Lisa jo VonAllmen Campaign Announcement

Here is a missive I received from Lisa jo VonAllmen, a candidate for the Monona City Council.

My name is Lisa jo VonAllmen, I am 43 years old and live at 4906 Rothman Place in Monona I’ve long considered running for Monona City Council and have decided that now is the right time to make the commitment to run and serve as a member of Monona’s City Council.

My family moved to Monona when I was in seventh grade and I graduated from Monona Grove High School in 1982. My husband, Ron, was born and raised here and graduated in 1979. After the birth of our daughter, Amelia we chose to move back to Monona driven by our desire to recreate the wonderful childhood Ron and I experienced growing up in this unique community.

After resettling into Monona, I started paying more attention to Monona’s parks and recreation, a feature that helps to makes this a wonderful community. In 2005, after attending a Park and Recreation meeting I applied for and was appointed to a seat on the Park and Recreation Board.

Serving on the Park Board has educated me about how the different city departments work together. Listening to all opinions, sharing my own, and working to implement the Park and Recreation committee’s goals are skills that will serve the community well as an elected member of Monona’s City Council.

I have a strong desire to serve the community. After reaching out to Mayor Robb Kahl with the suggestion of developing a group to study ways to attract and retain families in Monona, I was one of the first members appointed to the Family Attraction and Retention Ad-Hoc Committee. The committee has only just begun to discuss exciting ideas and we are looking forward to the coming year to develop some of the ideas.

My professional background as a Systems Project Manager challenges me to learn new processes and procedures. I relate well with all types of people, facilitate meetings with varied skill levels, viewpoints and agendas, and have the ability to hear people and identify with their viewpoint. I can quickly evaluate and decipher complex subject matter, make decisions, develop a plan and communicate my viewpoint.

My best asset is that I’m an optimist and I see the glass is half full; yes, there are many pressing infrastructure issues and I’m confident that my input as a City Council member will help to develop and implement policies to address issues like infrastructure. It is important for elected officials to effectively communicate to our citizens the implications of city policies. With so many great things happening in Monona, it’s vital for city government to also shed light on these issues.

Let’s strive to have Monona’s City Hall become more customer service oriented while maintaining efficiencies that keep taxes from rising.

Important Issues Facing Monona
· Accountability
· Oversight
· Roads and Physical Infrastructure
· Monona Drive Reconstruction
· Garden Circle Redevelopment
· The Vitality of Monona

Monona has a new City Administrator and we will find out in the coming weeks and months how well he manages the City Departments. As a city council member, I want to be one of the people who is familiar with him and ensure that he has the proper support staff to do his job well.

I want the opportunity to participate in the coming months and years on decisions regarding Monona Drive and the Garden Circle projects. And there are the basics; roads, parks, maintaining our services, taxes, our schools, community pride and being more service oriented.

PRO MONONA. My platform is “Pro Monona”, meaning that we need to protect and sustain Monona as a community. I know things change but I also remember the days when I was a kid and want the same great upbringing for my daughter. There are many challenges and opportunities in the future for Monona and I want to participate in the decisions that are being made. If I am elected to our city council I will listen to your concerns and use that input to help make decisions that affect this community. I am capable and up to the task.

Please feel free to contact me to discuss your thoughts and opinions about Monona, at lisajov AT att.net or call me at 608-445-3935. MD Note: To keep down spam I substituted the word AT for the sign @. To send Lisa jo and email you will need to change that.

Thanks again for your interest and Happy Holidays.