Great turnout at the first “Meet the Candidates” event!

We had our first “Meet the Candidates” event at Boulder Lodge and what a fantastic turnout. All four candidates were there, myself included, and we couldn’t have asked for a better result. Everyone was respectful, questions were asked and answered and all of this was done with civility. It was all I had hoped for. If you missed it we are in the process of scheduling another event at the Black Iron Grill. I will post date and time when it is confirmed.

Previously we all, myself included, depended on what we heard or read. In our last election there were unfounded allegations and, let’s be honest, lies put out both within the town and in the Sawyer County Record. It was done both with ads and letters to the editor. I don’t want to see this happen again.

Our town is not broken. Certainly, there are always issues that need to be addressed but we’re not broken. Fast change that is done without any type of reasonable research, community input and thought is not the way to a better future for our town.

We cannot allow small special interests to define what we are and will be in the future. We have a town that has been called, “One of the jewels of Northern Wisconsin.” Do we throw that jewel in the mud or do we embrace that designation and continue to preserve and protect it? Do we want to be like every other town and have unfettered development? Do we want RV’s parked on lake lots? Do we want sheds and boathouses crowding the shorelines?

There is a tv show currently on, “Yellowstone” which addresses development. I remember one scene that really resonated with me. In it one of the characters was sitting on a bench on the main street with his young son. The son asked who are all these people and the father said, “They are people who came here because of what we have and now are trying to make it into what they left.” This isn’t verbatim but you get the idea.

So many of us are from somewhere else. Other states, towns or cities. For me it was the decision to leave the Madison, Wisconsin area and move here to live full-time.

I left behind congested roads and highways, rush hour traffic, living in a subdivision with no privacy in my yard, light pollution, and noise. What i arrived to was a beautiful natural setting, privacy, quiet, wildlife, night skies filled with stars and a community that for the most part valued all the same things that are important to me.

My pledge is this. If elected as town supervisor I will do the homework needed to make informed decisions that are good for the town. My personal opinions will be set aside as my job would be to represent the interests of the town and all property owners. I will put in the work needed to make our town better and be a good steward of the lands and waters. We truly are a “Jewel of the North” and it deserves our protection.