Dunn County Board candidate: Luke Wilsey

GLENWOOD CITY — Incumbent Dunn County Board supervisor for District 8, Luke Wiley, will face challenger Daniel J. Baldus in the April 2 election.

Wilsey, age 43, of Menomonie, is married to his wife, Jaclyn.

The Tribune Press Reporter sent a questionnaire to the candidates.

As of press time, after sending two e-mail messages to Baldus about the questionnaire, the Tribune had not received a reply.

Here are Wilsey’s answers the questionnaire.

• What is your occupation?

Sales Manager at Johnson Tractor in Menomonie. Owner of Sunny Daze Property Management.

• What is your educational background?

Menomonie High School. Chippewa Valley Technical College (associate degree in agriscience). University of Wisconsin River Falls (Ag Business major, Agronomy minor).

• Why did you decide to run for re-election to the Dunn County Board? 

I was elected to the county board in 2022 and have served one term. We have all started something new in our life and it takes time to get up to speed to figure out how it works. Since being elected I’ve set up my own tours to get to know who works for us and what they do. That includes tours of the Neighbors, the Jail where I sat for a four [hour] shift, a county wide road tour, government office and met with each department, courthouse, ADRC offices, and emergency management. Ask your local representative if they have done this. From my experience not many have. How do you make good decisions for the county if you don’t know how each department works that you are giving taxpayer money to? I feel after one term now I have a very good grasp of what’s going on in the county. I want to continue my work and that’s why I’m running again.

• What do you believe to be the two biggest issues facing Dunn County?

My two biggest concerns at the county are fiscal responsibility and roads.

• How would you go about addressing those issues? 

According to CNBC, 6 in 10 Americans live paycheck to paycheck. 24% of Americans have no saving account. It is essential that we do everything in our power to lessen the load on the taxpayers. The problem I see while serving on this board is it’s too easy to pass the burden to the taxpayer to make our budget work. The problem is government is the only thing that causes inflation. When taxes go up then so does your rent, oil change, grocery bill, banking fees, lawn mowing, snow removal, etc. I have the solution; stop spending money you don’t have. Roads need to become a priority for Dunn County. It feels like a lot of the times Highway gets whatever money is left at the end of the budget meeting. I know it’s a big expense and I’m open to other options such as cutting other departments budgets or selling county properties. Selling county properties would have two benefits. We get the money upfront to pay for highway but also get to collect tax off that sold property. I will continue to push to improve the quality of our roads.

• Anything else you would like voters to know?

I’m a lifelong resident of Dunn County. I care what happens here in Dunn County. Being in Sales and now owning a small business I am uniquely tied in with Dunn County residents issues and concerns. I don’t want to get elected to sit on the board to feel important. I want to make changes that better suit Dunn County residents. I ask for your vote on April 2nd.