New face wins in St. Francis [Milwaukee Journal Sentinel]

April 04--New mayors, all with experience in the workings of city government, were elected on Tuesday in Wauwatosa, Oak Creek and St. Francis.

In Wauwatosa, Kathy Ehley, executive director of the Village of Wauwatosa Business Improvement District, defeated Ald. Peter Donegan, a retired insurance business owner, in the race for mayor.

Ehley, 64, had 58.3% of the vote while Donegan, 59, had 41.7%, unofficial totals showed.

No incumbent was running in the race. Mayor Jill Didier, who was elected in April 2008, resigned Dec. 15 to become Milwaukee County's economic development coordinator. Common Council President Eric Meaux was appointed mayor to fill the remainder of Didier's term.

In Oak Creek, Ald. Steve Scaffidi, president of the Common Council in his second term as alderman, beat Mark Verhalen, a former one-term alderman.

Scaffidi pulled in about 55.5% of the vote while Verhalen had 44.5% , unofficial totals show.

Scaffidi will succeed Mayor Al Foeckler, who was appointed by the council to fill the remainder of Mayor Dick Bolender's term. Bolender died in office in December, shortly after he announced that he would not seek re-election.

Scaffidi, 53, is a special projects field manager for The Nielsen Co., analyzing consumer viewing behavior on television and the Internet.

Verhalen, 56, is owner of two local businesses, Verhalen Farms and Verhalen Excavating LLC, and is a member of the Oak Creek-Franklin School Board.

In St. Francis, voters chose CoryAnn St. Marie-Carls over former alderman Jeffrey L. Mayer for the city's top elected post.

Unofficial totals show St. Marie-Carls had 53.9% of the vote compared with 46.1% for Mayer.

St. Marie-Carls, 50, is the former public information officer for the City of Kenosha and former executive director of the Kenosha Area Chamber of Commerce. She is a project manager for a communications company.

Mayer, 55, was an alderman from 2002 to 2010. He retired in 2009 as assistant superintendent of the County Correctional Facility-South.

St. Marie-Carls, a member of the Community Development Authority, will succeed Mayor Al Richards, who has served since 2004 and is retiring from office after two terms.

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