Lisa Mellone Seeks Return to Aldermanic Seat

Lisa Mellone said she wants to return to work as alderwoman and applied Friday to regain the job she gave up to run for city clerk.

Mellone served as alderman for the southeastern 7th District from 2006 until July when she mid-term to apply for the clerk's job being vacated by Kristine Schmidt's .

Mellone made the first cut for the clerk post and was one of 12 candidates out of 44 applicants to be interviewed, but was not chosen as a finalist.

In an interview Friday, Mellone said she never wanted to stop serving as alderwoman but thought serving as city clerk would be her "dream job" and couldn't pass up the chance to go for it.

"You can sit on the sidelines your whole life or you can take some chances, so I did," Mellone said. 

After learning about the clerk finalists, Mellone said she was willing to let someone else get the opportunity to serve as alderman and said she contacted some people to encourage them to apply.

"I was ready to move on," she said. "I have a lot of interests and skills, not just being an alderman. Emotionally and mentally I was ready to do that."

But no one was interested, she said. And then she saw who applied: Thomas Schellinger, the man she worked hard to defeat in 2006. Renee Lowerr outpolled Schellinger in 2008 to be elected as the 7th district's second representative (each district has two aldermen). Schellinger, a longtime alderman and car sales consultant, is a Waukesha County Board supervisor. 

In addition to Schellinger, Shawn Conaway, an information technology professional, applied for Mellone's aldermanic seat. The deadline to apply was 5 p.m. today. 

Mellone said she contacted Conaway to see how interested he was and how hard he could work for the district, of which Mellone would be a constituent.

She said Conaway told her he was getting his masters degree and has classes on Tuesday nights — the night that the Common Council meets.

"He ended up leaving me a message that he’s not going to be able to pursue it after all because of the conflict with his schedule so that just leaves Schellinger," Mellone said.

"Twice (Schellinger) was rejected by voters," she said. "I was unopposed in 2010. I just couldn't hand it over to him." 

Mellone said she also was compelled to apply for her former job back after being urged to do so by constituents and some city employees.

"Overwhelmingly a lot of residents called and emailed me asking me to come back," she said. "I knew I did a good job as alderman. I really put my heart into it. But I really was overwhelmed by the response. That was kind of pulling at me."  

Mellone added: "I just felt in a sense obligated. It’s also an honor and privilege to be considered. And I would resume right where I left off, my work ethic will be exactly the same as it was before."

The city's Legislative & Licensing Committee will interview the applicants the week of Sept. 12 and recommend an appointment to the Common Council for possible confirmation at its Sept. 20 meeting.

The appointee would serve until next spring's municipal elections and would have to run for re-election to serve that seat's final two years through 2014.

Aldermen serve four-year terms with an annual salary of about $10,000 a year.