I have always been interested in holding a community leadership role. Because of that goal, I have spent years thinking and looking through that lens, considering county decisions from every angle and working to understand why those decisions needed to be made. I believe that my work and life experiences provide the right balance to add value to the county board: I understand finance and fiscal responsibility, but I also work directly with people and see the human side of business; I was born and raised in the area, but I have also lived elsewhere. I am a parent and a son who returned to the area with my family so that my own children could benefit from what our area has to offer, and it is my wish that La Crosse County continues to be an attractive place to work, live, learn, and pursue hobbies and dreams.

I would like to see resources for neighborhood revitalization in District 17. We live in a beautiful area but there are some structures that could use a little help. I know there are funds available to support the beautification of our area.

I would also like to understand how I could help the betterment of the entire county, I do not believe that the average citizen carries this mentality. When decisions are difficult, it becomes very easy to assign issues to a smaller group of residents: one issue might be “a city of La Crosse problem,” and another might be something “Holmen has to figure out.” Until the entire county starts thinking in tandem, understanding that what benefits one city or township will benefit the whole, we cannot expect to reach our fullest potential. We must all dream as one, protecting the young, fragile, and aged, providing attractive educational opportunities and career pursuits, and promoting all areas of the county as great places to live and to visit.

Addressing housing and homelessness issues will take both bravery and grace. Prior solutions have been rooted in both compassion and practicality but were either ineffective or unsustainable. This topic will require us to ask and answer hard questions: “How can we balance our efforts so that we are all contributing and responsible,” “How can we ensure that the unsheltered population will accept the help that is offered to them?,” and “How do we combat the mental health crisis across all demographics since it leads to addiction, poverty, and, potentially, homelessness?” None of us has the luxury to look the other way or pretend this isn’t a county-wide issue that affects all of our lifestyles and livelihoods. The sooner we accept that the solution will be a long game and that none of us is exempt from playing, the sooner we will see a difference.

I would want to join the Veterans, Aging and Long Term Care Committee and the Health and Human Services Board to support the issues that I feel strongly about.

I enjoy serving our community over the many years. Giving back to the community in my time to help solve difficult problems and coming up with solutions.

A lot of citizens have brought up the concerns for our roads and keeping our community safe.

We need to fund and repair our roads. The other problem is with our outlying areas of our community does not have a good internet service.

I would like to see the broadband committee work with established companies to expand the internet service to our outlying communities. We need to come up with resources to help make our roads better for our safety and bring back savings to the taxpayers by changing priorities within the county board.