Candidates prioritize housing, brownfield cleanup and neighborhood resources at Oshkosh forum

Housing affordability, redevelopment of the South Main/Sawdust District and neighborhood stabilization emerged as the forum’s most persistent policy topics, with candidates outlining how they would use municipal tools and partnerships to address those issues.

Joe Stevenson, an incumbent candidate and East Central Planning Commission program manager, called housing a “top priority,” saying the city has “done a lot of creative things over the past couple years” but must “bring down housing costs, make it more attainable for people to be a homeowner.” Stevenson also described contamination and brownfields as “the biggest hurdles” for South Main Street redevelopment and urged use of state grant programs and city tools to clean…