Nine seats are up for grabs on the Juneau County Board in Tuesday’s election, with candidates coming from a wide array of backgrounds.
Candidates for Districts 3, 4, 6, 8, 9, 11, 13, 20, and 21 include eight incumbents. Challengers Eric Ford, Doug Marshall and Earl Ells won primaries on Feb. 20 are looking to unseat Sups. Herb Dannenberg, Betty Manson and Mike Keichinger in the 4th, 6th and 9th districts, respectively.
Kim Strompolis, Judith Kennedy, Jack Jasinski, James Ryczek, and Aimee Stieve did not have primary challengers in Districts 3, 8, 11, 20, and 21, respectively. Ken Van Doren, Mark Groothousen, Justen M. Linn, Roger Lipski, and James Cauley are challenging the five incumbents, respectively.
Cynthia Suzda and Jim Klinzing are running for a vacant District 13 seat.
District 3
People are also reading…
Kim Strompolis (incumbent)
Strompolis, a lifelong Mauston resident and former City Council member who is also running for Mauston mayor on Tuesday, is seeking a second two-year County Board term. He is a former Juneau County Sheriff’s Office detective and is on five committees, including the Aging, Highway, and Safety and Security committees.
Strompolis said he is “a strong advocate for programs for the elderly and those with disabilities.” He added that his law enforcement experience gives him added perspective from working for the county.
Highway reconstruction is an emphasis for Strompolis. He said the county should aggressively pursue state funding for such projects and meet its matching portions. Construction on highways cannot be “kicked down the road,” he said, adding that the current board has made “tough decisions” for a balanced budget and attention to necessary highway projects.
Ken Van Doren
Van Doren, a Mauston resident for more than 30 years and former building contractor and Snap-On Tools franchisee, is critical of government spending, particularly at the county level over the past three years. He referred to government spending and perceived increasing power as “a threat to prosperity and our liberty.”
“The county has borrowed money short-term the previous two budget cycles,” he said, adding a reference to $5 million borrowed in December for capital projects.
Short-term borrowing gives the appearance of a balanced budget, he added, calling current county budgeting “smoke and mirrors accounting.”
Van Doren said county taxpayers are paying more for highway equipment repairs than they should be, and the staff working on town equipment are not adequately compensated, and towns are not paying their fair share of all costs associated with highway repairs.
Van Doren wants to bring a “business-like outlook” to county government and said “every penny (spent) should be justified.” He also said he wants to move County Board meetings to evenings to allow for more citizen attendance.
District 4 Herb Dannenberg (incumbent)
Dannenberg is also running for a second two-year term. He has served on Finance, Emergency Management, and a wage study ad hoc committee. He spent 28 years with the Wisconsin Air National Guard, beginning as an aircrew member and retiring as commander of a 186-member air control squadron, and worked in electronic communications.
He wants to work with the state to address funding concerns, as limited finances have negatively impacted employee morale and the ability to complete infrastructure projects.
“The old saying ‘an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure’ is appropriate for our county but it takes planning and resources and oversight/voting by our committees to make sure it gets done,” Dannenberg said in a statement.
Eric Ford
Ford, a town of Lindina resident, Army veteran and businessman, wants to create taxpayer-friendly legislation, expand local commerce and encourage job creation. He owns Ford Family Farms and has done nonprofit work for people with developmental disabilities.
“I feel the greatest asset I bring to the Juneau County Board is a genuine desire to help my neighbors,” Ford said, adding that he would donate his board salary to financially distressed widows in Lindina.
Ford said increased county budgets and property taxes have caused residents to relocate.
District 6 Betty Manson (incumbent)
Manson, a town of Plymouth resident for more than 50 years, is running for her second board term as well. She has also been the town’s clerk since 1999 and owned a family farm for 31 years. Manson has been on the Wisconsin Towns Association in various capacities, including the board of directors, since 2015.
Manson is on the county’s Highway Committee and was selected to serve on the Wisconsin Department of Transportation highway committee to determine which area roads should receive grant funding for projects. She is looking to keep spending low while operating Juneau County “at an efficient level.”
“I understand the challenges facing government and am committed to working side by side with those seeking solutions,” she said.
