VIROQUA, Wis. – The County Board of Supervisors held their organizational meeting following the April 2 election on Tuesday, April 16. All 19 seats were open for election so all 19 board members took the oath of office.
The election this year resulted in almost one third of the board changing with new board members in Districts 2, 4, 5, 7, 14 and 18. Technically, David Strudthoff in District 2 is not new, since he served on the board in the past and decided to run again when Supervisor Kyle Semke decided to step down.
A couple of incumbent Vernon County Board supervisors lost their races to challengers. In District 7 incumbent Mary-Meehan Strub lost her race to challenger Nathaniel Slack 165-131. In District 14 long-time board member Ole Yttri lost his seat to challenger Wayde Lawler 275-113.
District 1 incumbent Will Beitlich hung onto his seat by defeating challenger Benjamin Hein 252-159.
In a vacant seat where the incumbent decided not to run again, David Strudthoff wins his way back onto the board in District 2 by defeating Loren Bechtum. Strudthoff had previously served in the same seat and decided to run again when incumbent Kyle Semke decided to step down.
In District 5 saw two newcomers and Bruce Kilmer defeating Nicolas Erlandson 176-175.
In District 17 Lonnie Muller (144), who was running to replace his wife who decided to step down, defeated first time candidate Holly Liska (52) and held off surging write-in candidate Greg Lawton (106).
A couple of brand new candidates had no challenger. District 4 Kevin Walleser (fills a seat vacated by Mary Bringe) and District 18 Patrick Sullivan (fills a seat vacated by Kelli Mitchell)
Vernon County Circuit Court Judge Timothy Gaskell administered the oath of office for the board at the start of the meeting.
The new board representatives are:
| District 1 | Will Beitlich |
| District 2 | David Strudthoff |
| District 3 | Lorn Goede |
| District 4 | Kevin Walleser |
| District 5 | Bruce Kilmer |
| District 6 | John Pedretti |
| District 7 | Nathaniel Slack |
| District 8 | David Eggen |
| District 9 | Martha Olson |
| District 10 | Frank Easterday |
| District 11 | Charlie Jacobson |
| District1 2 | Mary Henry |
| District 13 | Alycann Taylor |
| District 14 | Wayde Lawler |
| District 15 | Sandy Schweiger |
| District 16 | Paul Wilson |
| District 17 | Lonnie Muller |
| District 18 | Patrick Sullivan |
| District 19 | Kay Stanek |
Electing a chair
The next step in the organizational meeting was to elect a chair and vice-chair.
Two years ago the board saw a change in leadership after the departure of board chair Justin Running to become the Mayor of Viroqua. Lorn Goede beat several candidates two years ago to win the chairs seat. This time around the stakes were a bit higher since the chair will once again have the power to appoint all the committees except for the four committees that are required to be elected by the board. That process had been handled by the board chair historically but when the board hired a County Administrator that power went to the administrator by statute. That caused the board to shift to an administrative coordinator so the chair would once again have the ability to appoint committee members. This was the first organizational meeting following that change.
Goede narrowly defeated Supervisor Alycann Taylor for the chair two years ago. Taylor and Goede both decided to run for the chair again this time around.
The Goede record
Over the last two years under Goede, the board has taken on a number of difficult issues. One of the first actions Goede took following his election two years ago was was to change the administrative structure of the county by holding a closed session and changing the position of the county administrator to an administrative coordinator. A position that had been created and hired under Running. Since that change was made in a closed session without consultation with former administrator Cari Redington, it essentially voided the contract with her before her contract expired at the end of the year. The end result was that Redington’s employment ended on April 1, but the county ended up paying her until the end of the year. Once the administrator was position was changed to administrative coordinator, and Redington departed, the county hire Cassandra Hannan to fill that role in June, and essentially paid both salaries for the rest of 2023. You can read our previous story about the vote to change Redington’s contract and hire Hanan here.
Other issues the county has tackled under Goede over the last two years include:
- expansion of the county landfill
- approval of a five year county farm land lease
- approved a new contract for corporation counsel legal services
- county finance director resigns over $2.2 million tax levy mistake
- finance department employee arrested for embezzlement
- county zoning department moves forward with countywide zoning
- Increased county wages by five percent in January and another five percent in the middle of the year to keep the county in line with comparable counties
- approved a feasibility study for Vernon Manor
- approved a strategic plan for economic development
- approved the creation of an economic development position
- approved the sale of the old county highway shop site to a developer
- Approved the purchase of new countywide payroll system
- Approved a new countywide computer system upgrade
The Taylor record
Taylor has been the chair of the county General Government Committee over those same two years and many of those tricky issues have run through her committee including the shift from administrator to administrative coordinator (and hiring for the position), a disagreement over Chief Deputy pay at the Sheriff’s Department, countywide wage study and wage increases, negotiated a county land lease for the county farm land, and renewing the county contract for corporation counsel legal services.
County challenges
Vernon County Government will be facing some significant decisions and challenges over the next couple of years.
- The county landfill is in the process of expanding and is waiting on DNR approval to begin construction of that expansion. If the county does get that approval, the biggest challenge will be keeping enough volume in the county to make there is enough revenue to operate. That will be difficult given that the county’s historically largest hauler has a transfer station with its own landfill in Eau Claire and has threatened legal action if the county tries to force them to haul waste to the county facility.
