Meet the candidates for Marathon County Board of Supervisors in Dist. 23

Wausau Pilot & Review

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In Dist. 23 for the Marathon County Board of Supervisors, David Baker is the incumbent, with Chris Voll as challenger. Here are their responses to our questions about policy, processes and their motivations for running.

What motivated you to run for office?

Baker: I originally ran for Marathon County Board Supervisor in 2022 because I disagreed with actions and decisions that the County Board and County Government had made in 2020 and 2021. I am running for re-election because I have been very effective in my first term, but there are still ongoing challenges that require attention.

Voll: I first began working within my community as a Jaycee, taking that service with me during moves to other towns. When I moved here to Marathon County, I joined the Wausau Area Jaycees and participated in many ways, getting to know the area and the people. Then, as now, I believe in what the Jaycee Creed says: “Service to humanity is the best work of life” and I am privileged to provide service to my community. I believe that giving my time and talent to others is what we are meant to do in our lives. We are meant to give our lives lasting value by our good deeds.

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?

Baker: The County Board Chair currently primarily controls the Board and Committee Agendas. This is a result of the Chair’s ability to appoint the Chair and Vice Chair of the Standing Committees. The Standing Committee Chairs also make up the majority of the Executive Committee.

The Standing Committee Chair generally sets the standing Committee agendas. There are alternative methods to place items on the agenda, but in my opinion, these other methods need to be improved in order for all the representatives, and thus their constituents, to be heard on matters specific to their district.

An option that could be considered by the newly elected Board at the April Organizational meeting would be for the members of each Standing Committee to elect their own Chair and Vice Chair. Per Corporation Counsel Puerner, this is the standard method of selecting Committee Chairs per Roberts Rules of Order.

Voll: There are some supervisors that want to rehash all the work the committees do instead of accepting what is done at the committee level, which is the way the board operates. There is also a lack of understanding about budgets. While they want to lower costs, they are doing so with personal and religious interests in mind instead of looking at true costs, encumbrances, and necessities. I want low taxes just like everyone else, but I won’t sacrifice the Wausau library building being kept up because someone is mad about a book being shelved in a way in which they disagree.

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

Baker: Marathon County is currently in a very strong financial condition. If the recent rapid increase in debt would continue that would definitely be a concern. However, the current level of debt is certainly manageable. I would like to keep it that way. The County did not utilize debt in the 2024 budget because of the concern the current County Board had regarding the rapidly rising debt.

Enhancing financial transparency across all aspects of the County’s operations is essential to the Board’s ability to perform its oversight function and will continue to be a focus that should benefit taxpayers. Through an in depth review of 10 years of Annual Reports, I discovered a recent rapid rise in the Social Improvement Fund Balance, which had not previously been disclosed in the Annual Budget Message or other HRFC (Human Resources and Finance) Committee documents.

County Administration has committed to preparing an Annual Comprehensive Financial Report (ACFR) for 2023. The Comprehensive Financial report includes a table of historical Fund Balances, which in my opinion increases the transparency of the County’s finances. The County has not completed a Comprehensive Financial Report as part of the Annual Audit since 2018.

I was a leading vocal proponent of restarting the use of the ACFR, which I believe will help enable the Board to make better informed decisions and should help maintain our strong financial condition.

Voll: I do believe that we need to continue assessing the return on investment for the taxes we’re paying and work to keep expenses low, therefore keeping taxes low. I want this area to continue to grow, for all people to be welcome and feel that Marathon County is a good place to live, and that personal agendas by supervisors is wrong and harms all residents, not just those who can vote.

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

Baker: My blog – supervisorbaker.blog – provides a unique view into the County Board’s decision making process. The blog highlights issues that I think will be of interest to my constituents, but also to the County as a whole. The blog is written from my perspective, but is carefully documented with relevant Board and Committee video as well as relevant pages from packets and other documents.

I listen to my constituents and am responsive to their concerns. This is evidenced by the fact that I removed several potential budget amendments based on conversations with my constituents.

The blog is useful not only to help me to be transparent in my decision making, but also to increase the transparency of many aspects of County Government

Voll: The board meetings are open to the public and I would encourage everyone to attend these meetings. The meetings are also available for online viewing live or at another time. People need to be involved by joining committees and running for office. They also need to contact their elected officials and talk with them about what is going on. My phone number is public for a reason – people are always welcome to call me, but historically that hasn’t happened very often. We want residents to be part of the process and welcome each and every one to take part.