Doug Marshall
Marshall is a lifelong county resident and farmer for 49 years, who also taught farm management for 30 year. He is looking to maintain and improve county roads, improve water quality and push for increased state aid to county and municipal government. He also is aiming to efficiently allocate county funds to improve business and agricultural commerce in the county.
District 8 Judith Kennedy (incumbent)
Kennedy, a lifelong county resident of the towns of Lisbon and Fountain and retired UW-Madison faculty member, is running for her second term. She highlighted the difficulty of finding and replacing well-trained county employees in a rural workforce and serves on the Personnel and Insurance, Law Enforcement, and Human Services committees.
“My efforts as a board member are intended to utilize taxpayer funds in the most strategic and money-wise fashion while balancing the needs of the county’s workforce and all of its citizens,” Kennedy said.
She discussed the county’s adoption of a new employee handbook in February and an ongoing wage study that began this month as examples of the county’s efforts to attract and retain employees. The county is also seeking a five-year plan from the Juneau County Sheriff’s Office for upgrading law enforcement equipment, she said, adding that delaying purchases on squad cars, body cameras and other equipment is “not sound fiscal policy.”
Kennedy also said she helped bring attention to county mental health needs to state government, particularly issues that prompt hospitalizations.
Kennedy owns Burr Oak Winery in New Lisbon and three farms with her husband.
Mark Groothousen
Groothousen, a data communications contractor and fiber/cable specialist who moved to the county in 2014, emphasized fiscal responsibility in his candidacy. He said the county needs “more of a hands-on approach” to spending and cutting taxes. He added that budgets with “very little concern for future growth” is unwise.
“I will bring forward political integrity to my district representing the taxpayer with responsible management of their taxes,” he said. “I don’t believe citizens in my district or the county are represented with their best interest in mind for their financial security as well as emergency and safety protocols given the current issues that our country faces.”
Groothousen said he can bring “a fresh perspective” to the County Board, as well as more transparency.
“Our country is a rare gem built, described and secured by men who had seen tyranny, famine, and dark times,” Groothousen said. “I feel it’s my duty to step up for my community to ensure that we are represented properly.”
District 9 Mike Keichinger (incumbent)
Keichinger is seeking his second two-year term after taking over on an interim basis in November of 2021. He worked for more than four decades in the county’s Highway Department and said that a decision to borrow $5 million for capital projects, while unpopular, was necessary for road improvements and other needed work.
The short-term spending will benefit Juneau County in the long run, he said. Keichinger also wants to address the county’s need for more child care services, including upgraded facilities, more staffing, and increased housing.
Earl Ells
Ells, a livestock farmer who has served on the Orange Town Board since 2010, said he wants to bring to the County Board common sense, teamwork and vision that has helped his municipality experience “tremendous growth and accomplishments.”
“I am the type of leader who understands that listening to the voice of the people and advocating for their needs is what is most important in this position,” he said.
During his tenure on the Town Board, Ells said he always looked to cut costs, increase revenues and take on projects without raising taxes.
District 11 Jack Jasinski (incumbent)
Jasinski, a lifelong town of Necedah resident who is running for his fourth term on the board, serves on four committees and is involved with veterans services. A Vietnam War veteran, Jasinski has also helped start Men’s Shed, a community center within the Outdoors Forever Conservation Club, an environmental nonprofit in Mauston.
“Juneau County doesn’t have a community center,” he said. “This Men’s Shed kind of fills in the gap for now until we get one.”
Jasinski is a retired railroad employee who has voted to fund projects on Highways 80 and 58, as well as other infrastructure repairs.
Justen M. Linn
Linn, a Necedah resident and packaging company employee, wants to emphasize residential concerns more as a board member. He said more County Board members need to consider constituent feedback, and people “have not seen an improvement in the county” in recent years.
“I am one that won’t back down for making the changes for the better within my limits,” Linn said.
Linn emphasized transparency, adding that rising taxes and excess spending area causing county residents to leave. Linn also said people he has talked to have referred to the current board as the “good ole boys club.”
“This is not for one person to change by themself,” Linn said. “I hope that I can start the change and others will see that change can be good.”
District 13 Cynthia Suzda
Suzda, a county resident since she was 5, is one of two candidates for a vacant seat. She said she wants to use her involvement in municipal government throughout Necedah and the town of Clearfield — her current home — as leverage to address challenges and opportunities in the county. She has been Clearfield’s zoning administrator and town clerk for nine years and treasurer for 11.
