Meet the candidates for Marathon County Board Dist. 5

Wausau Pilot & Review

Bookmark our Elections Page for more candidate profiles as they are published, along with elections news and your submitted letters. To send a letter to the editor in support of any candidate, email yours to [email protected]. Be sure to include your name and city of residence. There is no limit on length.

In Tuesday’s election, two candidates are seeking to represent Dist. 5 on the Marathon County Board of Supervisors. Both candidates, incumbent Gary Gisselman and Orlando Alfonso, are also seeking City Council seats. See their answers to the city-based questionnaire at this link.

Here, they answer questions specific to the county board role that Gisselman now fills.

What motivated you to run for office?

Alfonso: Over the years, I have been approached by many friends and residents of Marathon County to run for “something.” I have been busy most of my life in the private sector and more recently, in the non-profit sector at St. Vincent de Paul, but now I am retired and am willing to serve our County as supervisor and Wausau as councilman.

Gisselman: I was encouraged to run by friends and I have a deep interest in Wausau and Marathon County

What is the biggest concern you have about the way Marathon County government operates today, and how do you propose to manage that, if elected?

Alfonso: This “operational” question about Marathon County Board, and how best to “manage” seems to be asked below, in the question regarding its diversity, size, and finding “common ground.” I will answer the question “What concerns you the most in Marathon County?” instead.

I am afraid that what concerns me the most in Marathon County, is a declining Wausau, its largest metropolis. Wausau is not growing—specifically its tax base. We need to attract new businesses and residents. With our current policies creating high property taxes, high fees, ridiculous water bills, and over-regulation, Wausau isn’t growing its tax base, its running it out of town!

Running for City Council and County Supervisor, I hope to keep both on good financial footing. I will encourage “private” sector growth, which is necessary to pay for our “public” sector services.

Gisselman: I have no major concern on how Marathon County government operates.

If elected, what steps would you take to put our county on firmer financial footing?

Alfonso: The County is on firm financial footing, so much so that we should have cut taxes last year. Most importantly, the County should not follow Wausau on financial issues. I would like to see the wheel tax, that was supposed to be temporary, gone! The County has plenty of money in the road fund and other funds that should be returned to the taxpayers. We are fiscally sound and we missed an opportunity to reduce the levy last fall. We should have passed Dave Baker’s amendment and returned some money back to the taxpayer.

As I implied above, Wausau’s health is the County’s health. One of Wausau’s biggest financial mistakes is its use of grants. There are good grants and there are bad grants. Just because we can get “starter” funds from Madison or D.C. does not mean we should accept them, or their recipe for our future. Much of this free money “steers” us to accept big government, agenda driven solutions to our problems, and we get stuck with the debt! We need to be wiser about “free money.” After all, it’s not free money—it’s our money. We should demand from our legislators that this money return to counties and cities with less strings attached.

Gisselman: I believe the County is on firm financial footing

How do you plan to involve residents in the decision-making process in our community and be transparent in your decision-making?

Alfonso: This is a two-fold question, I believe. Simple civics says the resident is involved in the decision-making process by electing his representative, whom he can vote out. I would like to address the transparency aspect of the question. This is where you, the press, must play a function. You must seek argument and rebuttal from our politicians on all issues. You cannot simply focus on divisive social issues (because that sells papers) while ignoring the financial ones. You have constitutional protections and consequently a duty to get representatives on record for all important issues. Hopefully Marathon County still has more tax-payers than tax-consumers. You must report on money issues as well, with some deference to those that pay taxes.

Gisselman: By listening to the citizens, one gets a good sense of they are thinking on the issues of the day.

How can Marathon County effectively tackle the ongoing housing shortage, particularly for people with low to moderate incomes?

Alfonso: First, I question the “lack” of housing…In my political door knockings I have encountered many, many empty houses. How many are there in Wausau, the County? Maybe it’s just my District 5. This deserves thorough investigation before we take on new debt to buy “new” housing. To the degree that there is a shortage of housing, especially for low to moderate incomes, look no further again than to high property taxes, water bills and fees. Renters, you pay them too! Take an example of a rental unit worth $100,000. The property tax alone eats about $200/month!

I know that there are bad landlords, but in my time at St. Vincent de Paul I have learned how landlord unfriendly Wausau can be. Some things, like the cumbersome eviction process is governed by state statute, but local ordinance enforcement, that should fall on the tenant, like mowing the lawn, improper garbage disposal and payment of the water bill are often stuck with the landlord. If houses are left abandoned, these costs, even in Wausau, ultimately fall on the County.

Gisselman: Marathon County has to determine it’s role in housing policy, specifically on the housing shortage.

What can Marathon County do to attract more businesses and more people to the area?

Alfonso: Simple. The County should make itself “tax attractive.” We should lower our property taxes, our fees and concentrate on basic County services. To the degree our County does this, we can rely less on gimmicks like TIFs, a “necessary evil” when you are not tax competitive.

Gisselman: By encouraging a living wage for all workers in Marathon County.

What role, if any, should supervisors play in determining which books are chosen for the Marathon County Public Library and how they are placed on the shelves?

Alfonso: Other than gratuitous pornography, I do not believe in any form of censorship at the library for adults. And that means that the Library Board itself should not prevent a book from being carried simply because it doesn’t agree with the viewpoint or deems it “harmful.” Adults are adults. If there is a controversial book that the Library Board does not wish to purchase for its shelves, any supervisor, or for that matter, any citizen should be allowed to donate the book to be made available to the adult public. Children are a different matter. Certain books should be available to children with parental consent only. They should not be easily displayed or available. There are many things that by law are kept from children and not adults, cigarettes and alcohol, for example. It is ironic that there are some in our community that would rather control what adults read than what children read!

Gisselman: Supervisors should not play a role in choosing books for the library.

How do you feel about the transportation options available in our county, and what role, if any, should Marathon County play in tackling the challenges involved?

Alfonso: At the County level…Fix the roads and repeal the wheel tax. That’s it!

As for Wausau, it should “rethink” its old dependency on big government, state and federal solutions. We have big city “behemoth” busses (better suited to Milwaukee or Chicago) that run virtually empty. And now we are considering spending more money to electrify them? For the County’s sake, Wausau needs to get creative on this issue. A small fleet of vans? A deal with taxi companies and Uber? There are “progressive” and cheaper solutions for Wausau transportation problems than dependency on outdated big city technology.

Gisselman: Marathon County has to step up and realize that the metro transit problem is a county issue.

The County Board is large and diverse. How will you work with people whose views you do not agree with to find common ground?

Alfonso: Diverse is good, large is not. We have one of the biggest boards in the nation which serves only to dilute its supervisors’ opinions and transfer its power to an unelected administrator. This is no reflection on Administrator Leonhard’s performance. It is simply an “operational” observation.

Compromise is good on traditional government work, its basic services, and I will encourage such. But compromise on personal and moral issues, which should not be the purview of County government, I will not offer. I will simply contribute my vote.

Gisselman: I believe I can work with people.