COVER FEATURES County Board Battle

COUNTY BOARD BATTLE

Voters in more districts than not have a choice for who represents them on the county level

There’s a good chance

next Tuesday that you will have two people to choose from for county board. Th at’s because more than half of the 38 seats — 19 in total — are up for reelection.

Th at includes eight of the 11 districts that cover Wausau. But metro and rural districts also have contested races. Th ere will be at least eight new board members who have never served before, and the potential for 23 — more than half the board — to be new.

We sent questionnaires to the emails provided by the county clerk, and last week resent the questionnaires to anyone who hadn’t responded yet. We didn’t hear from everyone, unfortunately. Looking around at other previews, it was pretty common

City Pages always took pride in interviewing all the candidates for offi ce over the phone or in person, but this time around with only one editorial person and nearly 100 candidates in contested races this election, questionnaires are the only feasible way to do it. It’s imperfect — but we do our best in imperfect situations.

Take note that the districts changed a bit as a result of the redistricting that happens due to the U.S. Census every ten years. Log on to www. myvote.wi.gov to fi nd your polling location and who is on the ballot.

Here are the candidates competing for your vote:

DISTRICT 1

Michelle Van Krey

Michelle Van Kray

(incumbent), 32, is an administrative assistant with the city of Wausau. Besides seeking her second term on the county board, she is the former chair of the Bridge Community Clinic Garden program committee and the Schofi eld Beautifi cation Committee. Her priorities for the next term are being proactive versus reactive, spending ARPA funds wisely, continuing broadband expansion and engaging Marathon County Residents Christopher Wood, 27, works for a lawn care company. Wood says he was called to run by the heavenly father and says there is a plan to rebuild society from the ground up. Wood’s priorities are to revolutionize local politics and he plans to hold regular meetings with constituents, building transparency and community. Wood says he would actually like to meet with residents weekly if not more often to thin the veil between government and citizens.

Christopher Wood

DISTRICT 2

Ann Lemmer

Ann Lemmer, 53, is a Wausau School District teacher on sabbatical. She is president of the Wausau Festival of Arts and as a parent of three says gives her insight into the needs for child care and demands parents face. Her priorities are spending ARPA funds wisely in the wake of the pandemic, attracting a qualifi ed workforce, and bolstering child care, affordable housing, broadband and transportation. She touts her ability to foster relationships to help the county. Destiny Goretski did not respond to our questionnaire but told other media she wants to walk back government overreach and return life to the old normal. Substance abuse, PFAS removal and employment issues are also key priorities.

DISTRICT 5

Gary Gisselman, 79, is a retired Marathon County librarian. Gisselman served on the county board and city council previously, both for more than a decade. He wants to see people work together better. He considers supporting A Community For All as his number one priority. Other priorities include continuing eff orts in rural broadband and protecting the soil, land and air in Marathon County. Cody Nikolai is a doctor and currently serves on the Wausau School Board. He did not return our questionnaire but told other media that his top priorities were enhancing emergency services, being fi scally responsible and encouraging local growth in the economy.

DISTRICT 6

Stacey Morache

Stacey Morache, 51, works in sales. Morache is an interpreter for the deaf and believes those communication skills will serve the board well in bringing people together. Her number one priority is addressing mental health issues by bringing back those programs at North Central Health Care. Maintaining a robust public safety department and fi nding a way to address the child care shortages and expenses in the county are also key priorities for her. Jeff Johnson (incumbent), 62, is a former probation and parole agent. He has served on the county board for four years. Johnson wants to see the partisanship on the county board end in favor of serving citizens. Johnson says his number one priority is public safety, and ensuring residents have clean water. He also emphasized the need to maintain the county’s infrastructure. He says many of the county’s functions are entwined; it’s hard to pick just a few.

Jeff Johnson

DISTRICT 7

Rebecca Buch (incumbent), 66, is an English teacher for the Wausau

Rebecca Buch

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School District. She is running for a second term to uphold conservative values. She wants to the see board become much less divisive and come together on issues. Her number one priority is balancing the budget without raising taxes. Ensuring a robust law enforcement department, as well as continuing the county’s efforts toward broadband expansion are also key priorities.

