MONROE — As the season indicates, spring brought change as voters turned out for the April 2 election.
None more so than in small Sylvester Township, where two members of the town board have overseen local matters for 18 years. Incumbent seeking re-election as town board chair, Anna Anderson was defeated by newcomer Dan Moehn. She received 127 votes. Moehn received 168. Her fellow board member, Terry Reed, who has sat on the board for the same amount of time, was defeated by candidate Mike Witt. Reed received 124 votes against Witt’s 163 votes.
Witt ran because he said it felt as though the people in power did not listen to their constituents and he wanted to bring new ideas to the local government.
“I’m happy the people voted for me and I hope to listen to people and make some changes,” Witt said.
Most notably, Witt said he hopes the town board can be a part of recent talks with the City of Monroe, Clarno and Monroe Townships to re-establish a partnership with a rural fire district.
“I want to make sure everyone’s needs are met,” he said. “Sometimes things need to have change. … Maybe people felt it was time.”
Sylvester Town Hall, a small former one-room school house, was buzzing with the electorate throughout the day. Shortly after 1 p.m., there were 128 ballots cast. The township has 641 total registered voters. David Schenk, a more recent addition to the board, ran unopposed and recaptured his seat with 235 votes.
A high turnout wasn’t restricted just to Sylvester.
In Monroe, election numbers were higher than usual for a race with little action at either the state or federal level. By 10:30 a.m., voting totals had exceeded 640 ballots. Just after 4 p.m., they had climbed to 1,250. City Clerk Arianna Voegeli said in the 2018 spring election, there were 1,698 ballots cast. On Tuesday, there were 1,783 total.
Sometimes things need to have change. … Maybe people felt it was time.Mike Witt
Higher numbers were recorded throughout the state. According to a release by the Wisconsin Elections Commission, the statewide turnout was the second-highest in a non-partisan election since 2000.
Voegeli added that the day went “smooth as butter” with no problems except the need to order a few extra ballots due to the high numbers. The WEC statement indicated that despite strong turnout, few problems were reported throughout the state.
Monroe Common Council had a contested race with only one incumbent, Brooke Bauman, fighting to gain one of the four open seats.
“I’m really excited voters felt I could represent them once again,” Bauman said.
Bauman took the highest number of votes with 1,021. New candidates Joshua Binger, Kelly Hermanson and Tammy Fetterolf took the remaining seats with 999 votes, 965 votes and 963 votes, respectively. Rob Driver was also on the ballot, but fell just short of gaining a spot on council with 939 total votes. Registered write-in candidate Dan Perdue received 36 votes.
Other notable votes include the passage of a referendum for infrastructure and safety upgrades by voters within the School District of Albany. The question asked whether the district could be authorized to borrow up to $2.75 million to be repaid over eight years as a tax neutral breach of the state levy limit. There were 431 yes votes and 387 no votes.
The City of Brodhead also has two new council members. There were three open seats. Candidate Erin Menzel took the largest portion of the electorate, with 393 votes in Green County and an additional 22 from Rock County residents. Paul Huffman received 380 in Green County and 23 in Rock County. Incumbent Deb Fox took the third open seat with 288 votes in Green County and 21 in Rock County. Fellow incumbent Richard Peach was on the ballot, but had announced his intention to step down in March. He received the least votes with 92 in Green County.
Two other candidates who did not secure a seat were Tim Stocks, who received 198 votes, and Tom Simpson, who received 182 votes in Green County.
A point of contention among city residents were tentative plans for a community center. Though the ballot referendum meant to authorize borrowing up to $500,000 to match a grant that was rescinded in early March was still on the ballot, it became an advisory vote instead of a binding one. Mayor Doug Pinnow said the vote would be used to gauge public interest in continuing the project. The referendum failed with 403 no votes and just 222 yes votes.