Meet the candidates running for West Allis mayor: incumbent Dan Devine and AmyRose Murphy

On Tuesday, April 2, West Allis Mayor Dan Devine will face a challenge for his mayoral seat for the first time.

Legislative aide and former business owner AmyRose Murphy will be running against Devine, who said it's the first time he's been challenged for the seat since he took office in 2008.

Mayor Dan Devine

Background: Devine grew up in Racine and later attended UW-Milwaukee, where he received his bachelor's degree in political science with a minor in business and history. After graduating, he began working as a sales and marketing assistant for Midwest Sports Channel, which is now known as Bally Sports. He started his political career as a legislative assistant for Milwaukee County. He then ran for county supervisor and served one term.

During this tenure, he learned former West Allis Mayor Jeannette Bell was not running again. After getting encouragement from his peers, he decided to run for mayor, a position he has kept since 2008.

Website: westalliswi.gov/1415/Mayors-Office

Fundraising and endorsements: Family, friends and self-funding.

Devine decided to run for mayor again to continue redevelopment efforts in West Allis

Devine said the city has made progress with redevelopment by adding new restaurants, breweries, coffee shops, bakeries, unique retail shops and more.

"I've been knocking on thousands of doors and it just seems like most people are in agreement with that," Devine said. "They seem to be very happy with a lot of the new development and the new excitement around the city."

Devine said West Allis has $350 million in economic development planned for the city in the next years. He said he wants to see those projects make it to the finish line.

He said these developments broaden the tax base, create more jobs and help ease the burden of property taxes for residents and businesses.

He also noted it has brought more business to the city.

"We've got restaurant groups and businesses that are considering West Allis, where they would have never considered it 10 years ago. I just really want to continue that progress and keep bringing in new and exciting things."

Devine said the biggest concern from West Allis residents is reckless driving and believes speaking to residents is the best way to figure out what their biggest concerns are

According to Devine, the number one concern from West Allis residents is issues with the way people drive, which has led to an increase in reckless driving.

Devine said "Coffee with the Mayor" ― a way for residents to meet with him outside of City Hall ― has been one of the best ways to talk to people in the community.

"Those have taken a little bit of a hit since COVID. I did a few of them outdoors when we had nice weather and enough people that were comfortable getting together," he said. "I think that that's very important to just give people an opportunity to meet with you. Not everybody's comfortable coming into City Hall."

Devine would like to see West Allis neighborhood associations get back on track

Devine noted that he would like to see more genuine interest in some of West Allis's neighborhoods. He said a good way to do this is to get neighborhood associations back on track.

Devine said some neighborhoods are "pretty active and doing quite well," but others are floundering.

"I think it would be me working with the alderperson of the appropriate district and trying to get them to get active, concerned neighbors together and just start trying to make those neighborhoods stronger and more connected, which then I think leads to better public safety and just a better overall sense of community."

Devine says opioid and drug problems are a challenging issue, but he says West Allis has support

Devine called the drug and opioid crisis a challenging issue. He noted that the community has been involved in this epidemic and there's also a citizen group that has formed the WAWM Heroin/Opiate Task Force.

Devine also talked about the Mobile Integrated Healthcare program provided by the West Allis Fire Department.

"They have actually partnered with Community Medical Services, which is a treatment facility, and they do some real outside-of-the-box things where if there's a call for an overdose, they will go to the home with a paramedic and a rep from Community Medical Services the next day and try to make contact with the family to get them on a treatment plan."

Devine also said they've had Narcan training and Narcan vending machines added to the West Allis Health Department.

AmyRose Murphy

Background: AmyRose Murphy is a former business owner who is also the legislative aide for Rep. Donna M. Rozar. As a business owner, her family currently owns 13 Napa Auto Parts stores. She also volunteered her time by being in the private sector by being involved in the school board for PTL and Board for Immanuel Lutheran School in Palatine, IL and as a parent representative on the Saint Viator High School board in Arlington Heights, IL.

Murphy has also served as a sign language interpreter and has a passion to educate others in the field of American Sign Language ― both Murphy's parents and her husband are a part of the Deaf community.

Website: friendsofamyrose.com

Funding and endorsements: Self-funding and family and friends

Murphy decided she wanted to run for public office once her children were older

Murphy always knew she wanted to run for public office, so she decided to pursue this once her children were old enough.

"I've always been involved in the communities that I've lived in, and we've been in West Allis for six years. I was on one of the neighborhood boards and resigned because we moved to a different side of the city. I've just always been hands-on, but with the younger kids, I didn't feel it was fair to them to give my time to a community."

Once her children were old enough, Murphy met some of the aldermen who encouraged her to pursue her goal of being in a public office.

Murphy wants to make sure residents are more involved if she becomes mayor of West Allis

If elected, Murphy said her first priority would be to get more neighborhood associations going because she said there's so much communication that happens at that level.

"One of the things that I see in West Allis is the neighborhoods that have neighborhood associations, at least the ones that are active, are the citizens that tend to be more involved," she said.

Murphy said she wants to make sure residents who aren't as tech-savvy are still aware of the things around them in the community, as some aren't able to navigate through certain websites.

Murphy said, if elected, she'd commit to setting time aside each week to meet with community members, whether it's behind closed doors or in the community, for her first 30 days in office.

Murphy referenced the 2045 Comprehensive Plan for the City of West Allis and noted that there were 1,250 impacts within the community, a number she said was too low.

"With a city the size of over 60,000 people, this is less than 3% of the populace," Murphy said.

She added that the engagement sessions were posted online and said "online does not work for a majority of our citizens, as they cannot navigate the website."

"I really want to work for the people. I want to have more than 3% of the population input when it comes to big fiscal decisions."

Murphy believes the mayor is the main spokesperson when it comes to the opioid and drug crisis

Murphy believes the mayor of West Allis is a spokesperson on the opioid and drug crisis. She knows the mayor keeps a pulse on every department and things that are going on.

Murphy also praised the West Allis Health Department, which recently announced a merger with the Greenfield Health Department, forming the Southwest Suburban Health Department.

"We have a great health department and we recently absorbed Greenfield's health department. So there's going to be that collaboration and we're servicing West Milwaukee and Greenfield now with an office still staying in Greenfield."

Murphy said the City of West Allis recently put out vending machines that have Narcan and COVID tests all free to the public.

Murphy said if there is an emergency and someone is in the middle of an overdose, you can go up to the vending machine to get what you need to revive a person and check for COVID. She thinks these steps have been great to help combat the drug crisis.

She also noted that she believes the City of West Allis needs to have more support for mental health services.

For more information about the April 2 elections and how to vote visit here.

Contact Adrienne Davis at [email protected]. Follow her on X at @AdriReportss.

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: West Allis Mayor Dan Devine facing challenge from AmyRose Murphy