From Greg Thoemke

New Glarus

To the Editor:

I have been fortunate to call New Glarus and Green County home for nearly two decades. It was my better fortune to serve the community as a local elected office-holder for nearly half that time.

As anyone who has held a local elected office can tell you, there is no fortune, fame or power to be gained for those who choose to serve. Instead, a steep learning curve, more criticism than thanks, and minimal compensation may await those who step forward.

One would expect the decent people of Green County to show candidates a modicum of courtesy and respect, regardless of political ideology. Sadly, this was not the case during the Spring 2022 local elections.

A small, loud, and shameless group stumbled forth with baseless and slanderous accusations of racism, bigotry, carpet-bagging, homophobia, and transphobia against those candidates they did not support.

The candidates who “benefited” from this disgusting behavior all fell mute, when called upon to condemn the tactics of their supporters. At least one community leader, when asked to appeal for decency, instead chose to jump on the pile. This episode was, by a wide margin, the ugliest side of Green County I’ve ever seen.

Like many small counties, we routinely suffer from a lack of local candidates. Every year, local elections are won with as few as four write-in votes, for offices that no one wanted badly enough to put their names on a ballot. A lack of options does NOT strengthen local government. Dragging your neighbors and their families through the mud only magnifies this problem.

So I’ll implore the people of Green County to abide by three simple rules: 

*(1) limit attacks to a candidate’s political platform — NOT his / her self, family, or livelihood. 

(2) If you’re a candidate who “benefits” from this abhorrent behavior, strongly and quickly denounce it, and insist that your supporters act with dignity. 

(3) If you’re a resident who witnesses this sort of nastiness, publicly condemn it and call on the candidate who benefits to do the same.