Our View: Many decisions to be made in Tuesday’s election

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Next Tuesday’s spring election has plenty of excitement and will hopefully attract a large number of voters.

In the Hudson area there are a number of local races and referendums that are drawing plenty of attention.

Topping the local activity is a school district referendum to purchase the old St. Croix Meadows dog track for $8.25 million. In addition, there is a race for the Hudson Board of Education that finds six people vying for three seats. Candidates are incumbents Brian Bell and Tom Holland and newcomers Liz Bruch, John Burtis, Sandy Gehrke and Cathy Leaf. A third incumbent, Board President Barb Van Loenen was eliminated from competition in the February primary election.

The city of Hudson finds a hotly contested race for mayor. Incumbent Al Burchill is being challenged by former City Council member Scot O’Malley. Also in the city, there is a race for the District 4 Council seat featuring Dennis O’Connell and Kurt TeWinkel.

Drawing plenty of attention this year is a nursing home referendum in St. Croix County and several races for various county board districts. The advisory referendum will again send a message to the county board as to whether or not the county should be involved in the nursing home business (subsidized by taxpayers).

Among the County Board races in the Hudson area are:

District 2 — Newcomers Jay Griggs and Agnes Ring;

District 3 — Newcomers Tim Hood and Dietmar Schlei;

District 4 – Newcomer Howard Novotny and incumbent Daryl Standafer;

District 5 — Incumbent Sharon Norton-Bauman and challenger Fred Yoerg; and

District 9 – Newcomers Tom Hawksford and Suzanne Van Mele.

Candidates in some districts are unopposed, but of the 19 districts in the county, there are races in 12.

The town of St. Joseph also has a couple of contested races. Incumbent Kevin Adkins is being challenged by Tom Spaniol for the Supervisor 1 post; incumbent Brian Gullickson is being challenged by Dan Thompson for the Supervisor 3 post.

The town of Hudson features one race. Challenger Don Jordan faces incumbent Ken Kolbe.

Next week’s election also includes a presidential preference race which could have an impact on national politics.

As is often the case, some local candidates in the area are unopposed. In a couple of municipalities (North Hudson and Troy) there are no local races. It is still important, however, that unopposed candidates earn voter support.

Local candidates all have invested a lot of time, effort and money in seeking positions of service. The least we can do is vote and determine who should be elected.

Remember, national elections have the media glamour, but it’s usually the local elections that will have the biggest impact on your life. Local municipalities generally have the most influence on the level of service citizens receive and the amount of property taxes that will be paid.

Vote on Tuesday. Polls open Tuesday at 7 a.m. in all municipalities and close at 8 p.m.

Tags: opinion, editorials, government