Election 2022 — Shawano County Board District 14

In the April 5 general election, voters will be deciding on one spot between two candidates for representation of District 14 on the Shawano County Board of Supervisors.

Incumbent Deb Noffke will be defending her seat against challenger Jeremy Gretzinger for the spot.

NEW Media sent questionnaires to the candidates in order to provide candidates’ opinions on key issues that the county has dealt with and discussed in recent years. Gretzinger’s responses were published last week.

What qualifies you to be a member of the Shawano County Board of Supervisors?

Noffke: In District 14, this is my first term on the board. I moved prior to that, so in total, its 18 years. I have a ton of experience on the board. Currently I am on the public property committee, tribal affairs and county board. I read. I study. I am not afraid to ask questions. I answer to the taxpayer. In a nutshell, I do not think that anyone will accuse me of being a rubber stamp.

The board has had thorough discussions revolving around pay for county employees. How do you believe that county employees should be compensated?

Noffke: We need to pay our employees fairly. That is a double-edged sword. We need to pay fairly to the employees, but we also need to be fair to the taxpayers, because they are paying that wage. We have to somehow remain in line with our county demographics, as far as income per capita. Each year, every employee can earn an increase. All they have to do is meet expectations. In addition to that, in our budget, we set an increase. We also set increases in the middle of the year, if we can afford it.

The board has discussed purchasing new police vehicles, as well as creating a replacement plan for the vehicles. Should the county look at continuing to purchase new vehicles and setting up a replacement plan for the vehicles?

Noffke: We definitely need a replacement plan. Replacing squad cars is nothing new. Speaking with sheriff’s (Chief) Deputy George Lenzner, the sheriff’s department never advocated for replacing them all. It’s a replacement schedule that we need to get set up. In 2020, I believe they replaced three cars, that was it. In this new budget, I believe there was zero cars. That’s not sustainable and that’s not responsible. If you have a wrong way driver on state Highway 29, the last thing that you want is an officer saying that I can’t catch them because my transmission is flipping.

What is Shawano County doing well in your mind and how can the county continue to excel at this?

Noffke: We try awfully hard to be fiscally responsible and doing things that are needed like the essential services. Most times, the board can do a good job in differentiating between what is a need and a want. Our highway and human services departments and even the airport are doing phenomenal jobs of leveraging to try and get state and federal funding and not putting a burden on our taxpayers. I think to keep doing as some of the departments are doing as far as catching state and federal dollars is important.

What is Shawano County not doing so well in your mind and how can the county change that to be better in the future?

Noffke: Planning. Oftentimes, a knee jerk response is often an agenda item, without thinking how are you going to pay for that next year. Grandkids are going to be paying for some of these things. You do not want to end up in analysis paralysis, but we need to have a better handle on thinking through the results of something. Sometimes, things don’t happen the way that you expect them to. I think we need to do a better job internally at team building. As a geographic area and as an employer, we have a lot of positives.