<p>Milwaukee County Supervisor Marina Dimitrijevic and Bill Buresh are vying to represent District 4 on the Milwaukee County Board of Supervisors. The general election will be held on Tuesday, April 3. (Not sure you live in District 4? Verify your voter registration and district in the <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https://vpa.wi.gov\">Voter Public Access</a> database.)<br /> </p> <p> Buresh has not responded to the Shepherd\'s candidate questionnaire. But here are Dimitrijevic\'s answers:</p> <p><strong>MARINA DIMITRIJEVIC</strong></p> <p><strong>Website: </strong><a href=\"http://www.reelectmarina.com\" target=\"_blank\">www.reelectmarina.com</a><br /><br /><strong>Shepherd: </strong>Tell us a bit about your background to introduce yourself to the Shepherd readers.<br /><br /><strong>Dimitrijevic:</strong> I am a lifelong resident of Milwaukee\'s South Side and graduated from Bay View High School. I have a bachelor\'s degree from Marquette University in political science and Spanish. I was elected in 2004 and re-elected in 2008 with 73% of the vote to represent District 4. The Shepherd Express readers have chosen me three times as "Best County Supervisor" and I have been named an Equal Rights Champion by Equality Wisconsin. I speak Spanish fluently and have been a leading progressive voice on the county board fighting for equal rights, increased transparency in government, environmental sustainability, and improved parks and transit services.<br /><br /><strong>Shepherd: </strong>Where are you currently employed?<br /><strong><br />Dimitrijevic:</strong> The residents of the 4th District employ me as their County Supervisor and I am 100% committed to serving them. I have been an active, honest representative who has held over 140 town hall meetings since elected in 2004, sends out monthly e-newsletters, and belongs to over 30 neighborhood and civic organizations.<br /><br /><strong>Shepherd: </strong>Why are you running for office?<br /><br /><strong>Dimitrijevic: </strong>I am seeking my second re-election because while we have accomplished a great deal together, there is still more work to do moving Milwaukee County forward. I plan to continue fighting for an improved quality of life. <br /><strong><br />Shepherd: </strong>What are the top three issues that you want to address? <br /><strong><br />Dimitrijevic:</strong> I will continue my work to secure dedicated funding for our parks and transit systems as they play a vital role in our infrastructure and growing our local economy. I plan to introduce the next version of my award-winning Greenprint legislation that will take our environmental sustainability to the next level and save even more resources. As a candidate for board leadership as well, I will keep working on enhancing public participation by improving our transparency. I authored legislation to place our campaign finance reports online in addition to all of our county proceedings. We will soon have live and stored video access to all of our public meetings, which I believe will improve transparency and accountability.<br /><br /><strong>Shepherd:</strong> How would you deal with these issues? <br /><strong><br />Dimitrijevic: </strong>I will continue to work closely with my colleagues on the county board who share my progressive vision to move Milwaukee County forward. In addition, I will continue my positive relationship with County Executive Chris Abele who has proven to be interested in working closely with the county board.<br /><strong><br />Shepherd:</strong> How would you make Milwaukeeand specifically, this districtmore attractive to businesses and residents?<br /><br /><strong>Dimitrijevic: </strong>The county can help attract and retain businesses by continuing our partnership with the City of Milwaukee. For example, the city and the county worked together with MSOE recently in the Park East to develop county land and create new jobs. In our neighborhood I think we can further streamline the process for new businesses to start up, invest in small incubators, and provide low-cost loans to businesses that add jobs to our economy. Lastly, having great parks in District 4 and access to public transit are some of the reasons why residents and businesses choose to locate here. We need to continue to invest in our infrastructure to see a positive return.<br /><br /><strong>Shepherd:</strong> How would you boost revenues and/or cut spending? <br /><br /><strong>Dimitrijevic: </strong>I have a strong record of protecting our parks and promoting public transit. While we have done our best to adopt a socially and fiscally balanced budget each year, there are major funding challenges ahead. I will continue to fight for a dedicated funding source for parks and transit. The voters spoke via referendum and have been ignored. While I am opposed to privatizing or selling off park land, there are opportunities to increase partnerships especially in our parks. When it comes to transit, we need to continue to invest in our bus system as we have with bike racks, express routes, and new fare boxes in hopes of attracting new riders. It would be great to see lower fares and more services.<br /><br /><strong>Shepherd:</strong> What are your views of Gov. Walker\'s changes to collective bargaining, specifically their affect on county employees and the county\'s budget? Have the changes helped or hurt local governments? Should public safety employees have been included in all of the changes?<br /><br /><strong>Dimitrijevic:</strong> I believe that collective bargaining is a right. My district includes many workers who serve our great community. I have spoke to teachers, firefighters, public workers, and nurses who all reside in our neighborhood. Our governor said these unfair changes would give us tools but I have yet to see it in local government. We are still struggling with the cuts to transit and the illegal cap he placed on FamilyCare, which has created long waiting lists for our seniors to receive important care.<br /><br />As for public safety, this last county budget included cuts to our county-wide paramedic programs and the Sheriff\'s Office. I supported restoring a portion of these funds to these areas.<br /><br /><strong>Shepherd: </strong>What sets you apart from your opponent?<br /><br /><strong>Dimitrijevic:</strong> The choice between my opponent and I is very clear and there are many differences between us. I have a record of fighting for the quality of life issues that matter to us such as protecting our parks and promoting public transit. In addition to experience, I have received the support of organized teachers, firefighters, nurses, police officers and public workers. Citizen groups like Voces de la Frontera, Citizen Action, and Equality Wisconsin have endorsed me because of my progressive vision. My opponent is self-financing and trying to buy this seat by attacking me. He is running an anti-union campaign based on making this position part-time, decreasing representation. He is a fake Democrat and the voters can see through the same sound bites that narrowly focus on the failed, conservative agenda that has divided our state.<br /><br /><strong>Shepherd:</strong> Who has endorsed you? <br /><strong><br />Dimitrijevic: </strong>Elected Officials: Congresswoman Gwen Moore, 4th District, Wisconsin; Alderman Tony Zielinski; Milwaukee School Board Director, District 8 Meagan Holman; state Rep. Christine Sinicki; state Rep. Josh Zepnick; state Rep. JoCasta Zamarripa; state Rep. Jon Richards; state Sen. Chris Larson; City of Milwaukee Municipal Judge, Phil Chavez.<br /><br />Labor and Community Organizations: Milwaukee Professional Firefighters, Local 215; American Federation of Teachers, Local 212; Amalgamated Transit Union, Local 998; Wisconsin Citizen Action; Milwaukee Deputy Sheriff\'s Association; Voces de La Frontera Action; SEIU Wisconsin State Council; Equality Wisconsin; Milwaukee Police Association; Wisconsin Federation of Nurses and Health Professionals; Milwaukee County Labor Council; Clean Wisconsin Action Fund; American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees, District Council 48.<br /><br />PHOTO CREDIT: Sulfur <br /><br /> </p>
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