Transparency, fiscal responsibility, individual rights, and infrastructure are four major issues that Suzda wants to address.
“My deep-rooted connection to our community over these years motivates my dedication to serve and champion our district’s needs and aspirations,” Suzda said.
Suzda has worked in energy, plastics and cheesemaking, and has hosted camps at Riverside Park and Campground in New Lisbon. She has also volunteered with the Necedah Lions Club.
“I am passionate about leveraging this blend of experiences for the betterment of our community, aiming to foster a vibrant, sustainable future for Juneau County,” she said.
Jim Klinzing
Klinzing, a Clearfield resident who owns a small business employment firm and has worked in human resources, is also emphasizing fiscal responsibility as his reason for running. He cited the budget increase from $41 million to $64 million from 2021 to 2024, including the $5 million in short-term borrowing, saying that spending “should be more in tune with the best interest of the people that live here.”
“I don’t want to waste taxpayers hard-earned dollars on frivolous, needless items or services in Juneau County,” he said, adding his intention to further examine each item proposed to determine necessity and practicality.
Klinzing said his 22 years in human resources and business ownership can help with cost cutting, finance, and employee retention and management. He added his desire to protect Second Amendment rights and medical freedom of choice.
District 20 James Ryczek (incumbent)
Ryczek, a town of Kildare resident, is running for a third term on the County Board. He grew up in Lyndon Station and built a home in the area in the early 1980s after spending roughly 12 years in Minnesota. He serves on four committees, the county’s Land Information Council, and is a county representative for the Wisconsin Human Services Association.
Saying Juneau is a “poor county,” seeking outside funding for county services is one of Ryczek’s main emphases. He said his experience in labor negotiations, human services, and taxes benefits him in his role on the board. Like Keichinger, Ryczek believes the county needs more child care resources.
He also worked and consulted in social work for 38 years, including ownership of four group homes for people with cognitive disabilities for 15 of those. One of those facilities, Pine Valley Residential Services in Mauston, was sold to his daughter, Jessica Schulz, in 2008.
Along with social work, Ryczek served on the Mauston School Board for 23 years and led a charge to keep Lyndon Station Elementary School open in the 1980s. The school remains open today.
He has also served as a volunteer firefighter for the Lyndon Station Fire Department and as a Special Olympics coach.
Roger Lipski
Lipski, a town of Lyndon resident, said county taxes are too high and he will never vote to raise them. He said he wants to “right size” county government and be fair to all county citizens. Lipski said he can bring energy and “proper business etiquette” to the County Board.
Emergency services and protecting seniors are two other initiatives for Lipski. He said he would donate all but $1 of his board salary to the Lyndon Station Fire Department. Lipski said he would serve a maximum of six years on the board if elected.
Lipski also signed Americans for Tax Reform’s “Taxpayer Protection Pledge” on June 8, 2023, which is a written pledge to oppose and vote against all tax increases.
District 21 Aimee Stieve (incumbent)
Stieve, a Lyndon Station native and physical therapist, is running for a second term. She believes a county supervisor’s duty is to ensure services such as law enforcement, travel, and access to other public services are efficient and effective.
She said she has brought “common sense ideas” to the County Board, including expenses not exceeding tax revenues, further examination of state and federal grant programs before applying for them, and an appreciation for free-market capitalism.
“I have raised questions on issues such as government overreach and the use of the people’s money on nonessential projects,” Stieve said.
Stieve also wants to move County Board meetings to evenings to increase participation and transparency. She also referenced the county’s borrowing in recent years and would “like to see this trend reversed.”
James Cauley
Cauley, an independent dairy and beef contractor and farmer, is a town of Lyndon resident who lives on a farm that has been in his family for 170 years. He referred to the County Board as a “nonpolitical position” and said he will vote in citizens’ best interest.
Cauley has served on the Mauston School Board. He has also been with the Juneau County Farm Service Agency and St. Mary’s Parish Pastoral Council in Lyndon Station. He emphasized road repair needs and said getting necessary funding for future projects will be challenging.
“I enjoy working in finance and I feel that is a strong point of mine,” he said. “I am a people person that is willing to work with others to find the best solutions.”