Letter: Says yes to Jeff Johnson

Dear Editor,

I have known Jeff Johnson for many of the 18 years that I have lived in the town of Hudson. I have watched him chair many Town Board meetings and must say that he brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to the table. His meetings are conducted in a business-like manner and he and the board continue to make good, sound, fiscally responsible decisions.

I recall a specific occasion when the need arose for a new building for our Town Hall, and Jeff filled the building committee with local builders and inspectors. An architect estimated the cost at $350,000. Jeff took on the task of saving taxpayer dollars and actually got the current facility built for around $150,000, which also included the well and septic designed to service the future park buildings also.

In 2007, the decision was made to add the second pavilion, as the demand had exceeded the availability of the existing pavilion. The bids came in at $87,000. Again, Jeff took on the task of having it built for less. He worked closely with both material suppliers and contractors and, with the help of other town volunteers, had the second pavilion built for about $25,000. Between these projects alone, he saved the taxpayers $262,000.

These are but two of the many occasions that Jeff Johnson has displayed GREAT stewardship of our taxpayer dollars. Jeff and the board have applied for and secured nearly $300,000 in road grants since 2002. Many may not know that we recently added a third ball field at the town park; again, thanks to the current board this was done almost totally by volunteers at little or no cost to the taxpayers.

The attacks against Jeff Johnson and the current Town Board are simply unfounded rhetoric. Our town has grown to a population of almost 8,000, the third largest municipality in St. Croix County, and yet we are the lowest taxed municipality in the county. We pay 20 percent more in taxes to WITC than to our own town and we have 98.6 miles of town roads to maintain. We have over a billion dollars in assets and operate on a 2.2 million dollar budget. Of that budget, our administrative/staff wages are less than $110,000 annually! What is not to understand?

These people are great stewards of our taxpayer dollars and very fiscally responsible. Oh, I forgot one last thing, our town has no debt! Check Jeff out at www.jeffjohnsonforchairman.web.officelive.com.

Tags: opinion, hudson, letter, town, chairman, jeff_johnson