Just three races for Oconto County Board

Suring School Board approves referendum question
By: 
Warren Bluhm
Oconto County Times Herald Editor

OCONTO — It ought to be a quiet election day around Oconto County, if the ballot lineup for the County Board is any indication.

While more than a dozen Democrats maneuver for our attention in the April 7 presidential partisan primary, only three races emerged among the 31 supervisory districts when the deadline passed for the nonpartisan spring election the same day.

Incumbent Supervisor Marcia Ellis, who was appointed to the board last April to fill the unexpired term of the late Darrell Pagel, is running for a two-year term in District 2, which includes part of the town of Little Suamico. She is challenged by David E. Pribyl.

Incumbent Supervisor David Behrend is challenged for reelection by Fran Wranosky in a rematch of the 2018 election in District 7, which represents parts of the towns of Chase and Morgan.

Behrend won that race by just one vote.

The other race this year is in District 24, serving part of the town of Gillett and part of the city of Gillett, where Richard Nelson is not running for reelection.

Former city of Gillett mayor and alderperson Irene Drake submitted papers to run, as did Tracy Ondik, director of the Gillett Area Ambulance Service.

Only one other supervisor decided to call it a career on the County Board – Don Girardi in District 3, which covers part of the town of Little Suamico. Guy K. Gooding is the only candidate to file for that post.

Gooding and 28 incumbent supervisors will be unopposed on the April ballot.

Some turnover is guaranteed on the Suring School Board, where two members filed declarations of non-candidacy: Eugene School, representing the towns of Bagley, Maple Valley and Spruce, and Mark Strehlow, representing the town of How.

Only one candidate emerged for each seat: Gary Regal, for the Bagley-Maple Valley-Spruce position, and David Lally for the town of How position. Incumbent Cathy Lundgren was the sole candidate for the seat she now holds, representing the towns of Doty, Mountain and Riverview.

The board last week voted on the wording for a referendum question that will appear on the April ballot. Suring Area School District voters will be asked to approve exceeding the state-imposed revenue limits by $900,000 a year for the next five years. The district has already been exceeding those limits by $750,000 after receiving the voters’ OK in a 2015 referendum.

The Little Suamico Town Board voted in September to place an advisory referendum on the April ballot regarding whether to allow all-terrain and utility vehicles to operate on town roads.