When City of Brookfield residents cast their votes for mayor in the spring election, they will choose between a current alderman and the man who has served as their mayor for nearly 16 years.
Mike Hallquist faces incumbent Steve Ponto in the April 7 election for the nonpartisan role of Brookfield’s mayor.
The next mayor will have major decisions to make on tightening the city’s projected $4 million budget gap after a majority of residents voted against a $6 million property tax levy referendum in April 2025.
That referendum was Brookfield’s long-discussed solution to the budget issues. Without voters’ approval of a referendum, communities like Brookfield increasingly rely on property tax revenue generated by new development due to state levy limits on local spending.
The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel asked both candidates about how they’d handle the persistent budget gap, as well as their priorities and accomplishments. Here’s what they said.
Mike Hallquist
Website: mikehallquist.com
Age: 40
Support/Endorsements: City of Brookfield Ald. Sara Monty, Blue Sky Waukesha and Wisconsin Muslim Civic Alliance have all endorsed Hallquist.
Hallquist is running for mayor while in his sixth year as a District 4 alderman. First elected in 2020, his current four-year term expires in 2028. He serves on the Finance Committee, Plan Commission, Board of Public Works, and the Information Technology Sub-Committee.
If elected mayor, candidates to fill Hallquist’s seat would submit resumes for committee consideration. Of those candidates, a new alderman would be appointed to Hallquist’s seat for the remainder of the term.
Hallquist wants Brookfield to become a leader as a modern, suburban city of its size by addressing the financial deficit, bettering city communications and encouraging smart development.
“My approach is to recognize the things that we’ve done well as a community, but to also challenge how we operate, because that’s how you make improvements,” he told the Journal Sentinel.
Hallquist currently works as an Enterprise Data Architect at GE Healthcare. Raised in Hartland, Hallquist resides in Brookfield with his wife Amanda and their two grade school-aged children: Nolan and Ava.
Hallquist says Brookfield is ‘too restrictive’ on developments, needs to adapt
Brookfield can adopt smarter zoning and focus on developments that bring people into the community, not just driving through it, Hallquist said.
He believes Brookfield has gotten far too restrictive on development. He referenced a recent Wisconsin Policy Forum report that found Brookfield has the slowest project review process compared to neighboring communities.
“Then we wonder why we have vacant retail and vacant office spaces. It’s because we’re not adapting to change,” he said.
Commercial development can bring life into those vacant spaces as well as expand the city’s property tax base, he said.
The Brookfield Public Market and the Wirth Park playground exemplify the change he supports – shifting from older, strip-mall style developments to memorable spaces for people to gather, he said. Hallquist previously served on and created the Wirth Park Playground Renewal Committee.
Hallquist said the city needs to create more affordable housing that is subsidized government housing, built in specific areas where research shows the housing would do well and revitalize the space.
In 2020, Brookfield adopted its 2050 Comprehensive Plan, a process required by state law to assess the city’s housing stock and identify programs and policies that promote development of housing that meets the needs of all income levels, ages and abilities.
“We have an obligation to provide housing for people with disabilities, people who work just as hard, if not harder, than higher incomes, but have lower incomes,” Hallquist said.
Hallquist says balancing the budget is critical, no department off limits
Balancing the budget and protecting the services Brookfield has is the biggest issue the city faces, Hallquist said.
Hallquist said he wouldn’t support holding another city property tax levy referendum in 2027 – he said it’s imperative to respect that residents did vote not to raise the levy in 2025.
To immediately address the budget shortfalls, Hallquist said the city could apply to the budget the unrestricted reserves for the sewer infrastructure, although those funds will never come back. The city also could turn to cutting city staff through attrition or push some items to debt and pay debt service he said.
“It’s basically trying to take all the scraps and make a meal out of it,” he said, adding he would also revisit and consider the many other small fees that have been examined and discussed as possible cost-saving areas in city meetings.
Based on the reality of the budget situation, Hallquist said he’d challenge the notion that there are departments that wouldn’t be affected by funding cuts.
Steve Ponto (incumbent)
Website: pontoformayor.com
Age: 78
Support, endorsements: Seven of the 14 city aldermen have officially endorsed Ponto for mayor, according to Ponto’s campaign site. Republican Party of Waukesha County’s WisRed Voter Guide has also endorsed Ponto.
