VOTE411 Voter Guide

It’s time for new energy, new ideas and new leadership in La Crosse County. Families in La Crosse County work hard for every dollar they earn and deserve elected officials who will fight to ensure those dollars are not wasted on poorly run programs, ineffective policies, or neglected infrastructure. We can do better—and we must. My goal will be to represent the hard-working middle-class families of La Crosse County whose voice and concerns are frequently forgotten.

By focusing on the core county priorities which include road/bridge funding and repair, public safety, health and human services and assisting seniors and the disabled, La Crosse County resources will benefit not only District 15, but the entire county in a fair and equitable manner.

Ensuring La Crosse County is an affordable place to raise a family is my top concern. This requires keeping property taxes under control. I will also work to ensure the county is welcoming to the small business owners who create jobs, rebuild our main street economies and whose success gives back so much to our community. Secondly, keeping our streets, schools and neighborhoods safe is among county government’s most important responsibilities. This includes ensuring our sheriff’s office is properly funded, staffed and equipped.

I will represent my constituents by holding regular listening sessions, town hall meetings and being accessible at all times. I will be a tireless fighter for the hard-working middle class families I serve, and I’ll work to ensure county government addresses key priorities effectively and refrains from creeping into issues outside its purview.

After more than a decade on the County Board, I feel that I have accumulated a wealth of institutional knowledge, have established strong relationships with staff and have distinguished myself as a community leader. I am in a good position to positively influence policy across the greater La Crosse area. I believe that I have built trust and respect among my peers and within my CB district, and that colleagues, constituents and the community in general have confidence in my leadership abilities. There are many important issues facing our county that require vision, resourcefulness and a steady hand to resolve and I have demonstrated those qualities over the years. Focusing out, our nation is under siege, constitutional rights are being trampled, voting rights are under attack and checks and balances have fallen by the wayside. Strong moral leadership is needed at all levels to safeguard our democracy and find our way back to our 'beloved community'.

As a county deliberative body we endeavor to meet the unique needs of each of our districts with fairness and equity. My District 15, which includes parts of the City and Town of Onalaska, has many of the same needs as its neighbors - lack of affordable housing for young families and low wage earners, lack of affordable childcare, safe green spaces for recreation, investment in new economic development, investment in transportation infrastructure, safeguarding of water and soil health and quality, among others. Many of these quality of life issues need to be addressed on a county-wide and even state-wide basis, but advocating for their inclusion in short- and long-range planning is the responsibility of each of the supervisors. Judicious allocation of county resources, paired with aggressive pursuit of state and federal grants, has been the key to getting things done for each of our districts.

When I think of top issues, I think of impediments to achieving a prosperous, vibrant, safe community where everybody is able to not just get by but to actually get ahead. Seen through that lens, affordability of life essentials - such as food, housing, childcare, medical care, education, transportation - ranks at the top of the list, because it affects so many of our constituents, followed by the perennial problem of inadequate housing for our unsheltered population.

The County provides a robust safety net for those with food insecurity in our community by connecting citizens with available resources such as SNAP benefits, food pantries, free school lunches, food vouchers, etc. The state has now expanded early childhood education to all-day 4-year-old kindergarten, and using ARPA money, the county has provided financial incentives to establish and expand childcare facilities throughout the county. Zoning ordinances are changing to make it easier and less expensive to create housing. Our Demolition and Acquisition program is saving new home owners thousands of dollars in construction costs. In a coordinated effort to combat homelessness in our area, La Crosse County and City have teamed up to embark on an ambitious program called Pathways Home, based on successful models in other metropolitan areas. To date, this effort has housed over 300 unsheltered individuals and is on track to meet its goal of achieving functional zero homelessness by 2028.