I am in my seventh term on the County Board and would like to continue the good work that we have initiated - from transformative homeless housing, sustainable solar and storm-water infrastructure, road improvement and Hillview restructuring, to focus on fair and equitable social initiatives, workforce development and childcare capacity building. As County Board Chair for the past 4 years it has been my honor and pleasure to lead the efforts that have positioned our county to be one of the most financially secure, socially progressive and fiscally smart counties in the state.

While La Crosse County is fiscally well-managed and financially well-positioned, we could always use more resources to expedite big dollar projects that require extraordinary investment, such as bringing all our highways to 'excellent' condition, creating broadband access for all residents in all corners of the county and eliminating the scourge of PFAS from all county waters. Our staff is knowledgeable and adept at tapping into state and federal grants and programs, and we have a great collaborative relationship with our political representatives at the state and federal level to help us access available funds. We also have strong bonds with local non-profit organizations that help us channel funding to local causes, such as homelessness remediation and childcare capacity building.

I believe the growing homeless population represents one of the greatest challenges to local decision makers. PFAS is also a very concerning issue, since it creates life-threatening conditions that are not easily remedied.

The collaborative homelessness project Pathways Home that La Crosse County and the City of La Crosse have recently embarked on shows great potential for making significant inroads into the homelessness problem. The goal is to reach zero functional homelessness by 2029. The two partners, in collaboration with numerous other community organizations, are committed to putting into place multiple initiatives to create housing, provide wrap-around counseling services, train local law enforcement in crisis intervention and elimination of public encampments. The PFAS situation in the Town of Campbell and potentially many other areas of La Crosse County is going to take close collaboration with state and federal agencies to access funding to cap contaminated aquifers, protect the clean aquifer, create a municipal water system to replace the large number of private wells and pass legislation to outlaw the use of PFAS containing products.

It’s time for a fresh new voice for our District. I would make public safety a top priority. Many people and some business owners I talked to feel their voices and concerns are not being heard. At the local level we should not be excluding anyone's concerns. We all want a safe and healthy community, with low taxes, thriving businesses, happy kids, healthy food, clean air and water with enough affordable housing and child care options. We need properly maintained roads to drive on. Our roads have been neglected for years and this needs to be addressed. Supervisor Kruse has taken credit for fixing the roads, yet she consistently voted against road funding. Feb 6, 2023 Planning Meeting she voted against using ARPA funds for county highway projects. Oct. 19, 2023 she voted against spending $3 million for road funding from the general funds, and on Nov. 13, 2023 she voted to decrease road spending by $1 million.

A youth mental health crisis started around ‘08/’09 (when “smart phones” and social media really took off) and then COVID exacerbated the crisis. We need more awareness about the dangers of social media, pornography, and cyber bullying. We could be doing more to promote public health programs that encourage healthy nutritious foods, team sports, and relationship building activities. I would have advocated for more ARPA dollars to have been spent on mental health services and resiliency programming. Parents are overwhelmed and struggling to find help for their children and shouldn’t have to wait months or travel for hours to receive support. Mental health services should be available to all our residents regardless of one’s location. It’s unfortunate the County Board leadership spent more time and energy trying to create a police oversight committee (which most residents didn't want) than figuring out how to help our struggling families.

1. Fiscal Responsibility to tax payers and residents. County Board Supervisors are state mandated to allocate the county budget to provide certain required services to La Crosse residents. County Supervisors need to wisely prioritize and balance the community's needs. All residents should have equal access to these services, too often this doesn’t seem to be the case. In the past three years the County alone spent $8 million on the unsheltered population, and the problem has only gotten worse. We have no Substance Detox Center in our area, how will this plan work? There are a lot of unanswered question about this Plan.

2. Residents are not always aware of what local government is doing because journalism has been gutted and taken over by corporate interests. Additionally journalists don't have the time and resources to thoroughly "fact check" the information they are given. Citizens often discover too little, too late to have an impact in the decision making process.

1. Accountability and Transparency. Did you know our County Board Chair has all the power to push her personal agendas? The La Crosse Chairwoman appoints all Standing Committee Chairs, those Chairs then make up the Executive Committee which makes most of the decisions to bring forth to the rest of the Supervisors. Guess how Sheboygan County Executive Committee and Standing Com. Chairs are chosen? They are *voted* in, not appointed. At the last LaX CB meeting there was a proposal to make this change, it failed.

2. I would do my best to inform constituents possibly with an email newsletter. I would listen to my constituents feedback. I would be an independent thinker and not a "rubber stamper". I would continue to investigate the needs of those in D#15. I would bring my common sense, solution focused, problem solving skill set to the table. It's time for our voices to be heard.