Dunn County Board elects McCullough as chair, Stene as vice-chair
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KELLY MCCULLOUGH
By LeAnn R. Ralph
MENOMONIE — The Dunn County Board of Supervisors has elected Kelly McCullough of Menomonie (District 17) as chair and Gary Stene of Colfax (District 5) as vice-chair.
Election of the chair and vice-chair were conducted by secret ballot at the April 19 Dunn County Board’s reorganizational meeting.
Nominations also were made by secret ballot.
Among those who were nominated for chair of the county board, Mike Kneer of Menomonie (District 12), Brian Johnson of Colfax (District 1) and Gary Stene of Colfax (District 5), declined the nomination.
McCullough and Larry Bjork, county board supervisor from Menomonie (District 26) accepted the nominations for chair of the county board.
Bjork received five votes for chair, and McCullough received 21 votes. One ballot was returned without a vote.
McCullough replaces David Bartlett, county board supervisor from Boyceville (District 2), as chair of the Dunn County Board.
Bartlett lost the April 5 election by six votes to Patrick Breslin.
Two county board supervisors were absent from the April 19 meeting: Patrick Breslin and Tom Quinn, both of Downing.
Before turning over the gavel to McCullough, Bartlett thanked the county board supervisors for the honor of electing him as county board chair for the past four years.
“The staff and employees have made it enjoyable to come down here to work,” Bartlett said.
Bartlett has served on the county board for 22 years, and prior to be elected as chair, he served as vice-chair of the board.
“I will do my very best to fulfill the faith you have placed in me going forward,” McCullough said.
According to the most recent edition of the Dunn County Directory of Public Officials, McCullough serves on the Dunn County Transit Commission, Emergency Medical Services committee, the Land Information Council, the legislative committee, the Local Emergency Planning Committee, the Traffic Safety Commission, the Dunn County Board’s Executive Committee, the Neighbors of Dunn County Committee, the Historical Society Board (county board representative), as chair of the Dunn County Highway Committee and on the Menomonie City Council.
McCullough has served a number of terms on the Dunn County Board and ran unopposed in the April 5 election for District 17.
Author
McCullough is the author of fantasy, science fiction, and books for children of varying ages. His novels include “Numismancer,” “Winter of Discontent,” the WebMage and Fallen Blade series, “School for Sidekicks,” “Magic, Madness, and Mischief” and “Spirits, Spells and Snarks,” according to his website, www.kellymccullough.com.
He writes science fiction as science education with “The Chronicles of the Wandering Star,” part of a curriculum funded by the National Science Foundation, and is the co-author and co-editor of the science comic, “Hanny & The Mystery of the Voorwerp,” with funding provided by NASA and the Hubble Space Telescope.
McCullough’s non-fiction work includes an illustrated collection adopted as part of a middle school physical science curriculum — “Interactions in Physical Science” curriculum — funded by the National Science Foundation that has been adopted by several state boards of education, according to the Kelly McCullough Wikipedia page.
Vice-chair
Secret ballots also were used for nominations and election of the vice-chair of the county board.
Among the three nominations for vice-chair — Gary Stene, Larry Bjork and Diane Morehouse — Morehouse, county board supervisor from Menomonie (District 21), said she “respectfully declined” the nomination.
Stene received 15 votes for vice-chair, while Larry Bjork received 11 votes.
According to the most recent edition of the Dunn County Directory of Public Officials, Stene serves as chair of the Dunn County Economic Development Corporation Board of Directors, is a member of the Civil Service Rating Committee, serves as vice-chair of the Land Information Council and of the legislative committee, is the county board representative on the Colfax Public Library Board, serves on the Library Planning Committee, serves as vice-chair of the county board and the county board’s executive committee and is a member of the Dunn County Health and Human Services Board.
Stene serves as a trustee on the Colfax Village Board as well.
Stene was first elected as supervisor for District 5 in 2012 as a write-in candidate and was elected to his first term as vice-chair of the Dunn County Board in 2016. After Stene’s first term as vice-chair, James Tripp, county board supervisor from Menomonie, served as vice-chair for two years.
Stene ran unopposed for the District 5 position in the April 5 spring election.
New supervisors
Eight new county board supervisors took their oaths of office at the April 19 meeting.
Nick Lange, Dunn County corporation counsel and acting county manager, said he has worked in Dunn County since 1995 and that this year’s group of new supervisors was the largest group of new supervisors on the county board since he has worked for the county.
New supervisors who took the oath of office included Luke Wilsey (District 8), Korlee Witzel (District 11), Monica Berrier (District 13), Sean Breslin (District 18), Hilary Robinson (District 20), Andrew Hagen (District 22), Mark Thomas (District 23) and Tom Gilbert (District 25).
Patrick Breslin, supervisor for District 2, was absent from the meeting.
Recognition
Dunn County Board supervisors going off the county board also were recognized:
• David Bartlett (District 2), who served on the county board since 2000.
• Charles Maves (District 8), who has served on the county board since 2012.
• James Anderson (District 11), who has served on the county board since 2010 and decided not to run for re-election April 5.
• Jody Kromrey (District 13), who served one term.
• Sheila Stori (District 18), who has served on the county board since 2004.
• Tim Niehoff (District 20), who served one term and decided not to run for re-election April 5.
• James Tripp (District 23), who has served on the county board since October of 2010 and decided not to run for re-election April 5.
• Steve Jenson (District 25), who served one term on the county board and decided not to run for re-election April 5.
