Bernie Uszcienski is one of three candidates for Bloomington ward seven. (Beth Whisman/WJBC)

By Stephanie Pawlowski

BLOOMINGTON - There are three candidates for Bloomington ward seven, including a Bloomington native and electrician.

Bernie Uszcienski works at Heartland Community College and was previously an apprentice instructor for 14 years.

He said an issue that's top of the list for him is finding a reliable water supply. He said the city is already coming off a drought.

"I think we're just a few weeks, a few months away from when we hit the spring and summer time but if we don't get rain, we're going to be right back in it again," Uszcienski said. "It's a problem that we've had since 1987, 1988."

PODCAST: Listen to Bernie Uszcienski on WJBC.

Uszcienski said he thinks the city needs to look at the aquifers as an additional water source. And, he said the city needs to ensure a safe source by monitoring the Clinton Landfill, which sits over the aquifer.

Uszcienski does not support managed competition. He called it a fancy word for outsourcing.

"Loss of services, loss of control. If the company got the bid to do whatever we sold our trucks, sold out equipment to do that and that company went out of business, where do we go? We'd have to spend millions of dollars to retool, get the people back, if they would come back. It's bad for morale," Uszcienski said.

Uszcienski is running against Scott Black and Ryan Fiala.

Stephanie Pawlowski can be reached at Stephanie.Pawlowski@cumulus.com.