Interesting Election results last week !
In Little Chute, we had a landslide victory for Mike Vanden Berg for Village President. In addition, the two incumbent Trustees (and one retiring Trustee) were replaced by challengers. This means that in little more than a year, all of the Village Board and the Village President have been replaced, with the exception of Skip Smith, who was defeated for re-election in 2010, and then elected again last Tuesday.
Also interesting, is that Bob Berken is the only “new” Trustee elected to the Village Board, in the sense that all of the others elected last Tuesday have served prior terms on the Board of Trustees. Bill Peerenboom, for instance, served as a Trustee in the past, hasn’t served as a Trustee for a number of years, and was elected Tuesday to another two-year term. And of course, the three sitting Trustees elected in 2010, Tammy Frassetto, Jim Hietpas and Dan Mahlik, now each have a year’s experience as Trustees as well. An interesting mix of experience with new faces !
At the county level, the County Executive race ended with a victory for Tom Nelson. In addition, Lori O’Bright won the County Clerk’s race. And at the state level, the result of the Supreme Court race appears to be David Prosser, but the official results won’t be available from the Government Accountability Board until the County Boards of Canvassers have completed their work. A recount is still a possibility after that work is done.
The Candidate Summary Tables have been updated to show the winners in each race.
A sincere “Thank You” to the Old Country Buffet in Appleton, and the Kimberly – Little Chute Public Library for hosting the candidate interviews. They provided quiet rooms and a relaxed atmosphere for conducting the interviews.
In other news, Wisconsin was hit by several tornadoes on Sunday, one of them in Kaukauna, where there was major damage to homes and other property. Coverage can be found at WBAY, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, the Wisconsin Ag Connection and the Post Crescent. Many volunteers are already assisting residents. A relief account has been set up at the Unison Credit Union to help those affected by the tornado. Donations can be made at any of the 4 Unison Credit Union locations. Our prayers and thoughts will be with the families affected by the storms that passed through our state and surrounding states.
Looking ahead, tomorrow (Wednesday, April 13) there will be a Wisconsin State Joint Finance Committee (JFC) listening session on the budget bill in Neenah. This listening session will be held at the Pickard Civic Auditorium of Neenah High School, 1275 Tullar Road, Neenah between 10 AM and 6 PM. Testimony will be limited to two (2) minutes per speaker.
If you support the Governor’s budget actions, please consider attending the listening session and voicing your thoughts. If you don’t support the Governor’s budget actions, please consider attending and voicing your thoughts, too. Our legislators need feedback from us if they’re going to govern effectively. If you can’t make it tomorrow, you can email your comments and concerns to BudgetComments@legis.wisconsin.gov. You can also contact the committee’s Senate Chair Alberta Darling or Assembly Chair Robin Vos.
If you want to contact your legislators directly, you can always find their contact information at the Wisconsin State Senators page or the Wisconsin State Representatives page. These pages are lists of legislators in the Senate and Assembly. But there are also links on these pages that allow you to find your legislators by your address, municipality or by using maps.
Lastly, there is a new round of sewer lateral replacement mandates going around the Village. There will eventually be about 600 households (out of 4000 or so) in Little Chute that already have replaced or still have to replace their clay sewer laterals, by Village ordinance. The cost will run around $2,000 per household, but can go much higher, depending on the individual situation. The mandate is claimed to be necessary to meet the Heart of the Valley Metropolitan Sewerage District (HoV) requirements for “I/I”. “I/I” is short for “Inflow and Infiltration” the water that flows into the Sewer System from non-sewerage sources (like rain). There is no cost-sharing with the Village for the sewer lateral replacements, because the laterals are all privately-owned pipes, not Village-owned pipes. For more information, you should attend the Informational Meeting held in the Community Room at the Village Hall, 108 W. Main Street, Little Chute, on Monday, April 18, 2011 at 6:00 p.m. The Village staff will try to answer any questions or concerns you may have at the meeting.
Michael
