Captain Z no more; Jon Doemel will shut down ZaRonis to focus on his Winnebago County reelection bid

OSHKOSH ― Government is getting Jon Doemel’s full and undivided attention.

Something had to give, and popular Oshkosh pizza joint ZaRonis ended up being that thing when the Winnebago County executive said he will be closing his business after 20 years to focus on a reelection bid for 2025.

Doemel announced plans to seek another term in a lengthy social media post on ZaRoni’s Facebook page last week detailing the reasons behind his decision.

“I want to focus on the thing that does the most good for the most people, and that’s in government, where I can devote my time serving the county and the people while still being able to be a good father and a good husband,” said the 45-year-old Doemel in an interview with the Northwestern.

“We just welcomed our fifth child in September, and that made my choices and time constraints even harder and it just ended up with me neglecting the business too much.

“I want to continue the vision of getting our departments to work better and together to be more involved in giving the residents a better life and finding out what their needs are,” he added.

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Doemel unseated 16-year incumbent Mark Harris to become Winnebago County executive in 2021.

A lifelong Oshkosh resident, Doemel ousted 16-year incumbent Winnebago County Executive Mark Harris in 2021 after previously serving on the Oshkosh Chamber of Commerce board.

At the time, Doemel ran his campaign on the issues of better communication and public accountability.

But Doemel’s time in office has been somewhat contentious. That began with his attempt to hire a temporary chief of staff, Ethan Hollenberger, without the approval of board supervisors.

Hollenberger was eventually brought on as an executive assistant before becoming the subject of a co-worker complaint surrounding demeaning and derogatory comments made in an office setting.

Then, a third of the County Board's 36 members refused to seek reelection following Doemel’s first year in office, citing his “chaotic” leadership style that included him side-stepping the board to reshape the executive’s office by adding more staff “on a whim.”

“I’m still learning on the job to function as a team and work with our outside partners while dealing with 20 direct reports from the 20 other departments,” Doemel explained.

“But what I am most proud of is the $10.3 million grant neighborhood improvement grant and the work we’ve done with Solutions Recovery, Habitat for Humanity and the efforts we’ve had in supporting all of our community partners.”

What Doemel won’t be doing anymore, though, is feeding the Oshkosh community through one of his 20 specialty pizzas.

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ZaRonis was opened in 2004 as the Oshkosh Glass Nickel.

Originally opened as the Glass Nickel in 2004, ZaRonis evolved to become a comic book/cartooned-themed pizzeria featuring a slew of specialty mac ‘n cheese dishes.

But ZaRonis really became well known through the social media antics of Captain and Madame Z — the alter egos of Doemel and his wife and co-owner Anne.

“It’s been heartwarming and heartbreaking at the same time, because we’ve found out what ZaRonis means to the community and it’s more than just food, apparently,” Doemel said.

“But everyone has been extremely supportive because they understand and they see what we have gotten for the county in the last two years and they know what I am trying to do.

“The same servant heart I have in the business is the same servant heart I bring to government, so we’re all kind of grieving together,” he added.

According to the Facebook post, ZaRonis will close its doors immediately following Super Bowl Feb. 11.

Have a story tip or public interest concern? Contact Justin Marville at jmarville@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Oshkosh Northwestern: Jon Doemel to close ZaRonis to focus on Winnebago County reelection