- Hello, I'm Aaron Richardson,
running for state treasurer of Wisconsin.
I am very excited about this race and I hope to get your vote
because I believe I am the most qualified person for this role.
I am currently the mayor in Fitchburg, Wisconsin
and have been for over three and a half years.
That is incredibly important to have someone that
has been in a leadership role in government
and has done a lot of great things.
We're one of the fastest-growing communities in the state.
Not only do you want the treasurer
to have that experience in municipal government,
but I think it's also important
that they're used to working with big budgets,
and in Fitchburg, we've got a $25 million operating budget
and a $100 million capital budget.
It's incredibly important that you have someone
that is used to working with those big budgets
and big numbers, and I do have that experience as well.
Another thing that's important in this role
is someone that understands school system.
I think the most important thing the treasurer does
is provide money to school district libraries
throughout the state.
And that is something that I want to provide
as much money as possible and I'm gonna do everything I can
so we are providing as much money to those libraries
that we can.
It's so important to me
to make sure that we are supporting education.
Working in the school district, I see firsthand the great work
that our teachers and our librarians are doing,
and I see how they are just starving for funding
because they're not getting the support they need
from the state legislature.
So as much as we can support them, I wanna do that.
And having someone that's been in the school
and understands that is incredibly important.
I actually have the education for this as well.
I have a business degree from UW-Green Bay.
I'm a very proud Phoenix.
I also have an MBA from UW-Whitewater,
and I spent 16 years in the business world
in a variety of roles,
working at a lot of different companies,
including credit unions and insurance companies,
so I do know the language, and so I can speak the language
to the people that I'm working with in this role.
Now, I wanna talk a little bit
about what I wanna do in this role.
Sarah Godlewski's done a great job in this role.
I wanna keep doing all the great things she's done
'cause she has really shown the value of this role
and what you can do in this role.
It's incredibly important.
We had 62% of the people in this state
in a referendum five years ago say this role is important
and we want this role to stay here.
Some people wanted to disband it and get rid of it,
but Sarah Godlewski has shown how valuable this is,
and so I wanna keep doing the great work she's done
while I do a couple things also though,
and add a couple things to the things she's done.
One is financial literacy.
And I think it's so important
that this role is involved in financial literacy
and improving financial literacy throughout the state.
I've already worked with a credit union
who is going to provide materials to me
that they have used.
And they've won awards for their financial literacy.
They're gonna give that to me,
we're gonna put it on the treasurer's website.
And this is materials that adults can use,
that kids can use, teachers can use with adults.
And not only do they have this in English,
but they already have it in Spanish.
So we're already gonna come out with it in two languages.
I want it translated into Hmong as well.
That is another language I think is incredibly important
in this state, and so I wanna translate that
into Hmong as well.
And I really think it just makes a lotta sense
for the treasurer to be involved in financial literacy.
The other thing that's important to me
that I wanna do in this role is promote home ownership.
Home ownership is so incredibly important.
It's becoming more and more difficult
to own a home in this state.
And we're doing a program in Fitchburg
that will increase home ownership.
I wanna support programs like that throughout the state.
There's a lot of different ways you can do it.
You can find out more about what we're doing in Fitchburg
if you go on my website, aaronforwi.com.
But I just wanna talk about things that I have done.
It's important that you not only talk about
the things that you wanna do,
but when you can talk about the things you have done,
that is where I think there is the biggest differentiator
as well between myself and my opponent.
Two of the areas I like to highlight.
The first is the environment.
We had a goal of 25% of the energy in Fitchburg
be coming from renewable resources by 2025.
Well, we've been putting up solar panels on buildings,
and there's a solar farm that helps support in Fitchburg
and it got built, and we were able
to actually participate in that.
And so as of right now,
the city of Fitchburg gets 40% of their energy
from renewable resources, way ahead of our goal.
And the other one that I wanna highlight real quick
is diversity.
We're the most diverse community in Dane County,
and it's incredibly important that we're recognizing things
like Pride Month, Juneteenth, and Indigenous People's Day,
all things that we had never recognized
until I became mayor.
And right now, we fly the pride flag outside city hall
365 days a year, all because of things that I have done.
So thank you very much for your help and your support,
and you can find out more online.