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Candidate Profile: Mark W. Coplien
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Age: 47

Address: 1006 21st St., No. 53, Brodhead

Family: Single, Juanita M. Coplien, mother; Gene E. Coplien, Mike D. Coplien, Britt D. Coplien, brothers; Jo Olsen and Penny Franke, sisters.

Education: University of Wisconsin-Whitewater - sociology and criminal justice, Blackhawk Police Academy

Occupation: Student (Aug-2012) Medical Assistant

Previous elected positions held: President of police academy class

Community involvement: This will be my first venture into community involvement.

What are the top issues facing this board/council and how would you resolve them?

Jobs: Bringing new jobs for the city and keeping the ones we have here. To keep our city a viable and desirable place to live and work we need enough employment to go around. The recent talk and action concerning a Hometown Shopko coming to our city was a great start. It is unfortunate that this project has been delayed for a year but it is very important for the city to stay in contact with this

project to show our support and that we are willing to help out any way we can to bring them here. We also need to be open to smaller business looking to start up here also; every new job brings more people, more money and more tax revenue into the city.

Taxes: Taxes are always a issue for any city. It is my wish and responsibility to both the citizens of the Fifth Ward as is the city to keep taxes to the bare minimum. With the

rising cost of gas, food, rent and medical care, it is of the upmost importance to keep the taxes in check. We can keep taxes in check by no unnecessary spending, keeping our city vehicles and equipment to good working order to where it would cost more to fix than replace. Some items and issues just need to be addressed both for a safety issue and common sense.

We have a great police department, city staff and workers and utilities department to name a few areas, all with very experienced and dedicated employees. These departments and employees also need to be looked after and well taken care of to retain the great staff they are.

New businesses: How do we bring in new businesses? We do this by being open-minded to who are looking to move their business here. We do this by realizing in every area of business competition is both good for your business and the public in general. We do this by offering what we can to help and support a new business opening.

Brodhead is a great city in which to live, work and raise a family. We can control the growth of the city so it does not lose its small town atmosphere but we must look to the future also to keep this city a great place to live, work and raise a family. What makes a great city is its people - all the people, not just a few.