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Washington County District 2 Primary on Tuesday

Yes, this is a tiny race, but it has huge impliactions for Washington County.

Current County Board Chairman Herb Tennies is trying to extend his current 46-year career as a county supervisor against a pair of challengers, David Krochalk, a former city alderman, and James (Jim) Becker Jr., a contract account manager with American TV & Appliance, Milwaukee, who is in his first run for elected office.

The primary will eliminate one candidate, while the two with the highest vote totals advance to the April 3 election.

Here’s the deal… Herb Tennies has been in office since before I was born and has come to treat the county board as his own personal feifdom. He’s the primary roadblock against reducing the size of the board (a 30-person board is nuts), killing the “temporary” sales tax, reducing spending, considering an elected county executive, and many other county reforms that will never see the light of day as long as Tennies sits in the big chair. His recent actions on the board in crushing opposition has led to his two challengers and has forced an extremely rare primary election for a county board seat.

The other two candidates are David Krochalk and Jim Becker. Krochalk has been around local politics for some time and formerlly served as a West Bend Alderman, but has lost handily to Steve Hutchins in the past two elections for that seat. Krochalk’s record on the city council was one of left-of-center bent. He rarely, if ever, voted against a tax or spending increase and he was in the thick of supporting dubious appointments of vacant seats. Krochalk is better than Tennies, but not by much.

Jim Becker is new to local politics. He’s a businessman who wants to govern right-of-center. He supports reducing the size of the board, ending the sales tax, lower spending, and an elected county executive. In other words, he is the polar opposite of Tennies. If I were able to vote in that election, I’d happily cast a vote for Jim Becker.

If Tennies loses this election - particularly in the primary - it will be a watershed for the Washington County Board that will unleash a torrent of long-needed reforms. If you live in the district, get out and vote! It’s a long shot. Incumbent county supervisors hardly ever lose. But it’s possible.

One more thing… a primary election for a single county supervisor district will usually have an extremely low turnout. The winner of the primary could very well win with only 200-300 votes. So if you and your spouse get out and vote and drag a few friends, your own actions could represent 3%-4% of the winner’s vote total. If you want to have a real impact on an election, this is the one. Go vote.

Here’s the district map:

Posted by Owen at 0816 hrs
Politics + Politics - Wisconsin

1. When I ran against Herb in 1992, which I believe was the only time Herb has ever had an opponent…

   It was something like 460 votes for Herb and 412 votes for me. (+/-10 votes on either total.  I don’t remember exact vote total.)  I just remember I had 48 and some odd % of the vote.

   I was a 19 year old college student at the time.  Herb was a 26- year, unopposed, entrenched incumbant at the time.  The 1 big campaign point Herb made was that he was a property taxpayer at the time. (I was not a property owner at time…trying to save money while going to college…living with parents.) I criticized Herb for his spending on the massive Annex IV project at the time. 

   I think Herb did fear my campaign.  We did 3 registered voter mailings.  I foot pounded the district and did about five lit drops.  I remember 1 day, the weekend before the election, Herb was worried, and we were both foot pounding the registered voters in same neighborhood.  We crossed paths several times.  That day made the campaign memorable.  Its good when a 26-year incumbant has to foot pound the neighborhood, the weekend before the election, to win.  That is good for democracy no matter how you slice it.

   The communist Poly Sci professor at UWWC, who’s class I was in at time, was surprised that I came close to winning.  It made for great class discussion and reporting.  (He loved it despite the fact I was a PITA to his communist views the entire semester.)

   I think Herb improved for a little while after that election, but its clear that very few to no one ran against him after that, and it does send certain messages to politicians when nobody runs.  They can do whatever they want.

   Just historical information to help out.

   Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on February 17, 2012 at 1025 hrs
   
   
   

2. I hear that Tennies is back to doing doors this cycle too. He’s worried. Rightfully so.

   Posted by Owen on February 17, 2012 at 1028 hrs
   
   
   

3. That makes 2 times in 46 years he’s pounded the doors.

   The district has changed a bit since 1992.  Where I lived in 1992, would not be in the district today.

   I think the district has shifted to a less conservative protion of the city.

   How Herb angles himself will be interesting.  Will he label himself a moderate or conservative?  That will be fascinating.

   Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on February 17, 2012 at 1032 hrs
   
   
   

4. I lived on Cedar Street back in 1985 - 87. Can’t remember who I voted for back then. Seems like Herb’s time have passed.

   Hope your election turns out the way it should be.

   Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on February 17, 2012 at 1858 hrs
   
   
   

5. The 2012 sales tax collection is estimated at $8.7 million. Of that, $5.2 million was used to off-set the levy and $4.4 million will be used for capital projects. Every dollar used for projects is one dollar less that has to be borrowed, then levied with interest against county taxpayers. Unlike the levy, out-of-county residents are helping to pay the sales tax, which is fine because they use our highways, parks, and sheriff’s department. If Jim wants to end the sales tax, will he have an $8.7 million alternative or find that much in spending cuts?

   Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on February 18, 2012 at 0844 hrs
   
   
   

6. Herb has devoted much of his life to service to this community. I always think it’s more important what someone has done versus what they say they will do.
   The notion that he is not conservative enough is laughable unless the metric is a tin foil hat.

   Posted by Charlie Hillman on February 18, 2012 at 1129 hrs
   
   
   

7. I agree, Charlie. What has Tennies done? Raised taxes. Increased spending. Blocked reforms. Abused his power by denying other supervisors access to meetings. I’m fine with judging him on what he has done, thanking him for his service to our community, and welcoming him to private life.

   Posted by Owen on February 18, 2012 at 1139 hrs
   
   
   

8. Thanks for the vote of confidence Owen. My husband has been careful not to make promises, such as ending the county sales tax. Is it something he’d like to look at? Maybe. He is a smaller government kind of guy, where and when it’s feasable. He has also never said that Herb isn’t conservative enough. Herb’s political leanings has never been a factor in my husband’s decision to run. Jim is the furthest from any description of a politician you’d find. He is actually the strong, silent type who would rather lead with actions than words. We speak often and highly of Herb’s contributions to his city/county. Herb should be commended. However you are foolish to think after 46 years, someone else shouldn’t be given a chance to serve the residents of our beautiful county.  Jim is a smart guy (he picked me didn’t he?) who would use his common sense, and yes, conservative principles to guide him in his decision making process. Hopefully by the end of his term he will have helped to shrink the size of the board, create a position of County Executive that is elected, thereby eliminating an appointed administrator, and perhaps save some taxpayer dollars along the way while continuing to provide strong county services to its residents. Pretty simple reasons. I applaud my husband for stepping up and putting himself out there. Vote Jim Becker on February 21st.

   Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on February 18, 2012 at 1153 hrs
   
   
   

9. Charlie,

   Wow.  My civic community involvement, charitable activities, and church volunteer time gets me a pass on what I do, and how I vote on a political level?

   Excellent.  I can’t wait to tell that to all my liberal, progressive, and union friends.  They don’t have to criticize me anymore.  I got a “good guy” pass!  What a relief for my critics.

   Thanks for articulating this one for me! 

   I never knew!

   Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on February 18, 2012 at 1155 hrs
   
   
   

10. The County sales tax is a controversial issue and would make a great topic by itself.  The original intent to retire debt and to pay for capital projects has morphed into things like bailing out the private business that runs Fair Park.

    Voters I spoke with insist upon honesty in their elected representatives.

    A summary of Supervisor’s voting records on important issues are available online at

    <a href="http://www.w-c3.org/tally/cntyBd.php">Voting Records</a> 

    Voters that would like to verify claims concerning taxes could check the County’s Budget Book online at

    <a href="http://www.co.washington.wi.us/uploads/docs/2012-budget-book.pdf">2012 Budget Book 
</a> 

    Page 20 is a summary and Page 10 is where one could see if County transferred money from the General Fund to balance a deficit budget for 2011 and 2012.

    Before deciding, I would hope voters take a good look at the all the candidates and decide for themselves who is working in their best interests.

    Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on February 18, 2012 at 1210 hrs
    
    
    

11. Kevin, I forgot to thank you for your contribution to this story.  I guess someone runs against him every 20 years, haha   That was fun to read.  We are finding a lot of support in the district and people agree that it’s time for change (I hate that Obama has made the word change an ugly word : / )  Herb’s family employs our son so we are trying to be as respectful as possible, and he does deserve our appreciation for his service.  But we would appreciate any votes we can get to get Jim through to the general election.

    Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on February 18, 2012 at 1220 hrs
    
    
    

12. I never knew!

    Ah Kevin, there is so much you don’t know.
    I disagree with Herb on several County issues.
    But, he’s a good family man, an honest business man, and he shares his talents with his community.
    I think character counts. That’s all I’m saying.

    Posted by Charlie Hillman on February 18, 2012 at 1625 hrs
    
    
    

13. Charlie,

    Character does count. 

    I don’t dispute that Herb is strong in that area.  He gets special kudos from me for being a business owner and providing people a lot of jobs. I buy hardware often from him. Being a business owner/job creator is one of the most noble tasks in terms community building and community service, despite what the moocher nation in the Occupy Wall St. movement has to say on it.

    However, this should not be he only thing that counts.  Someone with “character” can still support higher taxes and bigger government.  Herb is not Obama, but he certainly is no Ronald Reagan, or Scott Walker, on his voting record.

    It’s great that this debate has finally surfaced with a political race in this district.

    Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on February 18, 2012 at 1651 hrs
    
    
    

14. Nice information, keep up the good work. I think Herb improved for a little while after that election, but its clear that very few to no one ran against him after that, and it does send certain messages to politicians when nobody runs.  They can do whatever they want.

    Posted by caravan annexe walls on March 10, 2012 at 1040 hrs
    
    
    

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