Whitman, Martin run for 4th District

By Angie Landsverk

Dmitri Martin is challenging Chuck Whitman for a seat on Waupaca’s common council.

The race for Waupaca’s 4th Aldermanic District seat is the only contested council race in the April 2 election.

“I’ll try to do the best I can. If someone doesn’t think I’m doing something right, come talk to me,” Whitman says. “If I don’t know the answer, I will try to find it.”

Whitman is seeking a sixth term on the common council.

He represented the district for three consecutive terms, beginning in April 2000, and did not seek re-election in 2006.

In April 2015, Whitman ran unopposed for the seat and was re-elected in 2017.

The Waupaca native has been retired from the Waupaca County Highway Department since June 2014.

He worked there 37 years.

Whitman says he wants to continue serving on Waupaca’s common council to see projects completed, while seeing the city’s streets, parks and buildings maintained.

“I have time. I’m retired,” he said. “I’m approachable.”

A number of projects took place on the east side of the city in the past year.

Whitman says there is potential for more development on Churchill Street and also room for more businesses in the industrial parks.

“It’s nice to get some affiliated with the foundry,” he said. “But it would be nice to diversify a bit.”

With Danes Hall opening on the north end of Main Street, Whitman hopes that results in more development in that area.

Martin is seeking his first term on the council.

He wants to play a more active role in the community and to be involved in some of the policy making in the city.

Martin is also on the school board, and is seeking a second term on it in the April 2 election.

He has lived in Waupaca since 1997.

His professional background includes managing the Boy Scout programs in Waupaca and Waushara counties and being a business owner – building homes from 2003 to 2007 and then changing the direction of his business to home energy assessments and home improvements.

In 2016, Martin ran for state Assembly.

Last November, he got his Realtor’s license and joined a local firm.

If elected to the common council, one of his ideas is to involve his 4th Ward constituents in his decision-making process by polling them on particular issues.

Martin hopes involving constituents in the process leads them to becoming more involved in the community themselves.