- Vernon Manor has been operating in the red for some time due to factors like COVID, low wages (that were recently increased), older facilities, taking a high percentage of Medicare/Medicaid residents that many facilities won’t take and providing state benefits for employees. The county has hired an outside firm to do a feasibility study at a cost of around $90,000 and was having trouble filling its administrator position following the departure of Amanda Hoff. The county was able to fill that position this week. The county has also been in discussions with the Bethany St. Joseph out of La Crosse about the possibility of that organization taking over management of the facility with the county still retaining ownership. The city of Westby has a similar arrangement with Bethany St. Joseph’s for the operation of the Norseland Nursing Home.
- Countywide zoning. The county has been discussing adoption of countywide zoning for a couple of years, but in order to adopt zoning the county needs a comprehensive plan. The county is working with the Mississippi River Regional Planning Commission to develop a comprehensive plan now. Previous attempts to adopt a comprehensive plan/zoning at the county level failed.
- The economic development department is in the process of rebranding and developing a five year strategic plan and now has been folded into a new departments called Community Development.
- Complete the centralization of finance and accounting processes started under the previous administrator including the hiring a new finance director. With the sudden resignation of Finance Director Bobbi Johnson over a $2.2 million tax levy error, the new director will have to continue the centralization of payroll and accounting computer systems and pickup where Johnson left off. The county invested hundreds of thousands of dollars into those systems and the transition will take a year or more with complications and hiccups more likely than not.
The pitch
Both candidates were given a chance to say why they felt they were the best person to lead the county moving forward, with Taylor speaking first.
“I believe all elections should have options, “said Taylor. So I’m giving you an option. I am very passionate about local government because I believe it is the level of government that has the most impact on citizens lives, their day-to-day existence we influence. I also know that as an expectation, we demand that when we hire employees and directors, that it is essential that they have a skill set that matches their job role. And I think the chairperson should not be void of that expectation. I have strong organizational leadership skills. I have strong business management skills. I’ve run businesses for 30 years. I have proven myself here at the County board level to take on complex work and achieve results. I believe I possess the traits needed to hold this position. I am calm, I am deliberate, I’m able to work collaboratively and listen to others. Points of views are often not heard, and I think I can help people get their points of view across. We need a person who is measured, strategic and organized to do this job, and I believe I am that person. Teddy Roosevelt said far and away the best prize that life has to offer is the chance to work hard at work worth doing, so let’s do that. Thanks for listening.”
Goede cited his experience in local government and ability to take on controversial issues as a strength.
“This is my fifth term on the board,” said Goede. “In addition to this board, I’ve been the chair here for two years, I’ve been on other numerous committees throughout my tenure here at the county. I also serve as the Board Chair for Harmony Township. I’ve been on the board down there for 25 years and. Have been board chair there for about 20 years. I am also on the board chair for the Harmony Genoa Fire Department. I’m on the board for the Vernon County DH. I have a lot of experience running meetings. I always have the best in mind for Vernon County citizens. And, you know, in my mind, It is a hard job. I always want to make everybody happy. You have to be willing to take the heat. And I’ve I’ve taken a lot of heat over the years from a lot of different directions. And you just got to understand the person’s point of view, where they’re coming from. Everybody has their own point of view and they’re not wrong. They might just be different than what you think and I would appreciate your support.”
The board voted to keep Goede as chair by a 10-8 vote. That vote takes place using a paper ballot so who voted for each candidate is not known. The board then moved to electing committee members to the four committees filled by board election. The results of those elections are as follows:
Committee elections
The nest task was to elect members of the four committees that are required to be elected by the full county board. The elected committees are Conservation and Education, Infrastructure, Human Service & Veteran’s Service, Vernon Manor/Vernon Acres Board of Trustees.
Conservation and Education Committee (Land and water conservation – UW Extension)
- Will Beitlich
- Mary Henry
- Nathaniel Slack (new)
- Frank Easterday
- David Eggen (new)
- Carol Hall-citizen member
Infrastructure Committee (Solid Waste – Zoning/Sanitation – Highway)
- Lorn Goede
- Martha Olson
- Paul Wilson
- Charles Jacobson
- Sandy Schweiger (new)
Human Service & Veteran’s Service
- John Pedretti – chair
- Patrick Sullivan (new)
- Taylor
- Stanek
- Lawler (new)
- Strudthoff (new – served previously)
- Jean Klousia – citizen representative
- Nancy Bonger – citizen representative
- Frank McCoy- citizen representative
Vernon Manor Board of Trustees: (Vernon Manor and Vernon Acres)
- Lonnie Muller (was citizen representative – now board representative)
- Kevin Walleser (new)
- Bruce Kilmer (new)
- Kristine Brueggen – citizen representative
- Barbara McNeal – citizen representative
All elected committees elect their own chairperson.
The County Board Chairperson will appoint all other committees other than these four elected committees and those committees include:
- Finance
- General Government
- Health
- Public Safety
- Economic Development
- Opioid Prevention and Abatement Steering Committee
- Planning Committee
Advisory committees
- ADRC Advisory Committee
- Viroqua-Westby Trail f/k/a Coon Prairie Trail Committee
- Comprehensive Community Services
- Highway Safety Committee
- Nutrition Advisory Committee
- Land Information Council
- Local Emergency Planning Committee
- Transportation Coordinating Committee
- Viroqua Business Park Commission
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