Dobbins, Heuer vie for Kewaunee County Board

The candidates for District 12 on the Kewaunee County Board, representing the town of West Kewaunee, provide answers to the Star-News's questionnaire.

MARY E. DOBBINS

Number of years you have resided in the town: 44 
Education: Bachelor of Arts degree from St. Norbert College, a master's degree from the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh, and a Professional Development Certificate from the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay.
Professional experience: Regular and special education teacher in Ashwaubenon (four years) and Green Bay Area Public Schools (31 years)
Family: Spouse: Thomas Dobbins, Children: Dana Dobbins and Emily Dobbins Brown, Grandchildren: Soren Dobbins, Mira Dobbins, Zoë Brown
Other elected office positions: none
Past and present community or volunteer positions: 4H leader, Odyssey of the Mind coach (now Destination Imagination), Kewaunee High School Wrestling Club volunteer, Co-President League of Women Voters of Kewaunee County, Violence Intervention Project (VIP) volunteer, KeLe Alpaca Day on the Farm volunteer, Glacial Lakes Conservancy member, Kewaunee County Dialogue Series facilitator, Door Kewaunee Retired Educators Association member.

What do you think are the two most important issues affecting the community for which you are seeking office?
Water quality and economic development are the two most important issues affecting the town of West Kewaunee and all of Kewaunee County. Since filing for the District 12 position on Jan. 5, I have spoken with hundreds of residents of District 12 at their doors and at the town of West Kewaunee recycling. The two issues that people mention overwhelmingly are water quality and economic development. West Kewaunee people are concerned about safe drinking water and healthy streams and rivers. They realize that farming is an integral part of life in West Kewaunee and Kewaunee County as a whole. But successful farming should be able to coexist with safe well water and healthy streams and rivers. Last summer the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources established workgroups, including county employees, farmers, and concerned residents, to come up with answers to our water issues. The recommendations of these workgroups must be implemented. In addition, the DNR must fill the vacant Kewaunee County DNR warden position.
Another critical issue is economic development. Kewaunee County is an aging community with many retirees. There needs to be economic opportunities for young people in Kewaunee County so that they want to live here instead of leaving the county to seek employment. Kewaunee County should build a strong, diverse economy. It should be a place where businesses of all sizes can thrive. This includes individuals in business for themselves, small businesses, and large businesses. I would like the County Board to do more to support current local businesses and attract new businesses to the county. We need to improve internet service in the rural areas of the county so that more individuals can work out of their homes. Both of these issues require improved communication within the county, one of my primary goals in running for the Kewaunee County Board.

How would you bring your education and experience to address these issues?
With my professional and community experiences, I can be an important part of building a better Kewaunee County.
Being a teacher requires many skills that apply to life outside the classroom. As a teacher I was part of the school team helping all students and the school community reach their potential. Similarly, the Kewaunee County Board supervisors, county workers and community members need to work as a team to help Kewaunee County succeed. There are a lot of talented individuals in Kewaunee County. The County Board needs to work with the community to make use of the talents we have in the county.
Teachers encourage students to cooperate to find and implement solutions to problems. Often compromise is needed to reach a goal. I have the ability to encourage cooperation and promote compromise among interested individuals in Kewaunee County. We need to start with listening carefully, finding areas of agreement, and building toward shared goals.
As a teacher I was responsible for budgeting classroom expenses to achieve optimum results from limited resources. Kewaunee County faces similar challenges. Resources for the county are limited but we want to provide excellent services with the resources we have.
Teachers often help students divide problems into more manageable steps. Passing the Groundwater Protection Ordinance in Kewaunee County last spring was a first step in addressing our water problems. The County Board needs to take further steps to improve water quality in the county. The Kewaunee County Groundwater Task Force charter has expired. It was temporarily extended until the April County Board reorganization meeting. The new Kewaunee County Board needs to renew the charter of the Groundwater Task Force and allow this committee to continue its work on further steps to protect our water. I hope to become a member of this committee.
List other information that you think the public should know about you that prepares you to take on the responsibilities of this office?
I have prepared for this office by talking to hundreds of Kewaunee County residents about the issues they care about. I have attended all of the 2016 Kewaunee County Board meetings. I particularly listened to the Citizen’s Input time at the County Board meetings to find out what is important to community people.
I have attended almost all of the 2016 Kewaunee County Board Committee meetings. These committee meeting are where the real work of the County Board takes place. The Kewaunee County Board Committee meetings allowed me to meet many county workers and citizen committee members. I learned about the role of each county department in providing services and meeting the needs of Kewaunee County and its people.
I have talked with many County Board Supervisors individually to find out what they do and their views on the county.
I realize that I need to keep on listening and that I have more to learn. I am willing to put in the time if people support me with their votes.

