School Board Candidate Forum

I attended a forum hosted by Glacier Hills Credit Union with the candidates for the West Bend School Board.  In attendance were Dave Weigand, Doug Rakowski, Doug Ziegler, Kathy Van Eerden, Lynn Corazzi, Randy Marquardt

The forum will air a couple of times before the election (I don’t remember when or where), so I’ll leave the play by play for your own evaluation.  Here’s what I took away from it - in no particular order:

- I really like Doug Ziegler.  It’s still pretty clear that he hasn’t dug into the district’s current issues, but he’s a solid conservative and a good guy.  I wish I had the opportunity to just sit and learn from him. 

- Speaking of Ziegler, he made the comment that when he was on the board in the late 60’s, they also faced a capacity issue.  West Bend was growing and they topped 7,000 students.  Hmmmm… we’re back to slightly above that level with the same infrastructure and it’s now a “crisis.”  Ziegler also commented how enrollment peaked, but then declined.  Good insight. 

- Dave Wiegand did great.  He was articulate and challenged the status quo. 

- Randy Marquardt also did great.  He’s not the most articulate of men in a public setting, but his answers were thoughtful and on point. 

- Lynn Corazzi was the biggest surprise for me.  I spoke to him personally and found him very likable, but he came across as a total dick during the forum.  He was condescending, dismissive, and outright misrepresented the positions of other candidates.  It was disappointing for me because I like the guy. 

- Doug Rakowski did well.  He was the only candidate I didn’t have the opportunity to interview.  He was clear of thought and purpose. 

- Kathy Van Eerden seemed defensive.  In many of her responses she was pointedly refuting points made by other candidates on the same question and even turned to them when she was making her points.  Given that she’s running for her fourth term, her record speaks for itself. 

Unfortunately, I didn’t have the opportunity to stick around and speak with the candidates, but I’m sure others did.  It’s nice to have opportunities to hear the candidates in public. 

UPDATE: Ginny has some video if you’d like to see for yourself.

Posted by Owen at 2135 hrs
Politics + Politics - Wisconsin

Nevada Proposes Slashing Medicaid Services

Yeah, there’s plenty for all in those government systems. 

Nevada officials on Tuesday outlined drastic cuts to the state’s Medicaid program that include plans to ration adult diapers, eliminate denture and hearing-aid programs, and force personal care assistants to buy their own disposable gloves.

State lawmakers learned of the cuts at a committee hearing in which health officials said adult day care programs, vision services and outpatient programs for people with brain trauma would also be cut to slash $109 million from Medicaid costs.

At least they are looking at serious ways to fix their budget deficit.

Posted by Owen at 0736 hrs
Politics + Politics - General

Washington County Board Votes Against Joining RTA

Huzzah for the County Board.

A state proposal that Washington County join in the new Southeastern Regional Transit Authority received a unanimous “no thank you” from the County Board Tuesday.

   The vote was 27-0 authorizing a resolution stating the county does not want to be included in a regional transit authority for southeastern Wisconsin.

Posted by Owen at 0724 hrs
Politics + Politics - Wisconsin