Address; time in district: 21 S. 8th St., Oostburg; lifetime
resident

Date of birth: Nov. 5, 1946

Occupation: publisher, Lakeshore Weekly newspaper, Oostburg

Elective offices; other government experience: Sheboygan County
Board chairman since April 2000, Sheboygan County supervisor since
1988.

Education: graduate, Oostburg High School, 1964; attended
University of Wisconsin-Sheboygan County and University of Wisconsin-
Milwaukee.

Family: married, three adult children

Richard E. Levandowski Jr.

Libertarian

Age: 46

Address; time in district: 311 Madison Ave., Cascade; 6 years

Date of birth: Nov. 15, 1955

Occupation: owner of Timberlake Inn bed and breakfast, Cascade,
systems engineer for Nextel Communications

Elective offices; other government experience: none

Education: graduate, St. Anthony Village Senior High School,
1973; attended University of Minnesota-Duluth, University of
Wisconsin-Platteville.

Family: married, five children

Publication date: 2002-10-24

© 2002, YellowBrix, Inc.

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---

From: "Gregg R. Lengling" <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 24 Oct 2002 15:30:47 -0500

NewsYeah I read that story in the paper and thought to myself....systems engineer.....gee that's pretty good go from a merchant marine to an Inn owner to a Systems Engineer......ooopppsss
Gregg R. Lengling, W9DHI
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Marcel 
  To: [email-masked] 
  Sent: Thursday, October 24, 2002 2:48 PM
  Subject: [NEXTEL-1] Nextel Engineer Richard E. Levandowski Turns Politician-
  1

---

From: Marcel <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 24 Oct 2002 16:37:55 -0400

I said yesterday.......

<SNIP>

Yes, the LCC Engineer who designed the 1st generation Nextel network is not only a P.E.
but also holds a MSEE and a Ph.D. .

As far as who is designing the system now ........God Only Knows.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Now we know who ........

"A merchant marine to an Inn owner to a Systems Engineer"

Not a bad migration path

"Gregg R. Lengling" wrote:

> Yeah I read that story in the paper and thought to myself....systems engineer.....gee
> that's pretty good go from a merchant marine to an Inn owner to a Systems
> Engineer......ooopppsssGregg R. Lengling, W9DHI
>
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