Board Chair Jeff Holst is unseated by newcomer

By Sarah Nigbor

The voters have spoken and the April 5 election results are in for Pierce County Board and area school boards, city councils and village board races.

Three school districts in Pierce County had referendum questions on local ballots, and all three referenda passed: A $15 million facilities and maintenance referendum for Prescott; a four-year non-recurring operational referendum for Ellsworth; and a three-year non-recurring operational referendum for Plum City.

Of the eight Pierce County supervisors facing challengers, three of those challengers were successful in unseating longtime incumbents: Sheila Lorentz ousted Chair Jeff Holst in District 16; Angela Mathison defeated Paula Lugar in District 9; and Melissa Petersen unseated Bill E. Schroeder by two votes in District 14.

In District 10, newcomer and small business owner Crystal Mooney was unsuccessful in her bid for Rodney Gilles’ seat. District 15’s Jerry Kosin hung onto his seat against challenger Craig Theis. District 1’s Kris Sampson kept her seat after being challenged by Ruth Gredvig. In District 8, nearly 200 votes separated victor Dean Bergseng (incumbent) from Martin Kretzmann. Lastly, Douglas Sjostrom was unsuccessful in his write-in bid for Mel Pittman’s District 17 seat.

Two villages and one city had one less candidate running than the number of trustee/alderperson spots to fill: Spring Valley, Prescott and Ellsworth. Write-in candidate John Peterson secured a Prescott alderperson seat with 24 votes. In Spring Valley, former trustee Matt Huepfel had 65 write-in votes. Tony Hines won a spot on the Ellsworth Village Board with six votes.

Winners are marked with an asterisk*.

Referenda Ellsworth Should the Ellsworth Community School District be authorized to exceed the revenue limit by $1.3 million per year for the 2022-2023 school year through the 2025-2026 school year, for non-recurring purposes consisting of maintaining educational programming, technology and facilities?

Yes – 1,149* No – 649 Plum City

Should the Plum City School District be authorized to exceed the revenue limit by $1 million for the 2022-2023 school year, by $1.1 million for the 2023-2024 school year, and by $1.2 million for the 2024-2025 school year, for non-recurring purposes consisting of facility maintenance and operational expenses? Yes – 377* No – 179 Prescott

Should the Prescott School District be authorized to issue general obligation bonds in an amount not to exceed $15 million for school facility projects consisting of roof replacement, capital maintenance, building infrastructure, systems and exterior building improvements at Malone Elementary School, Malone Intermediate School and Prescott Middle School, including electrical replacements, HVAC replacements, asbestos abatement, compliance with ADA updates, and site improvements?

Yes – 890* No – 695 Pierce County Board District 1 Ruth Gredvig – 104 Kris Sampson (i) – 270* District 2

Jim Ashbach (i) – 375*

District 3

Jon Aubart (i) – 210*

District 4

Lynn Paatalo – 269*

District 5

Ben Plunkett – 244* Mark Klecker (write-in) – 125

District 6

Michael Kahlow – 37*

District 7

Scott Bjork – 127*

District 8

Dean Bergseng (i) – 399*

Martin Kretzmann – 230

District 9

Paula Lugar (i) – 214 Angela Mathison – 254*

District 10

Rodney Gilles (i) – 257* Crystal Mooney – 138

District 11

Neil Gulbranson (i) – 364*

District 12

Dale Auckland (i) – 254*

District 13

Daniel Puhrmann (i) – 336*

District 14

Melissa Petersen – 195* Bill E. Schroeder (i) – 193

District 15

Jerry Kosin (i) – 265* Craig Theis – 178

District 16

Jeff Holst (i) – 229 Sheila Lorentz – 260*

District 17

Mel Pittman (i) – 496* Douglas Sjostrom (write-in) –

155

School boards Ellsworth (three seats)

Susan Beck (i) – 1142* Donald Eaves III – 379 Douglas Graf – 738 Julie Lundstrom (i) – 1,298* Michael Petersen – 966* Elmwood (two seats)

Adam D. Carson (i) – 128 Adam Garfield – 202* (includes Dunn County) Megan Wolf – 198* (includes Dunn County) Adam A. Zierl – 50

Plum City (two seats)

Kris Ingli (i) – 460* Paul McDonough (i) – 488*

Prescott (two seats)

Ken Anderson – 766 Mike Matzek (i) – 907* Erick Oie – 380 Vicki Rudolph (i) – 786* River Falls (two seats)

Lindsey Curtis (i) – 1,834* (includes St. Croix County) Mike Miller – 1,417* (includes St. Croix County) Patrick Richter – 1,080 Natasha Schaefer – 1,355 Spring Valley (three seats)

Nate Flanders – 289 Joan E. Ford – 292 Minda J. Matthys – 372 April Robelia (i) – 401* (includes Dunn and St. Croix counties) Dan Stasiek – 464* (includes Dunn and St. Croix counties) Monica Vorlicek – 385* (oneyear term, includes Dunn and St. Croix counties)

Municipal elections Bay City (two seats)

Norm Baker – 57* Jerry McConnell – 61*

Ellsworth (three seats)

Scott A. Feuerhelm (i) – 316* Mindy Anderson (i) – 324* Tony Hines (write-in) – 6* Scattering – 50 Elmwood (three seats)

Josh Bleskacek (i) – 113* Jason Severson – 93* Luke Weix – 85* Village of Maiden Rock (one seat) Anthony J. Lins – 25*

Town of Oak Grove (two seats)

Michelle Huber (i) – 362* James Boles – 369*

Plum City (two seats)

Kent Gilles (i) – 168* Peggy Gilles (i) – 162*

Prescott alderperson (two seats)

Maureen Otwell (i) – 154* John Peterson (write-in) – 24* Scattering – 30 Prescott mayor

Robert Daugherty – 587* Scattering – 68

River Falls alderperson (one seat)

Todd Bjerstedt (i) – 805*

River Falls alderperson-atlarge (one seat)

Jeff Bjork – 898* (includes St. Croix County) Benjamin Blanchard – 297 Michael Metro – 720 Scott Morrissette (i) – 1,032* (includes St. Croix County) River Falls mayor

Dan Toland (i) – 1,460* (includes St. Croix County)

River Falls Municipal Judge

Daniel Gorman (i) – 1,320* (includes St. Croix County)

Town of River Falls Supervisor (two seats)

Joe Mahoney (i) – 446* Brad Mogen (i) – 433*

Spring Valley Village Board (three seats)

Brad Jorgenson – 211* Rich O’Connell (i) – 197* Matt Huepfel (write-in) – 65* Scattering – 122 for over 50 names

Town of Trenton (two seats)

Randall John Christiansen (i) – 267* Chris Truttman (i) – 269*