Courtesy of Erik Brooks for Assembly
November 3 is less than one week away and it’s hard to ignore the political advertisements, especially all the negative ads. Erik Brooks is disgusted by this negative advertising and believes that campaign negativity and falsehoods are totally unacceptable and that something is wrong with a candidate’s campaign if they need to keep attacking their opponents. Brooks, the current mayor of South Milwaukee, is running for the 21st State Assembly District consisting of Oak Creek, Franklin and South Milwaukee.
“The legislature literally isn’t working,” says Brooks. “Even when it does work, it doesn’t work very well and it’s because there’s this complete division and discord.”
It’s amazing how much money can flow into a campaign without focusing on issues and only being negative. Brooks is seeing a lot of negative ads focused on his campaign, which are using the image of him and his family with Da Crusher statue in the South Milwaukee town center. “Voters understand there is a better way,” says Brooks. “You don’t solve problems through negative-hit pieces in the mail. It’s unfortunate she (Jessie Rodriguez) has done this.”
Courtesy of Erik Brooks for Assembly
One of the ads being mailed out by the Jobs First Coalition against Brooks.
Brooks is proud of his campaign and promises to take the high road. He’s never run a negative ad in any of his seven campaigns and never plans to in the future. He believes in working together, across party lines to get things done. His stance, track record and policies are clearly defined on his website, which can’t be said for all.
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Clean, Winning Campaigns
After winning a seat on the South Milwaukee City Council in 2009, Brooks was re-elected in 2011 and 2013. He then ran for mayor beating the incumbent mayor with more than 60% of the vote in 2014. He was re-elected winning an astonishing 80% of the vote and then re-elected again this year running un-opposed.
While the mayor of South Milwaukee is a part time position, Brooks plans to keep the job if he gets elected to the State Assembly and donate his mayoral salary to charity. He just wants to keep doing what he’s been doing very successfully for the people of South Milwaukee.
Taxes for the Right Reasons
In 2019, taxes in South Milwaukee went down three percent. In the budget that Brooks put together for 2021, there is just an under one-percent tax increase. That’s impressive, all things considered, coming off of the year of a pandemic and a major recession. “Were taxes increased during my time? Sure,” says Brooks. “Were they responsible and reasonable because we had to fund our core city services? Yes. That’s what government is asked to do and what taxpayers expect of us.”
Courtesy of Erik Brooks for Assembly
While some of the increases were out of his control, Brooks stands by his actions as mayor. Brooks maintains his focus on investing in core services and responsibly stewarding the money from South Milwaukee taxpayers.
“The process of funding our government is broken, and that’s a conversation we need to have,” says Brooks. “We have to stop pointing fingers and yelling at each other.”
Fiscally Responsible Leadership
Brooks wants to be a champion for cities. He believes decisions on education should be made at the local level and there are times when the best thing for the state government to do is get out of the way. He has a proven track record for getting things done, whether that be in his current role as mayor or when he was on the city council. “In the end, we’ve been able to invest while keeping taxes low and keeping our bond rating strong,” says Brooks. “Really keeping a strong financial foundation. Not just keeping it, but really doubling down on it. I’m proud of our efforts here.”
Brooks is a moderate Democrat and firmly believes that things only get done through compromise. “I think voters here appreciate that,” says Brooks. “I want to be held accountable for that; if I’m not delivering two years from now, vote me out of office.”
