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Michael Neitzke (Mayor of Greenfield, Wisconsin, candidate 2025)
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Michael Neitzke ran for election to the Mayor of Greenfield in Wisconsin. He was on the ballot in the general election on April 1, 2025.
Neitzke completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2025. Click here to read the survey answers.
[1]Biography
Michael Neitzke provided the following biographical information via Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey on March 26, 2025:
- Birth date: November 16, 1963
- Birth place: Milwaukee, Wisconsin
- High school: Greenfield High School
- Bachelor's: University of Wiscon, 1987
- J.D.: Hamline University School of Law/Marquette Law, 1992
- Gender: Male
- Profession: Attorney
- Prior offices held:
- Mayor (2005-2024)
- Alderperson (1998-2005)
- Incumbent officeholder: Yes
- Campaign slogan: I don’t have one.
Elections
General election
General election for Mayor of Greenfield
Michael Neitzke and David A. Scherbarth ran in the general election for Mayor of Greenfield on April 1, 2025.
Candidate | ||
 | Michael Neitzke (Nonpartisan)  | |
| David A. Scherbarth (Nonpartisan) | ||
| ||||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Election results
Endorsements
Ballotpedia did not identify endorsements for Neitzke in this election.
Campaign themes
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Michael Neitzke completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2025. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Neitzke's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.
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I was born and raised in Greenfield. I attended Elm Dale Elementary School, Greenfield Middle School, and graduated from Greenfield High School (‘81). I went on to get a BA at the University of Wisconsin, and a law degree from Hamline University School of Law (studying my final year at Marquette Law). I passed the Bar in Wisconsin and Minnesota. I have worked many jobs started out as a dishwasher at the Columns of Tuckaway, a stocker at the K-Mart on 27th, a Janitor in college, and after college I was an investigator and law clerk at a law firm, a trial attorney, administrative & legal affairs manager at a manufacturing company (concurrently as an Alderperson in Greenfield), and have been the full-time Mayor of Greenfield since 2005. I ran for Mayor then at the urging of Greenfield businesses, residents and employees. After winning, I made one goal: To Make Greenfield a Better Place.
I’ve worked hard to make it better. Under my leadership, we’ve improved our facilities, our parks, our neighborhoods, our hiring practices (stressing competence), our business model (our constituents are our customers), and our relationships with our 2 major school districts, and our bond rating. I’m proud of the things we’ve created: the law enforcement center/court, library, The Amp, the Farmers’ Market, the Community Center, Konkel Park, the Powerline Trail, the TURF, to name a few. I have always presented a balanced budget, and always look out for our taxpayers.
- Strong and supportive public safety and services. A community is only as good as the safety and services it provides. I am extremely proud of our Police and Fire Departments and support them. The facilities, training, resources, and most importantly the people that lead and work there are professionals that share a passion for the City and their work. Accidents and incidents are responded to promptly by highly qualified public servants. Our public works crews are multi-talented. The same folks that plow our streets, also improve our parks and neighborhoods. Our Clerk’s Office runs an impeccable elections and elections. Our Park & Rec program has 25,000 registrants per year, which funds their programming.
- Making Greenfield a better community to live in. . I’m proud of leading the way for things that make living here better. The Farmers’ Market, music and events at The Amp, our Fall Car Show, our Fireworks, our Skating Rink, the new Veteran’s Memorial, the Powerline Trail, the improvements to Honey Creek at Konkel, the TURF, among others, all make the City a better, more livable place. Most of these amenities were funded through grants, donations, and leveraging resources.
- Being responsive and respectful to our ‘customers’, constantly improving, and always looking for ways to do more with less. I am always looking for ways to continue to maintain and improve our City cost-effectively. Money and resources are tight for everybody, including Greenfield. I am always balancing value to cost, and return on investments we make. I treat our residents and businesses as customers. We’re here to serve you. You pay for us, and you deserve the best in return. With challenged resources, we have to innovate every way that we can. This will never stop.
My only public policy goal is making Greenfield’s a Better Place. Every decision flows to, and back from, that goal. State and Federal politicians can speak in broad brush strokes about all sorts of issues, often divisively. As Mayor of Greenfield, it’s my job to make certain things work here. If I do that well, the City is better. If I don’t, there is no one to hide behind. Smart, effective, responsive local government can’t hide behind broad brush strokes. If you have a heart attack, someone qualified to save you must respond. If someone steals from you, police should be responsive.. When you have to get to work in winter, we cannot say we hope to get to plowing next week. When you vote, your vote should be in compromised.
My Father. He served in WwII on a Navy destroyer, which was torpedoed after D-Day. He later returned to Milwaukee to marry my Mom, his teenage sweetheart. He built a house that he drew while in the Navy on Grange Avenue in Greenfield in 1950. It’s the house I grew up in. He worked at AOSmith for 37 years and retired. He taught me how to build and fix things. He was understanding, humble and patient. When I did dumb stuff, he never yelled. He told me that he was “disappointed.” It was devastating for me to hear that. He taught me hard work was important, and that life long learning is critical. He was a beautiful human being. The world could use more like him.
It’s a Wonderful Life
Integrity, honesty, trust, creativity, transparency, intelligence and common sense.
I have an array of experience and education many people don’t. I listen. I’m passionate.
I have found that there are a few types of politicians. There are climbers that take the job to get a better job. There are Napoleon types who use the position to get power and respect that they wouldn’t otherwise get. There are one issue types that run because they of this or that and then fade away. And there are some that just want to make things work and get things done. I don’t aspire to any other job, I’m pretty tall, and I haven’t faded away. I’d like to think I’m good at making things work and getting things done in challenging times and environments. My responsibility is to represent, defend, and advocate for our citizens and businesses in Greenfield’s place in the world. I do it tirelessly, and commit to always doing so.
None, other than knowing I left the City Better.
Man landing on the moon.
I was a dishwasher at a restaurant for $2.12 per hour. Over a year.
The World According to Garp.
It means just that, leading.
Greenfield is unique. The full-time Mayor is also the Administrator. There is cohesion in direction, and no one to point fingers at.
The relationship has to be based on trust. Good things don’t get done anywhere without trust. Without trust things get personal. Personal conflict results in fights over personal things rather than the business at hand. I believe in openly and honestly communicating with our Common Council and providing the best guidance I can. It does me no good to win some little battle through deceit, only to lose the battle to make the City a Better Place long-term.
Everything.
Finances and stability, just like every business and household.
Open. Some individual agency relationships have been great. Others, not so much.
Open and responsive. It would be nice if there were more open conduits. I’m proud that our Congressman’s Office is helping lead the charge for our goal of a city-wide exclusive zip code(s). I’ve been at it for 2 decades.
Not appropriate here.
Supportive.
I don’t accept endorsements, though I’ve been offered.
I support both unequivocally. Our budget is detailed and available. I can always explain it to those who inquire. If you don’t trust me, you have access to our staff.
Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.
See also
2025 Elections
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ [Email with Wisconsin Secretary of State Election office, "Candidate list," March 12, 2025]
