The Gazette sent three questions to each of the candidates in 13 contested races for Rock County Board seats that will appear on ballots across the county Tuesday. Here are the responses The Gazette received. They were edited for space and clarity.
- By Scott Froehlich sfroehlich@gazettextra.com
The following candidates did not return responses: Debi Towns (District 3), Danette Rynes (District 3), Carla Buchanan (District 6), Mary Mawhinney (District 6), Mike Mulligan (District 7), David Homan (District 8), Lucas Carter (District 12), April Whitledge (District 12), Shirley Williams (District 14), Robert Potter (District 17), Kim Schneider (District 17), Ron Sutterlin (District 18), Kevin Stone (District 24).
District 7
Ronald Woodman (61, Janesville): Retired after 25-year career at General Motors. No previous political experience.
Q: Why are you running for a spot on the county board?
A: I am running to give the residents of La Prairie, Bradford, Clinton and Turtle Townships, along with the Village of Clinton, a voice on the Rock County Board.
Q: What is the platform you are running under?
A: I want to see common sense fiscal responsibility, strong support for first responders and law enforcement and will respect the rights of fellow citizens and businesses.
Q: How do you feel about the job the county has been doing up to this point? What would you like to see change?
A: I am concerned about the spending and especially want to see the large expenditure proposed for the jail to be put to a vote by the taxpayers.
Q: What would you bring to the county board to help enact this change?
A: If elected, I intend to keep an open dialogue with local town boards, the village board, and the school board, especially on matters that directly impact them and those they govern, and will advocate for each as needed and where I can.
District 8
Rick Richard (55, Janesville): Small-business owner with nine years of experience on the Rock County Board and seven years on the Blackhawk Technical College Board.
Q: Why are you running for a spot on the county board?
A: I want to continue working on a few things I’ve been involved with including reducing nitrates in our groundwater, ensuring children in the Child Protective Services system have the best treatment possible and, in general, being responsive to people’s concerns and suggestions.
Q: How do you feel about the job the county has been doing up to this point? What would you like to see change?
A: I think people would like to see that instead of the proposed sheriff’s headquarters/jail remodeling project being entirely borrowed and paid for by county property taxes, that we use excess county sales tax funds to reduce the borrowing amount to reduce what will be the single biggest tax increase in Rock County history.
Q: What would you bring to the county board to help enact this change?
A: Now that the county has reached an annual budget of $200 million-plus, it might be time for Rock County to review converting from an appointed county administrator style of government to an elected county executive form of government.
District 11
Ryan McDonough (Beloit): Owner, KR Design and Remodeling LLC.
Q: Why are you running for a spot on the county board?
A: I have decided to run as a write-in candidate to give the people of Beloit’s District 11 a voice and a choice. I will be a clear and transparent voice for the people of District 11.
Q: What is the platform you’re running under?
A: My goal once elected is to listen to the people of all the people of Rock County to address the issues they feel are important to them.
Janelle Crary (42, Beloit)
Q: Why are you running for a spot on the county board?
A: I applied for appointment to the board in July 2021 because I saw a need in our district for people to be heard. With voices being so loud on all sides, many people felt silenced. I want to continue to listen to my community’s needs.
Q: What is the platform you’re running under?
A: I think that we can merge fiscal responsibility and community compassion. In my time on the board, I have helped a few individuals and families find housing, avoid eviction and help to stabilize their work positions. It has been illuminating that we have residents that want to stay in the community, have jobs here, want to raise families here, but for various reasons are not able to find security. These are issues that I believe can be addressed in coordination with our municipal leaders.
District 14
Mike Zoril (Beloit)
Q: Why are you running for a spot on the county board?
A: I’m running to be an advocate for families, parents, senior citizens, small-business owners and individuals living in both the town and city of Beloit to make sure our district gets its fair share of county resources.
District 18
Billy Bob Grahn (65, Janesville): Founder and director of Red Road House. Previously served two terms on the county board; 12 years of experience on the Rock County Housing Committee.
Q: Why are you running for a spot on the county board?
A: I am running for the county board to serve Rock County residents. My experience will help me jump right back into county action.