Alex Eichten, 31, is a communications and marketing specialist. Eichten is running because she doesn’t feel like she and her neighbors are accurately represented by the incumbent. She is the co-founder of the Wausau Maker’s Market and works with many small businesses. Her top priorities are promoting diversity and inclusion in the county, and working toward more affordable housing solutions. She’d like to see a more well-rounded, cooperative board.

Alex Eichten

DISTRICT 8

Veronica Hope

Veronica Hope, 56, is a welding instructor at Northcentral Technical College. She ran because she’s interested in fair maps, environmental justice and supporting A Community for All. She wants to bring her experience in education and communication skills to the board. She cites the aging population of the county as a challenge, both in making sure our seniors are taken care of and attracting young workers so the county has a skilled workforce. Kim Ungerer did not respond to our questionnaire.

DISTRICT 11

Alyson Leahy

Alyson Leahy (incumbent), 35, is an assistant director with the Wausau River District seeking her third term. She’s currently the vice-chair of the Finance, Property and Human Resources Committee and has experience in graphic design, event organizing and economic development. She’d like to continue and expand outreach efforts, such as putting meetings on YouTube for the public to better see. Her top priority is ensuring ARPA funds are spent to help with pandemic relief, and also cites attracting a young workforce and economic development as key priorities. Randy DeBroux, 69, is an installer at Will Heating and Cooling. He’s running because he doesn’t like the direction county politics are going. He’s served on the Hamburg Town Board and volunteered on its fire department. DeBroux says he wants to find out why taxes are so high and listen to residents in his district. His top priority listed is supporting law enforcement, and other key priorities include clean, safe drinking water and making sure the people in his district are heard.

DISTRICT 13

Dave Oberbeck (incumbent) will face off against Johnny Fortenberry. Neither responded to the candidate questionnaire.

Randy Fifrick

Randy Fifrick (incumbent), 37, is Wausau’s economic development manager. He’s seeking his fourth term because the longer he spends in government, the more he sees a need for common sense solutions. Fifrick says the county needs to redefine its role in economic development, and wants staff dedicated to economic development challenges such as a lack of affordable child care and workforce shortages. Affordable housing and broadband access are also key priorities. Joel Straub did not send his responses in time for City Pages’ deadline.

DISTRICT 16

Bill Conway

Bill Conway (incumbent), 53, works as a director of operations. He first ran because he believes in transparency and accountability. Conway focused on water quality even before PFAS started making headlines, and serves on the Environmental Resources Committee. Conway’s top priority is to address the needs of the county’s growing population with supporting programs. Other key priorities are prioritizing ARPA expenditures, and he’d like to see the wheel tax eliminated. Tony Sherfinski, 62, works as an engineer. He’s running because he’s a constitutional conservative and says the board has become too divisive. He wants to bring common sense back to the board and wants to listen to a diverse group of people. His top priority is the reduction of taxes for residents, eliminating the wheel tax and the 1/2% sales tax, and focusing on needs not wants. He also opposes A Community for All and wants to eliminate the Diversity Affairs Commission.

Tony Sherfinski

DISTRICT 17

Cheryl Martino

Cheryl Martino, 63, is a retired social worker. Martino says she was disappointed when A Community for All didn’t pass and thinks the board could better represent diversity. She’s worked in health care, manufacturing, insurance and education as well. Her top priorities are bringing back the CFA resolution and making sure the Diversity Affairs Commission is not dissolved. She also wants to address mental health, transportation and affordable housing.

Jennifer Aarrestad

(incumbent), 62, is an optical manager for Eye Clinic of Wisconsin. She values advocating for taxpayers, listening to other opinions and communication. She

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Jennifer Aarrestad

believes in fi scal responsibility and wants to make sure ARPA funds are spent appropriately. She cites the rural broadband issue as one example where ARPA funds would be well spent. Aarestad believes in upholding the constitution and warns against government overreach.

