Here are the more than 70 elected positions in Oconto County to be filled in April

Kent Tempus, Green Bay Press-Gazette
·6 min read

OCONTO - Anyone interested in serving for seats on local government or school boards can start circulating nomination papers Dec. 1 to be a candidate in the April 5 spring election.

Local nonpartisan positions up for election in Oconto County include: 31 County Board seats, 10 city council seats, three mayor positions, six village board seats, 16 school board seats, along with two town supervisor posts, and a sanitary district seat.

The deadline to file is 5 p.m. Jan. 4.

All county residents will vote in the election of two judges. Oconto County Circuit Court Judge Jay Conley’s Branch 2 position is up. He is completing his second six-year term. The District 3 Court of Appeals seat, which includes 35 counties in northern and western Wisconsin, held by Thomas M. Hruz, is also up for six-year term.

Information and forms on how to become a candidate is available at the Wisconsin Elections Commission website, the County Clerk’s Office, local clerks and school offices.

The number of signatures needed is 20 to 100 for the County Board, village and town offices, as well as for school boards that require them; 20 to 40 for alderpersons; and 50 to 100 for citywide offices.

Because of redistricting, six Oconto County supervisor districts have no incumbent:

  • District 3, Ward 3 of the town of Little Suamico and Ward 3 of the town of Chase.

  • District 7, Wards 4 and 5 of the town of Chase (and the tiny part of the village of Pulaski that’s in Oconto County, in which no one resides).

  • District 8, Ward 1 of the town of Abrams and Ward 1 of the towns of Morgan.

  • District 12, Wards 1 and 2 of the city of Oconto.

  • District 20, Ward 1 of the town of Oconto Falls and Ward 1 of the town of Stiles.

  • District 28, Ward 1 (all) of the town of Breed and Ward 1 (all) of the town of How.

The redistricting also placed 11 incumbents into five districts, but two supervisors have already filed declarations of noncandidacy.

  • Karl Ballestad of Oconto, who’s served on the board since February 2013, is not running again. Diane Nichols is the remaining incumbent in District 11, which includes Ward 2 of the town of Oconto and Ward 1 of the town of Pensaukee.

  • Robert Pott of Pulaski, who joined the board in May 2011, is not seeking reelection in District 6, leaving Dennis Kroll of Pulaski as the lone incumbent. The district covers Wards 1 and 2 of the town of Chase.

Incumbents who choose not to run and don’t file the noncandidacy document by Dec. 24 trigger a provision in the law. If no one files to run for that open seat, the filing deadline is extended three days to 5 p.m. Jan. 7, according to County Clerk Kim Pytleski.

The three other districts that have more than one candidate are:

  • District 9, Ward 3 of the town of Abrams and Ward 2 of the town of Morgan: Allan Stranz, Fran Wranosky and Leonard Wahl

  • District 15, which includes Ward 2 of the town of Little River Ward 2 and Ward 7 of the city of Oconto: John Matravers and Rose Stellmacher

  • District 22, which is all of the town of Spruce and Ward 1 of the town of Brazeau: Paul Bednarik and David Parmentier.

The remaining seats have one incumbent:

  • District 1: Elmer Ragen, town of Little Suamico Wards 8 and 9

  • District 2: Teri Willems, town of Little Suamico Wards 1 and 2

  • District 4: Elizabeth Paape, town of Little Suamico Wards 4 and 5

  • District 5: Guy Gooding, town of Little Suamico Wards 6 and 7

  • District 10: Tim Cole, Ward 2 of the town of Abrams and Ward 2 of the town of Pensaukee

  • District 13: Dick Doeren, Wards 3 and 4 of the city of Oconto

  • District 14: Al Schreiber, Wards 5 and 6 of the city of Oconto

  • District 16: Tom Bitters, Ward 1 of town of Little River and Ward 1 of the town of Oconto

  • District 17: Buzz Kamke: Ward 1 of the city of Oconto Falls and Ward 2 of the town of Stiles

  • District 18: Stephanie Holman, Wards 4 and 5 of the city of Oconto Falls

  • District 19: Bart Schindel, Wards 2 and 3 of the city of Oconto Falls

  • District 21: Kenneth Linzmeyer, Ward 1 of the town of Lena and Ward 1 of the village of Lena

  • District 23: Gregory Sekela, Ward 2 of the town of Gillett and Ward 2 of the town of Oconto Falls

  • District 24: Tracy Ondik, Wards 1-3 (all) of the city of Gillett

  • District 25: Gary G. Frank, Ward 1 of the town of Gillett and Ward 1 of the town of Underhill

  • District 26: Douglas McMahon, Ward 1 of the town of Maple Valley and Ward 1 of the village of Suring

  • District 27: Alan Sleeter, Ward 1 of the town of Bagley and Ward 2 of the town of Brazeau

  • District 29: Judy Buhrandt, Ward 1 of the town of Mountain and Ward 2 of the town of Riverview

  • District 30: Don Bartels, Jr., Ward 1 of the town of Lakewood and Ward 1 of the town of Townsend

  • District 31: David Christianson, Ward 1 (all) of the town of Doty, Ward of 1 of the town of Riverview and Ward 2 of the town of Townsend.

Information on the boundary lines for supervisor districts is available from the County Clerk’s Office.

School districts

Three-year seats held by incumbents are up for election.

  • Coleman: Ryan Wendt, Jeremy Hoida, Barb VanDrisse

  • Gillett: Clifford L. Gerbers, Preston Peterson, Jamie Young

  • Oconto: Crissy Thome Kumhala, Rural Seat; Kris Alwin, City Seat; Maria Roberts, City Seat

  • Oconto Falls: Ronald Leja, Sharon Stodola-Eslien

  • Pulaski: Brian Chlopek, Zone 1 – Village of Pulaski; Barb McKeefry, Zone 3 – townships of Angelica and Green Valley (Shawano County)

  • Suring : Amanda Seibert, Towns of Doty, Mountain, Riverview Area; Wayne Sleeter, towns of Bagley, Maple Valley, Spruce Area

  • Lena: Edward Huberty and Timothy A. Goldschmidt

  • Wabeno: Trinity Shepard and Daniel Christianson

City Councils

Incumbents whose posts will be filled are:

  • Gillett: Mayor Josh McCarthy, Alderpersons Marie Blaser (Ward 1), Sandra Hubbard (Ward 2), Nanette Mohr (Ward 3)

  • Oconto: Mayor Lloyd Heier, at-large Alderpersons Kim M. Bronikowski, Dean Reed, Roger Reed, Al Schreiber

  • Oconto Falls: Mayor Brad Rice, Jeff McDonald (District 1), Marty Coopman (District 2), Tim Holman (District 3)

Village Boards

Trustee positions up for election are currently held by:

  • Lena: Pauline Borchert, Linda M. Hinds, Craig LeFebre

  • Suring: David W. Kuchenbecker, Jacob School, Randy Schuettpelz

Town Board

  • Brazeau supervisors: Rodney J. Gretzon and David Parmentier

Other

  • Town of Little Suamico Sanitary District #1 Commissioner: Dan Herzberg

FOR MORE OCONTO COUNTY NEWS: Check out our website!

Contact Kent Tempus at (920) 354-6075 or ktempus@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Green Bay Press-Gazette: Nomination papers can start for Oconto County spring election