Bartlett elected chair of the Dunn County Board

By LeAnn R. Ralph

MENOMONIE  — David Bartlett of Boyceville has been elected as chair of the Dunn County Board.

Bartlett, the supervisor for District 2, was nominated for the position along with Gary Stene of Colfax, supervisor for District 5, at the Dunn County Board’s April 17 meeting.

Bartlett received 22 votes, and Stene received six votes.

Bartlett has served as chair of the Sheridan Town Board for many years, and Stene is the village president in Colfax.

Kitz Cleary, supervisor for District 13, also was nominated for chair of the Dunn County Board.

Cleary said she was “grateful for the nomination and appreciated the honor,” but withdrew her name from consideration.

Cleary served on the county board as a supervisor for another district several years ago. She was elected to the county board earlier this month for the position previously held by Tim Mather, who decided not to run in the April 3 election.

When the votes had been counted, Steve Rasmussen, retiring county board chair, handed the gavel over to Bartlett.  

Rasmussen filed notification of non-candidacy for the District 4 position by the December deadline and has served on the county board for 28 years, the past 12 years as chair.

“Congratulations Supervisor Bartlett. It is now your job to sit in this chair,” Rasmussen said.

Bartlett said he appreciated the support of the Dunn County Board.

“I will try my best to serve Dunn County,” he said.

During the Dunn County Board term that just expired, Bartlett served as chair of the judiciary and law committee; chair of the civil service rating committee; chair of the emergency medical services committee; was a member of the land information council; a member of legislative committee; a member of local emergency planning committee; chair of the traffic safety commission; served on the executive committee; and served on the Neighbors of Dunn County Committee.

During the Dunn County Board term that just expired, Stene served as vice chair of the county board and also served on the Dunn County Economic Development Board of Directors; as member of the Emergency Medical Services committee; as vice chair of the land information council; as vice chair of the legislative committee; as county board representative on the Colfax Library Board; was a member of the library planning committee; a member of the executive committee; a member of the health and human services board; and served as a member of the aging and disability resource advisory committee as a representative for elected officials.

Nominations for vice chair of the county board were Sarah Kennedy (District 22, Menomonie); Mike Kneer (District 12, Menomonie); Tom Quinn (District 9, Downing); Stene (District 5, Colfax) and James Tripp (District 23, Menomonie).

Kennedy, Kneer, Quinn and Stene all declined the nomination for vice chair.

Bartlett asked for a motion to cast a unanimous ballot for Tripp as vice chair, and the motion was approved.

Tripp noted Dunn County has “a great reputation” in the state of Wisconsin as a county that does good business.

“With the change in leadership, I will dedicate myself to the continuation of that reputation,” he said.

New supervisors on the Dunn County Board are Ron Score, District 4 (replacing Steve Rasmussen); Kitz Cleary, District 13 (replacing Tim Mather); Mike Rogers, District 10 (replacing Calvin Christianson); Randy Prochnow, District 24 (replacing Pete Prochnow); and Tim Lienau, District 28 (replacing, Richard Creaser).

District 16 did not have a candidate on the ballot for the April 3 election, so Bartlett must appoint a supervisor to fill the position previously held by Paul DeLong.