A View of the Valley

by Linda Schwanke Each spring after the election is over I am reminded how fortunate we are to have elected officials who are involved in our local governments. Pretty much each and every person who has held office in our villages, towns, school district and counties has brought something important to the table – their opinions, their time, their energy – to work on our behalf. I want to thank those who have served, including Paul Pustina and Rachel Maxwell in Arena, JR Marshall in Lone Rock, Tracey Brent in Plain and Jane Hauser in Spring Green for serving on our behalf. While their time is done, their work won’t be forgotten.  Jane Hauser has been a friend of mine for many years. The work she has done for the greater River Valley community and most recently to bring us pickleball and tennis courts is amazing. Each of our representatives finds a niche and fills a need. It’s such an amazing privilege to see their commitment to civic duty I find it hard to put into words. I also want to welcome newly elected trustees Melissa Bandell and Tammi Erspamer in Arena, Chris Conner and Adam Reno in Lone Rock, Wade Neubauer in Plain and Damien Barta in Spring Green for having the guts to stand up and run for office, taking on the often thankless job of making our community a better place to live. I wish them all well. They will be great.  While I’m at it, I’ll mention that anyone who has run for office is not a loser – they, too, had the guts to put themselves out there in front of us – and we should all thank all of them for getting out there and trying. None of it is easy.  County representatives play an important role in our local government as well. The work they do on our behalf is as important as any other local office. Douglas Richter is the Iowa County Supervisor in District 1. Steve Deal is the Iowa County Supervisor in District 2. Curt Peterson is the Iowa County Supervisor in District 4 In Richland County, Marc Couey is the Supervisor for District 18. Supervisor for District 19 race is Julie Fleming. Supervisor in District 20 is Barbara Voyce. Supervisor in District 21 is Dan McGuire. Robert Walter Spencer is the Sauk County Supervisor in District 21. Sheila Carver is now the Sauk County Supervisor District 22. Gaile Burchill is the Supervisor for District 24. Supervisor in District 23 is Dennis Polivka. Supervisor in District 26 is Brandon Lohr. Much of what elected officials do is governed by law. Open  meetings, open records, powers of boards, the election process and details about it, ethics and financial interests, conflicts of interest and the process of meetings, just to name a few, are all codified in state statute in great detail. There aren’t any hard and fast rules about how much work you have to put into being an elected official once you take office that I know of. They could, I suppose, show up to meetings, vote and walk away without doing anything else. That has rarely if ever been the case in the years I’ve been reporting on our local governments. But some people do more and some do less. That’s true in life, too, and it is, for the most part, ok. I don’t see that happening with our newly elected officials. They will work hard for us and make the very best decisions they can. On our part, we need to stay in touch with them and voice our support as well as our concerns. All the villages and counties have websites, the towns do for the most do, too. If you’re one of far too many people who doesn’t have access to the internet, call the clerks and get contact information for the person you want to reach. It’s easier than waiting until you see them at the grocery store, church or gas station but that works, too. Stay in touch each other, our elected officials and me. The news deadline is 12 noon on Mondays.  Visit our website at homenewsrv.com