RACINE, WI — Mayoral candidate John Dickert and his opponent have two distinctly different visions on the role of the mayor in helping to create a business-friendly environment and bringing new jobs to the city of Racine.

In a recent Mayoral candidate forum, Mr. Dickert’s opponent stated emphatically, “it’s not the mayor’s job to bring jobs to the city.” Mr. Dickert believes the opposite is true.

 “I firmly believe that it is the job of mayor to both work to foster a business-friendly environment and aggressively seek new jobs and new business opportunities for the city of Racine,” said John Dickert.

According to Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development figures released last week, unemployment in the city of Racine, WI rose another .5% to 16.3% from February to March of this year.

Dickert pointed to four ways he will lead to foster quality job growth in the city as Mayor:

1) Take a visible, active role in aggressively identifying and recruiting out of state businesses to re-locate in Racine. Be proactive in bringing stimulus money to Racine from Madison and Washington D.C..

2) Work with new and existing business in the city to determine cost-effective resources they can use to expand their companies in this global marketplace.

3) Examine city policies and current taxing structures to ensure Racine does not become a tax and regulation burden to business growth.

4) Work with existing education and training organizations to assure that they are training people for the types of jobs that exist or will exist in the city. Organize proactive pre-training programs for unemployed workers.

Describing himself in a recent debate as “a fiscally-conservative democrat,” John Dickert is dedicated to the long term goal of seeing Racine become a “top ten city in ten years.”

About John Dickert:
As a community activist and redevelopment expert, John Dickert worked to clean up Racine’s neighborhoods by converting former drug havens into family homes. In the private sector, John has brought millions of dollars in development and new jobs to the city.

As a former state congressional aid and government relations director, John has extensive and successful history working with agencies in both Madison and Washington DC, which is critical to bringing new resources both public and private into Racine.

APFB: John Dickert for Mayor / Voices for Racine, Mary Jerger, Treasurer -- http://www.johndickert.com