St. Joseph town chair position challenged

• Kevin Adkins, left, and Theresa Johnson

Kevin Adkins, left, and Theresa Johnson

Talk about it

There are two contested positions on the town of St. Joseph board of supervisors in the April 7 election. Kevin Adkins is challenging Incumbent Theresa Johnson for the chair position. Incumbent Kevin Moelter is opposed by Ted Anderson for Supervisor No. 2.

The other two positions on the St. Joe ballot are unopposed including Rick Colbeth for Supervisor No. 4 and Marie Schmit for clerk/treasurer.

Johnson has been town chair for six years and served as a supervisor for one year prior. She grew up on a farm between Ellsworth and Prescott, graduated from Prescott High School and earned a degree from UW-River Falls. Johnson has been a resident of the town of St. Joseph for 14 years.

Kevin Adkins, 49, has been a town of St. Joseph resident for 10 years. He grew up in Lakeville, Minn., and graduated from Lakeville High School in 1978. He moved to St. Joe in 1999 from Duluth. Adkins has served on the town’s Planning Commission for one year and has been an active member of the St. Croix Economic Development Corp. for two years.

The two candidates expressed some of their most important concerns in communications with the Star-Observer last week by e-mail and telephone.

The challenge in response to future growth of St. Joe is a key issue with Johnson.

“We have revised our town comprehensive plan, but it may need future revisions as growth occurs.”

“My main goal is to cut the budget,” said Adkins.

But he is also concerned with communication between the board and the town’s residents.

“Some decisions were made that didn’t get any input. We’re not informing our citizens adequately about the budget,” he said.

“I look forward to building a real communication bridge with our town residents and the surrounding communities,” Adkins said.

Johnson said, “In the last six years, processes and procedures have been implemented that make our town function more efficiently. I will continue to explore new processes and procedures that continue this and ultimately save money for our taxpayers.”

Adkins said he plans on “working with land owners, finding ways to cut operating costs” without incurring any new debt.

“We have a slight surplus but had to get a $3 million bond to repair our roads. The town of Hudson has more roads than we do and it doesn’t have any debt.” He said the town is facing a critical time for road repair without a plan.

Johnson said, “I plan to form citizen sub-committees to advise our Plan Commission and Town Board. I believe in tapping into the vast experience of our knowledgeable residents, to help us explore new ideas.”

She said it is important to cultivate relationships with other governmental entities to work together as common challenges and issues develop. “I have developed strong relationships with various towns around St. Joseph, St Croix County, the DNR, WisDot and other organizations,” Johnson said.

Adkins is in favor of term limits. “Members of the board of supervisors should be limited to two terms. Then they should sit out one term before running again,” he said, and promised if elected to “only do this for one term.”

Johnson said she brings experience to the town chair. ‘I am fair minded, understand the big picture, listen to the residents and always try to do the right thing for the town,” she said.

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