Ponto is running for a fifth term as Brookfield’s mayor, a role he has held since he was first elected in 2010. Before becoming mayor, he was a Brookfield alderman for 12 years and served as Common Council president for two years.
Brookfield residents since 1990, Ponto and his wife Mary have two adult daughters: Elizabeth, and Stephanie, who serves as Ponto’s campaign manager.
Ponto worked for 31 years as a corporate attorney.
As mayor, Ponto particularly enjoys working closely with the city’s department heads. In his latest term, he is most proud of how Brookfield’s Exposition Center, which is financed by hotel room tax revenue, has grown since its rocky start in April 2020 when the COVID-19 pandemic hit hard.
Ponto told the Journal Sentinel he’s led city hall by being open to people’s concerns, accepting criticism and making adjustments when needed to curate a positive legislative experience.
“I’m happiest when I’m working on something that I can build a consensus around,” Ponto said. “I don’t like there being a lot of tension on the council.”
Brookfield mayor Steve Ponto talks about housing
Ponto acknowledged housing costs have become increasingly expensive. But the incumbent doesn’t think Brookfield has a major affordability problem yet, and he believes it’s not up to city government to subsidize housing.
“If housing is built, it has to be something that the average citizen, or the slightly above average citizen, can afford to purchase,” Ponto said. “I don’t think that we’ve had a significant problem with housing being just out of range for people in Brookfield yet.”
Housing costs have risen faster than people’s income in Waukesha County communities including Brookfield, a 2023 Wisconsin Policy Forum study found.
Ponto said people should look to state and federal programs, not local government, to help keep housing costs relatively low.
At the local level, Ponto said Brookfield leaders can “set appropriate limits” on what the local government can do around housing and insist residential projects be developed well. The city can ensure there are well-developed lots for people and developers to purchase and “build the housing they’re comfortable with,” he said.
Ponto also praised the city’s plans to redevelop the Brookfield Square Mall’s former Boston Store in to a public market.
“Like many malls, Brookfield Square needs a shot in the arm,” he said.
Ponto stresses the need to preserve public safety, but says time will tell on budget cuts
Under state law, without referendum approval, property taxes can only be raised based on the amount of net new construction in an area. In Brookfield, that amount is not keeping pace with inflation, Ponto previously told the Journal Sentinel.
Now, the city estimates there will be a $4 million gap in the tax levy for the 2029 budget, according to Robert Scott, Brookfield finance director.
When asked about how to remedy the budget gap, Ponto stressed a need to preserve police, fire and other protective services. Like his opponent, he wouldn’t support another property tax levy referendum in the near future and understands why people voted the way they did in the 2025 referendum.
When pressed by the Journal Sentinel to provide concrete examples of what cuts to the budget he would make, Ponto left it up to the future.
“It really will depend on the time that we have to make those cuts if in fact we do,” Ponto said.
Ponto also referenced that the Elmbrook School District is considering its own referendum.
“The fact that we have an excellent school district does offset part of the expense problem with Brookfield. We should be mindful of that and help the school district where we can,” he said.
Brookfield aldermanic candidates on the ballot April 7
The mayor isn’t the only elected official Brookfield residents will vote on in the spring election. All seven districts have one aldermanic seat up for election, while the other half of the 14-person council hold terms that expire April 2028.
Here are the candidates for the 2026 election.
District 1: Steve Dasher, Peter Stoll
District 2: Bob Reddin (incumbent)
District 3: Jason G. Anderson (incumbent), Morgan Austgen
District 4: Jake Gregory, Chuck Bloom (incumbent)
District 5: Gary Daniel Mahkorn (incumbent)
District 6: Catherine Kahler, Jeffrey Mellone
District 7: Kris Seals (incumbent)
Correction, March 16, 2026: This story has been updated to correct the number of aldermen that serve the City of Brookfield.
Bridget Fogarty covers Brookfield, Wauwatosa and Elm Grove for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. She can be contacted at bfogarty@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Incumbent Steve Ponto faces Ald. Mike Hallquist for Brookfield mayor
Reporting by Bridget Fogarty, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
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