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

Baker: As a member of the EEED (Extension, Education, and Economic Development) committee, I authored and presented the following outcome measure for the updated Marathon County strategic plan – “by August 31, 2023, with input from non-EEED Supervisors and other Marathon County Stakeholders, prepare recommendations for Marathon County Government’s role in supporting safe and affordable housing options.”

Following passage of this outcome measure, by the EEED Committee and the full Board, the EEED committee hosted speakers and discussions over several months to help define the County Government’s Role.

The County Board ultimately adopted Resolution R-66-23, which resulted from these discussions at the EEED Committee. Resolution R-66-23 was written by EEED Committee Chair Seefeldt and Supervisor Lemmer and was amended at EEED based on modifications that I proposed. Resolution R-66-23, which was passed unanimously by the Board, states that

NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, the Marathon County Board of Supervisors does hereby resolve and ordain the following responses to housing:

1. Marathon County staff shall identify county-owned properties with significant potential for residential housing development and promote the development of housing on these high potential properties.
2. Marathon County shall prioritize the return of tax delinquent residential properties to the tax rolls in order to enhance the availability of affordable housing stock.
3. Marathon County officials shall participate in discussions with local municipal leaders, zoning officials, and developers about how existing zoning regulations impact the ability of new housing developments.
4. County staff shall provide resources to delinquent property owners relative to grant programs, financial programs, and available renter and homebuyer programs and financial programs.

Voll: I believe we must work with the local builders in our area to have them help us with this crisis. Perhaps there are solutions if we work together and make long-range plans that everyone can benefit from that are fiscally prudent.

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

Baker: Businesses, people considering a move to Marathon County and existing residents alike, are all attracted to our area by a combination of factors. Available workforce, a low tax rate, including property taxes, and friendly economic development policies to see our County prosper. Our parks and recreational facilities are a major asset and draw people to our County. I have and will continue to support our County Parks if I am re-elected.

Voll: The County has it’s own strategic plan that doesn’t work with municipalities, but perhaps we can work as a team to look at the broad picture. We have municipalities within our county that work well together to court businesses and they are the experts in those areas. I look at so many areas that continue to receive new businesses and I believe they are doing a good job. Tax incentives are not the only way to grow business and we need to recognize that.

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?

Baker: In my opinion there has been substantial inaccurate information published in the press and shared on social media about the topics of book banning and defunding the Library. I appreciate the opportunity to address this topic in a venue that reaches a large audience.

I have written extensively on the topic of the Library and have more than 10 Library related posts on my blog (supervisorbaker.blog). I will draw on my earlier thoughts and comments as I answer this question.

As a part of my November 23rd, 2023 blog post “Show me the Receipts – Library War of Words,” I wrote:

In my view, it is not my role as an elected public official to ban books or to infringe on the constitutional rights of Marathon County Citizens.

It is my role to uphold and protect our constitutional rights.

Book Banning

I don’t believe that County Government should ban books or censure free speech. I also don’t believe that the state government or federal government should ban books or censure free speech.

I am a strong proponent of protecting our Constitutional Rights and took an oath to uphold and defend those rights. I did not attempt to ban any books or call for any books to be banned, despite what some may have written in the news or social media.

I issued a challenge on November 23, 2023 for anyone to provide evidence that I had attempted to ban books or proposed banning books. No one has come forward with any evidence.

Library Funding

Several County Board Supervisors mentioned linking Library Funding to Library Board decisions about books during the fall of 2022 for the 2023 budget. I thought that this was a mistake and mentioned this to several Supervisors. I am not aware of any comments made in this regard during the preparation of the 2024 budget.

In my opinion, the level of Library funding should not be contingent upon decisions made by the Library Board regarding which books are in the Library, although the Library’s own training material discusses this possibility.

I don’t believe that I made any statements during the 2023 or 2024 budget discussions suggesting or stating that the level of library funding should be tied to decisions regarding the selection of books for the Library.

The video and the text from the Library’s training document are available on the blog post “Kronenwetter Candidate Forum – Question 1.”

