The Press emailed a candidate questionnaire to Luke Diaz who is running for his fourth two-year term as the City of Verona mayor.
Diaz
Diaz was first elected mayor in 2018. He won reelection, unopposed, in both 2020 and 2022.
Candidates were required to limit their responses to 50 words, with the exception of one question where they could write up to 100 words. Responses may have been trimmed to meet word requirements.
Biographical Information
Age: 42
Years in Verona: 12
Education: Bachelor’s degree in Political Science and History
Occupation: Quality Assurance and Technical Writer
Family: Cheryl (wife) and Tristan (son)
Political Experience: First elected to the Verona City Council in 2013; elected mayor in 2018
Essay Questions
Q: Why are you running for reelection as the mayor of the City of Verona?
A: “I am running to represent all Verona residents and to keep our sense of community even as we grow. I want to maintain fiscal discipline to keep our city in good financial shape. Finally, I want Verona to continue to build walking and biking paths for Verona residents.”
Q: You are running for your fourth term as mayor. What accomplishments are you the proudest of from your first three terms?
A: “To maintain our sense of community even as we grow, it’s critical for the city to have spaces for people in the community to gather. As mayor, I’m proud of the new two-plus acre park on West Verona Avenue. I’m also proud of the support we’ve offered community groups, including supporting a second sheet of ice at the ice rink and the Art House 360. I’m also proud of the strong fiscal health of the city, our efforts around transparency, the progress we’ve made on sustainability (there’s more to do!) and building our trails for people who walk and bike.”
Q: What are some challenges that you have faced as mayor, and how have you worked to overcome those challenges?
A: “One consistent challenge has been dealing with staffing issues. The labor market is very competitive right now and we hold people to high standards. Between the work of myself, alders and city staff, we have kept city services functioning at a high level despite these challenges.”
Q: What are your plans to improve public services to meet the needs of a growing population?
A: “Start with hiring good people and supporting the city staff we have. Continue to listen to city residents about how we’re doing. We must also maintain fiscal discipline and be careful about borrowing money because debt service payments can restrict how we fund city services.”
Q: Verona, like many communities across Wisconsin, is facing a shortage of affordable housing. How do you plan on addressing this?
A: “All of Dane County is facing housing shortages, which has caused housing prices and rents to spike. The way to deal with this is to allow more housing to be built. For this new housing, developers must build high quality housing that fits well into our community.”
Q: What is your long-term vision for the City of Verona, and how will you work to get there?
A: “I want Verona to be a wonderful community for the people who live here now and for the people who will move here in the future. To do this, we need to maintain fiscal discipline, continue to offer great public services and grow in a responsible way.”
