MONROE - A recent environmental debate regarding the installation of a large dairy, referred to by the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources as a concentrated animal feeding operation because of plans to house more than 714 cattle, has become the centerpiece of the upcoming election of Green County Board supervisors.
In District 29, incumbent Betty Grotophorst faces an opponent for the first time in her four terms on the board. A 30-year resident of the area, Mark Gundlach, who has served on the Exeter Town Board for nine years and has worked at the local recycling facility since 2005, believes a partisan position by Grotophorst has not best served constituents.
"You can't just be one-sided," Gundlach said. "I don't like to downgrade other people, but the person in the seat now is kind of a negative."
He specifically pointed to incoming Pinnacle Dairy LLC, a CAFO currently in development along County FF and Decatur-Sylvester Road in Sylvester Township on 127 acres of land projected to hold 5,800 cows. A number of critics of the project, including Grotophorst, have called for more oversight of the operation because of groundwater contamination in areas of Wisconsin where there are a number of CAFOs.
Gundlach grew up in farming, working at farms in high school and working for livestock nutrition management company Vita Plus for nearly 30 years.
"Some people call them factory farms," Gundlach said. "To me, that's farming of the future."
Grotophorst disagrees and said she believes more localized operations can be creative in making a living in rural areas like Monroe through the use of organic planting and farmers market connections. She said growing up on a dairy farm in Sauk City makes her pro-agriculture on a smaller scale than thousands of milking cows at a time. Regardless of the outcome, Grotophorst said she will be happy to see the opportunity local citizens have in electing their representatives.
"At the end of the day, it's a good sign," Grotophorst said. "This is Democracy."
Supervisor Gary Neuenschwander's opponent Beth Robinson of Monroe shared a campaign statement on her official candidacy Facebook page that she is running to take the District 2 seat because she wants "to protect the water, land and air," and that "industrial farms have seriously polluted wells and waterways in Wisconsin."
Neuenschwander said he can see both the need for protecting the environment and the struggles family farmers have had making a living. He said he supports agriculture and his father grew up on a farm, but "the clean water issues have been concerning." Neuenschwander added that in a number of instances supervisors must vote "without prejudice," meaning if an application has met all requirements, it cannot be biasedly denied.
New candidates will be on the ballot in place of supervisors who have stepped down from their incumbent seats. Green County Clerk Mike Doyle said John Glynn declared non-candidacy. In his place, Monroe resident Joe Snow will be on the ballot. District 17 Supervisor Steve Stettler, who represented the Town of Decatur, has moved, making him ineligible to keep the seat. John Winters of Brodhead is running for the position.
One ballot position will be void of a name despite best efforts to find a viable candidate, Doyle said. Supervisor Ron Wolter, who represented District 19, left his position in August with no one able to run in his place for the April election.
District 26 incumbent Ted Fahey will also not seek re-election, Doyle said. But instead of leaving an empty spot, the New Glarus area has two residents willing to fill the position. Chair of the Joint Parks Town and Village Committee Harry Pulliam has spent three years on that group, as well as immersing himself in a committee dedicated to learning more about large-scale farms.
"I have spent my entire life helping people," Pulliam said, citing work in a cow-calf operation to get himself through school and eventually graduating with a master's degree in rehabilitation counseling.
He said while his opponent, Library Board of Trustees member Jody Hoesly, also chose to run because of environmental issues, he has more experience in local government.
"Any situation where the same people, the same families, are involved in local politics, all that does is maintain the status quo," Pulliam said. "We have to have a more proactive effort at the county level to make this a better community for us to live in, and there's got to be a seat change."
Each supervisor fulfills a two-year term which begins on April 17. Incumbents Dennis Everson, Jerry Guth, Kate Maresch, Mike Furgal, Steve Borowski, Joan Rufenacht, Richard Thoman, Oscar Olson, Paul Beach, Harvey Mandel, Jeff Williams, Ken Hodgson, Sherri Fiduccia, Art Carter, Barb Krattinger, Cal Wickline, Russ Torkelson, Harvey Kubly, Karl Blumer, Erica Roth, Kristi Leonard, Roger Truttmann, Beth Luchsinger, Ray Francois and Herb Hanson are seeking re-election without an opponent.
In Lafayette County, four incumbents will have opposing candidates for the nonpartisan seat. District 1 Supervisor Larry Ludlum will seek re-election against Mike Paulson, District 3 Supervisor Jack Sauer will be on the ballot versus candidate Nick Metz, Supervisor Leon Wolfe of District 4 will be running against Jeremiah Kleiber, and District 5 Supervisor Dwayne Larson will be on the ballot against candidate Andy Schilling.
Incumbents Steve Spensley, Tony Ruesga, Robert Boyle, Kriss Marion, Jack Wiegel, John Bartels, Gerald Heimann, Carol Korn and David Hammer are running unopposed. In District 9, the incumbent Wayne Wilson resigned Aug. 31. Robert Laeser will be on the ballot for the seat. District 13 Supervisor Ted Wiegel and District 16 Supervisor John Perkins have both chosen not to seek re-election. District 13 candidate Ursula Fecht is running unopposed. Two candidates will vie for the District 16 position: Rita Buchholz and Cal Robbins.