Voll: The board should have absolutely no say in determining which books are chosen for the Marathon County Public Library nor how they are placed on shelves. I have received some great information on how the library does choose books and how they are placed on the shelves and that comes from people with expertise in that area and done on a national level. I fully believe that the people with master’s degrees (or more graduate education), who work on this issue every single day, and are reviewing material for a variety of points have the final say. If we allow board members to insert their personal biases and religious views on books, then what is next? Will they fix homelessness? Will they read Bibles in jail to inmates? Who’s to say what someone might want to dream up? That is just wrong and it isn’t what the Marathon County Board of Supervisor’s roles are. I stand with 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?

Baker: Adding a Kowalski Road – I 39 interchange in District 23 in Kronenwetter would have been an important addition to our transportation system and is important to the Village of Kronenwetter and to many of my constituents.

Upon requests from constituents, I became concerned about the potential impact of an interchange on local traffic, particularly along Kowalski Road’s residential section. I expressed these concerns at a Kronenwetter Committee meeting, emphasizing the need to address residents’ concerns in the plan.

After discovering that the Village Board unanimously supported funding an Interchange Justification Report, I agreed to advocate for the issue at the County Board.

I arranged for Dave Mack from the Wausau/Marathon County Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) to make a presentation to the EEED committee (Extension, Education, and Economic Development). I also authored proposed updates to the Strategic Plan, which were approved by the EEED committee.

After the EEED committee approved the proposed updates, they were sent to the Executive Committee. However, the majority of the Executive Committee members opposed the updates and returned them to the EEED for further review. Some argued that increased development in Kronenwetter would be detrimental to Wausau’s interests.

Following discussions on the proposed amendments, it was suggested that Kronenwetter’s MPO representative should have advocated more effectively at the Wausau/Marathon County MPO meetings.

Ultimately, the Executive Committee omitted the proposed amendments from the updated Strategic Plan sent to the full County Board. During the Board’s review of the updates, I motioned to amend the Strategic Plan to incorporate a revised amendment which is shown in the minutes of April 25, 2023.

Voll: I have traveled the country and the world and utilized public transportation. I believe we must find a good solution to help out the people in our community who need help with transportation. This is obviously a much more important issue for more people than how to shelve books at a library.

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

Baker: I will provide an example from my first term; I proposed an update regarding Child Care in the Strategic Plan. After discussions and modifications at various committees and the full Board, the update was passed with Objective 10.6, Outcome Measure 3, focusing on preparing recommendations for the county’s role in supporting affordable high-quality childcare.

The EEED committee hosted educational presentations and discussions over several months to prepare these recommendations, encompassing diverse viewpoints from reducing government regulation to taxpayer-funded childcare from birth to age 5. Initially, the committee passed my proposed Childcare resolution, but it was sent back for further consideration after guest speaker Dave Eckmann’s request for more discussion at the Full Board Meeting.

Acknowledging the need for further discussion, I engaged in productive dialogue with Kelly Borchardt of the “ChildCaring” Organization, leading to the proposal of an unofficial Child Care Work Group. This group aims to address childcare shortages through potential public-private partnerships. Supervisor Lemmer and Supervisor Robinson were invited to ensure a balanced viewpoint based on their engagement with childcare issues at the EEED discussions. More details are available on my blog.

Voll: I base my opinions on what I hear from my constituents but also by using facts, expert information and testimony, as well as common sense. If someone wants to disagree with me about something using facts, then we will be able to see what has been, what needs to be done and forge a path to get there. I am a good listener as well and am willing to hear people out, but we have to do what’s best for the greatest amount of people which is why I always rely on facts and experts to make the best decisions. I believe strongly that people with other ideas makes this county a good place to live so I welcome the viewpoints of other people as long as they use accuracy and facts, not fallacy and opinion.

What else do you want voters to know about you?

Baker: I care deeply about Marathon County and work diligently as a Supervisor to research and understand the County matters before me. Asking questions and uncovering information leads to more in depth committee conversations about what is truly the right direction the county should head on any given topic. Feel free to visit my website at supervisorbaker.blog to learn more about specific work from my time on the Board.

Voll: I have been a true and faithful public servant for almost two decades in Kronenwetter and Marathon County. I have not lied to the public, made false testimony about myself or others, nor have I used my personal viewpoints and opinions to make decisions as opposed to facts and expert information. I have not had many complaints and my phone doesn’t ring off the hook, so I know I have done well enough in my service to be helpful and a positive force in the community. I believe that we work better together and that when we have other people’s best interests at heart, we all do better.