As the first in a series of appearances by gubernatorial candidates in Mike Gousha’s “On the Issues” series, Milwaukee mayor and Democratic candidate Tom Barrett emphasized the importance of cooperation between the private sector and government in job creation during a wide-ranging conversation at Sensenbrenner Hall Thursday afternoon.

Other topics Barrett talked about included education, health care, transportation and tax policy, but the importance of all those issues boils down to creating jobs for Wisconsin’s citizens, Barrett said.

“The state has to be aggressive and proactive in creating jobs,” he said.

Attracting Republic Airways to locate in Milwaukee was an example of this theory in a real-world application, Barrett said. Milwaukee was in direct competition with Indianapolis and Denver for the Republic expansion, and through government efforts in providing Republic with a location and tax credits, the city beat out its competition, he said.

Barrett also said his experience as Milwaukee’s mayor will help him if he is elected governor.

“I learned as mayor that getting things done is most important,” he said.