In District 29, incumbent Betty Grotophorst faces an opponent for the first time in her four terms on the board. A 30-year resident of the area, Mark Gundlach, who has served on the Exeter Town Board for nine years and has worked at the local recycling facility since 2005, believes a partisan position by Grotophorst has not best served constituents.
"You can't just be one-sided," Gundlach said. "I don't like to downgrade other people, but the person in the seat now is kind of a negative."
He specifically pointed to incoming Pinnacle Dairy LLC, a CAFO currently in development along County FF and Decatur-Sylvester Road in Sylvester Township on 127 acres of land projected to hold 5,800 cows. A number of critics of the project, including Grotophorst, have called for more oversight of the operation because of groundwater contamination in areas of Wisconsin where there are a number of CAFOs.
Gundlach grew up in farming, working at farms in high school and working for livestock nutrition management company Vita Plus for nearly 30 years.
"Some people call them factory farms," Gundlach said. "To me, that's farming of the future."
Grotophorst disagrees and said she believes more localized operations can be creative in making a living in rural areas like Monroe through the use of organic planting and farmers market connections. She said growing up on a dairy farm in Sauk City makes her pro-agriculture on a smaller scale than thousands of milking cows at a time. Regardless of the outcome, Grotophorst said she will be happy to see the opportunity local citizens have in electing their representatives.
"At the end of the day, it's a good sign," Grotophorst said. "This is Democracy."
Supervisor Gary Neuenschwander's opponent Beth Robinson of Monroe shared a campaign statement on her official candidacy Facebook page that she is running to take the District 2 seat because she wants "to protect the water, land and air," and that "industrial farms have seriously polluted wells and waterways in Wisconsin."
Neuenschwander said he can see both the need for protecting the environment and the struggles family farmers have had making a living. He said he supports agriculture and his father grew up on a farm, but "the clean water issues have been concerning." Neuenschwander added that in a number of instances supervisors must vote "without prejudice," meaning if an application has met all requirements, it cannot be biasedly denied.
New candidates will be on the ballot in place of supervisors who have stepped down from their incumbent seats. Green County Clerk Mike Doyle said John Glynn declared non-candidacy. In his place, Monroe resident Joe Snow will be on the ballot. District 17 Supervisor Steve Stettler, who represented the Town of Decatur, has moved, making him ineligible to keep the seat. John Winters of Brodhead is running for the position.
One ballot position will be void of a name despite best efforts to find a viable candidate, Doyle said. Supervisor Ron Wolter, who represented District 19, left his position in August with no one able to run in his place for the April election.
District 26 incumbent Ted Fahey will also not seek re-election, Doyle said. But instead of leaving an empty spot, the New Glarus area has two residents willing to fill the position. Chair of the Joint Parks Town and Village Committee Harry Pulliam has spent three years on that group, as well as immersing himself in a committee dedicated to learning more about large-scale farms.
"I have spent my entire life helping people," Pulliam said, citing work in a cow-calf operation to get himself through school and eventually graduating with a master's degree in rehabilitation counseling.
He said while his opponent, Library Board of Trustees member Jody Hoesly, also chose to run because of environmental issues, he has more experience in local government.
"Any situation where the same people, the same families, are involved in local politics, all that does is maintain the status quo," Pulliam said. "We have to have a more proactive effort at the county level to make this a better community for us to live in, and there's got to be a seat change."
Each supervisor fulfills a two-year term which begins on April 17. Incumbents Dennis Everson, Jerry Guth, Kate Maresch, Mike Furgal, Steve Borowski, Joan Rufenacht, Richard Thoman, Oscar Olson, Paul Beach, Harvey Mandel, Jeff Williams, Ken Hodgson, Sherri Fiduccia, Art Carter, Barb Krattinger, Cal Wickline, Russ Torkelson, Harvey Kubly, Karl Blumer, Erica Roth, Kristi Leonard, Roger Truttmann, Beth Luchsinger, Ray Francois and Herb Hanson are seeking re-election without an opponent.
In Lafayette County, four incumbents will have opposing candidates for the nonpartisan seat. District 1 Supervisor Larry Ludlum will seek re-election against Mike Paulson, District 3 Supervisor Jack Sauer will be on the ballot versus candidate Nick Metz, Supervisor Leon Wolfe of District 4 will be running against Jeremiah Kleiber, and District 5 Supervisor Dwayne Larson will be on the ballot against candidate Andy Schilling.
Incumbents Steve Spensley, Tony Ruesga, Robert Boyle, Kriss Marion, Jack Wiegel, John Bartels, Gerald Heimann, Carol Korn and David Hammer are running unopposed. In District 9, the incumbent Wayne Wilson resigned Aug. 31. Robert Laeser will be on the ballot for the seat. District 13 Supervisor Ted Wiegel and District 16 Supervisor John Perkins have both chosen not to seek re-election. District 13 candidate Ursula Fecht is running unopposed. Two candidates will vie for the District 16 position: Rita Buchholz and Cal Robbins.