RON HEUER (i)

Number of years you have resided in the municipality for which you are seeking  office:15

Education:  14 years

Professional experience: Currently, president of Heuer Consulting LLC, consulting with companies in Canada with regard to dynamic packaging of travel components.  For the past 46 years, I have worked at senior executive management level in the travel industry.

Family: Wife, Gina

Other elected office positions: I have served on the Kewaunee County Board for the past four years, the past two years as chairman.

Past and present community or volunteer positions:  I have volunteered for numerous veterans activities including LZ Lambeau, Green Bay, Vietnam Helicopters Association Event, Tampa Fla., Kewaunee County Veterans Day Tribute, Algoma Tribute to Vets, Wounded Heroes Project, Sturgeon Bay, and LZ Welcome, Camp Ripley, Minn., event.  Also volunteered for the Algoma Food Pantry and Breakfast on the Farm, and I assisted with the Kewaunee Harbor Project.  Further, I have served in various tourism and travel industry activities.  Captain U.S. Army Transportation Corps, Vietnam veteran, honorably discharged.

What do you think are the two most important issues affecting the community for which you are seeking office? 
Our two biggest issues in Kewaunee County are budgetary issues and ground and surface water issues.  I’ve played a leadership role on both these issues over the past 2 years and made good progress.

In spite of the revenue shortfalls caused by the closure of the Dominion Kewaunee Nuclear Plant, we managed our budget well.  We brought in an additional $1,185,000 money from state and private resources to include: $855,000 extension of utility tax over next three years, Dominion financial assistance $143,000, DNR grant $80,000 2015/2016 Well Testing, DATCP  $48,000 approval of moving funds from SEG funding to Bond Dollars, PSC, $50,000 funding for Manure Treatment Feasibility Study.  We’ve reduced staffing, made salary and insurance adjustments while continuing to provide all essential services and without increasing the County taxes.

We’ve been responsive to the ground and surface water issue and made significant progress including: Passing an ordinance changing winter spreading rules for farmers, adding staff to Land and Water Conservation Department allowing them to monitor Nutrient Management Plans, continue           working with DNR finding solutions and developing new guidelines for handling the overall water issues.  Additionally, the DNR allocated $80,000 for testing 800 wells in the County.  This testing should provide results that should accurately pinpoint the sources of contamination.  The County secured a $50,000 PSC grant to explore the feasibility of farmer cooperative on-                farm hub and satellite manure treatment.  The plan calls for local farmers to build and operate these digesters.  We formed a Groundwater Task Force in order to update county residents to          the issues in regards to the groundwater and surface water in Kewaunee County.  We’ve also been working with NRCS and DATCP in efforts of improving our groundwater and surface                  water.  For more details, visit http://www.kewauneeco.org/ then click on State of the County Report.

.How would you bring your education and experience to address these issues?
 I have been in leadership roles all my life including my command experience in the military.  I have 45-plus years of hands-on business experience running companies with large number of employees with hundreds of millions of dollars in sales.  Most important, as a senior executive, I had bottom line responsibility. 

I have four years of experience on the County Board and as chairman of the Kewaunee County Board for the past two years, I have led many changes in the County.  We reduced our county       staff by 34 employees, we hired a new, highly qualified Administrator, and we hired a new Highway Commissioner who, for the first time in years operated the highway department without             losing money.  We added a new Director of Finance who now provides all departments with current monthly statements and forecasts.  We’ve completed a long study on the landfill and have         made decisions on that very difficult issue.

We are adding a County Tourism and Press Information Officer starting in April 2016 to repair the image of Kewaunee County and begin the process of putting Kewaunee County on the map with regard to tourism.

Going forward, we must focus on operating the County in the most economical way possible.  That includes developing a 5 year fiscal plan so we have a roadmap as to where we are                   headed.  We will put in place, a much needed, employee evaluation and rating system which is non-existing today.  We will look to neighboring counties to determine if there are ways we can       work together to reduce expenses while maintaining service levels. 

    With my involvement in hundreds of meetings concerning ground and surface water issues, I have a perspective of the issue and will continue working with DNR, DATCP, EPA, NRCS and           USDA to find solutions to the problems.

List other information that you think the public should know about you that prepares you to take on the responsibilities of this office?
I have spent literally hundreds of hours of my time researching various issues we are faced with in the county that allows me to make sound recommendations and decisions.  I have, on my own time, cultivated relationships with our state representative and state senator and their staffs to ensure our concerns are heard and acted upon.  I set out to meet with the secretaries of DATCP, DNR, Department of Tourism and Department of Revenue in order to make them aware of our County’s current status and our plans to change as we go forward.

The job of county supervisor is more than showing up at a committee meeting or a board meeting once a month.   It requires unselfish dedication to researching issues, hours of reviewing Committee meeting minutes, and talking to department heads in order to understand the issues fully.  I have proven that I have “the right stuff” to be re-elected to the County Board in District 12.

This article originally appeared on Green Bay Press Gazette: Dobbins, Heuer vie for Kewaunee County Board