Q: How do you feel about the job the county has been doing up to this point? What would you like to see change?
A: The county is doing a great job, but (I) would like to see more effort in increasing minority employment. I also would like to see all senior housing and services be more visible to residents of Rock County.
District 21
Alan Furnas (Janesville): Administrative Assistant in catering; he has managed group homes for people with disabilities; he attended Michigan State University and has lived in Wisconsin for more than 30 years.
Furnas did not answer the provided questions directly but sent a written statement in which he said voters in District 21 “have a clear choice between two fiercely partisan opponents.” He mentioned his opponent’s political donations and said he “wants voters to know that he’s the Democrat in the race” despite it being a nonpartisan contest.
Brent Fox (57, Janesville): CEO at Hendricks Holdings, Inc.; seeking seventh consecutive term on board.
Q: Why are you running for a spot on the county board?
A: I believe that my experience and perspectives bring a common sense and practical real-world view to the process. I’m not serving to change the county. I’m serving to help preserve, guide and be a responsible steward for the taxpayers and constituents.
Q: How do you feel about the job the county has been doing up to this point? What would you like to see change?
A: We’ve been fortunate to have the revenue resources, and financial stability, to service modest borrowing, (enabling) projects to progress. However we can not lose sight of where the funds ultimately come from.
There needs to a stronger influence to strive for efficiency and streamlining vs. building a bigger, hungrier bureaucracy.
Q: What would you bring to the county board to help enact this change?
A: I bring perspective of a lifetime of living in Rock County, working in Rock County, investing in Rock County and giving back to Rock County.
I will continue to be a voice of reason and common sense by challenging the wants vs needs of the county and it’s citizens.
District 24
Jim Farrell (75, Janesville): Retired certified public accountant.
Q: Why are you running for County Board?
A: Through my experience of eight years on the Janesville City Council, I learned a great deal about the operations of local government. I can use this experience to be an asset on the county board. I want to continue to use the skills that I have and my experience to help make Rock County an excellent place to live and work.
Q: What is the platform you are running under?
A: There needs to be increased financial oversight by the county board. The board is the steward of taxpayers’ money. We need a plan to become carbon neutral. Climate change is a reality. Local governmental bodies will play an important role in working to mitigate this problem.
District 26
John Burt (62, Janesville): Thirty-three-year career with Ryan Incorporated Central, 40 years in construction. No political experience.
Q: Why are you running for a spot on the county board?
A: In these uncertain times, people deserve an even greater level of scrutiny on how our tax dollars are spent and how county government functions.
Q: What is the platform you’re running under?
A: Financial transparency and accountability, strong support of our law enforcement, wants to become an advocate for the most vulnerable amongst us in our community, while pushing back against government overreach.
Q: How do you feel about the job the county has been doing up to this point? What would you like to see change?
A: I will not criticize the past performance of our board, nothing done prior to this election can be changed. I can only pledge my time and talents going forward to keep our community safe and strong
Q: What would you bring to the county board to help enact this change?
A: I am bringing 40 years of experience estimating costs, preparing budgets and managing projects of all sizes. I will bring energy and common sense solutions to the challenges we face.
Tricia Clasen (50, Janesville): Interim dean and assistant vice chancellor at UW-Whitewater at Rock County. She is currently serving on the County Board in the spot vacated by Doug Wilde..
Q: Why are you running for a spot on the county board?
A: Having been on the board for several months, I am just getting acclimated to the process and priorities, and I look forward to continuing to serve my district and the county as a whole.
Q: What is the platform you’re running on?
A: My priorities are community, connection and communication. As board members, it’s important that we look for commonalities, that we connect people and organizations to each other. Reports on mental health, housing, children in foster care, and education gaps have been concerning. Broad problems require collaboration for solutions. I would seek ways to build connections so financial and human resources from both private and public sources can have a greater impact.
Q: What would you bring to the county board that you feel could help enact this change?
A: I can see big-picture issues but identify small-picture solutions, as well. It’s easy to get sidetracked when there are so many different priorities. I stay focused on shared goals and problem-solving.
Update: Monday's print edition of The Gazette will feature responses from candidates Debra Towns, Lucas Carter and Ron Sutterlin.