DISTRICT 21

Dave Dailey, 59, is a fi eld agent with the Wisconsin Department of Revenue and an active-duty offi cer in the U.S. Army. He’s running because he can’t believe a racist eff ort such as A Community for All made it to the board. He’d like to see new board leadership and the elimination of unnecessary committees. He wants to be more deliberate with ARPA spending, audit the wheel tax and potentially put it up for referendum, reign in North Central Health Care and stop doing the stupid things Wausau does.

Thomas Rosenberg

(incumbent), 70, is a retired labor union business manager. He’s running again to continue improving the area he grew up in. He also served nine years on the DCE School Board. Rosenberg would like to see some kind of “welcoming for all” resolution pass. He wants to see more aggressive curbing of farm and manufacturing runoff pollution. He also wants to continue broadband expansion and continue improving the county’s parks.

Dave Dailey

Thomas Rosenberg

DISTRICT 23

Chris Voll

Chris Voll (incumbent), 58, works as a product manager. Voll cites the Jaycees creed of “service to humanity is the best work of life” in his decision to run for this fourth term. He considers expanding broadband as an important board initiative he’d like to see continue. He also cites the continuing work on the county morgue and the need to continue keeping taxes low while making sure the county is getting a good return on what it spends. David Baker told City Pages he’s focusing on going door to door versus answering questionnaires.

DISTRICT 25

Sandi Cihlar (incumbent), 72, is a retired dairy farmer and radiological technologist. Cihlar is running again to maintain the quality of life in Marathon County she appreciates. She’s served on the board 10 years and served on numerous committees. Cihlar says she’d like to see the county move to a deliberative governance model to fully realize the goals of its comprehensive plan. Her top priorities are funding the county’s highway maintenance, continuing the rural broadband expansion and updating the county’s westside master plan. Timothy Sondelski did not respond to the questionnaire.

SandiCihlar

DISTRICT 31

Ron Covelli

Ron Covelli, 58, is a quality engineer. Covelli wants to bring his leadership experience to the board, including time completing missions during the Contra/Sandinista war in the 80s. He’s also been a scout master, coach and served on several community boards. Covelli wants to see the county become a hub for small businesses. Covelli wants to host town halls because he has heard complaints about constituents not being heard, to truly make the county by the people.

Tim Buttke (incumbent), 61, is a commercial and agricultural banker for Nicolet National Bank. Buttke is running for reelection because there are a number of issues that he wants to see through. Th ose include rural broadband expansion, the NCHC campus renovation, environmental issues and addressing the opioid/ drug crisis. Buttke also wants to see more civility and less partisanship on the board. He wants to do more for seniors and growing the areas’s workforce too.

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Tim Buttke

DISTRICT 34

Gary Beastrom

Gary Beastom (incumbent), 34, is a retired teacher. Beastrom brings 10 years of experience on the board and knows how county government works as a result. Beastrom wants to see the eff orts around expanding rural broadband continue, and focusing on roads and bridges in the next term is a priority. Also important is maintaining needed services. Jason Wilmhelm did not respond to our questionnaire.

Jonathan Fisher

Jonathan Fisher (incumbent), 38, is a fi nancial business director. Fischer is running because he believes in service to the community. Fisher wants to continue the work he’s done in his fi rst term expanding rural broadband, keeping taxes low and maintaining open dialogue with residents. He’d like to see the county move toward more energyeffi cient facilities and possibly an electric fl eet for its vehicles. He also wants to focus on improving mental health services in the county.

Bobby Niemeyer, 20, is a small business owner. Neimeyer says he’s running to preserve freedoms and liberties granted by the creator. He’d like to bring his business experience to the board. He wants to serve as an example for younger people. His two key issues are fi scal responsibility with taxpayer dollars and growing the county’s workforce. Niemeyer worries about young people being more interested in living off government subsidies than working.

Bobby Niemeyer