Loyal, Spencer school votes lead spring ballots

The Loyal School District is asking residents if they want to spend $11.7 million for school building expansion and renovations. In Spencer, the district is asking for approval to spend beyond the state-imposed revenue limits to maintain its educational staff and programs. Elsewhere, a slew of local elected positions will be filled after voting is complete on April 5.

The pair of local school referendums will be among the most important decisions made next week. Loyal is bringing its $11.7 million question to voters after two years of building and program study. In Spencer, the Board of Education is once again asking taxpayers to support a revenue cap exemption referendum, one year after voters rejected such a request.

If passed, Loyal’s referendum would add a projected $162 per year over the next twoplus decades to the school tax bill of the owner of a $100,000 home. The district has not held a building renovation referendum in more than 20 years.

For the added tax burden, Loyal residents would get a school complex that would be expanded over a 2-year period for efficiency and security. An addition would be built on the west side of the school to house a commons/cafeteria/kitchen area as well as a central office. That would become the main entrance to the complex, and all traffic to both the high school and elementary school would be routed there. That would allow all office personnel to work out of one area instead of two, and improve security.

Numerous renovations would also occur thoughout the school. Technology education and agriculture areas would be renovated, and changes would be made to art and music areas for better efficiencies. The elementary and high school libraries would be combined into one space, which would free up the current elementary library space to be upgraded for 4-year-old or 5-year-old kindergarten programs. The lower-level cafeteria/kitchen space would also become available for educational use.

The elementary gym wouild also get attention, with the addition of more seating space and revamped locker rooms.

The Board is bringing this referendum package to voters after conducting a community survey last fall that indicated taxpayers were more supportive of improvements for academic purposes. Improvements to outdoor athletic facilities did not receive favorable support in the survey so the Board did not include them in this referendum proposal.

Spencer revenue cap exemption referendum One year ago in April, the Spencer Board of Education asked voters to extend a yearly revenue cap exemption of $975,000 by one year. They said no. The result was a reduction in teaching staff and course offerings for students. This year, the Board is asking voters once again to raise local taxes to support existing programs so the district can remain competitive in open enrollment with other districts. The Board is proposing a recurring referendum this time, meaning that the extra revenue that would be gained would be permanent, and not sunset after 4/5 years as in the past. The request is for $925,000 in the first year, $725,000 more in the second year, $525,000 more in the third year, $225,000 more in the fourth year, and $150,000 more in the fifth year, for a total of $2,550,000. That amount would then remain permanently on the local tax rolls, with the Board saying now it will not need to return to taxpayers with more referendums in the forseeable future.

If the referendum passes, the owner of a $100,000 home in the district would actually see their taxes drop in the exemption’s first year, from $871 to $847, but then rise to $992 the next year and gradually increase to $1,095 in the fifth year.

Board of Education seats Area voters next week will also fill several seats on boards of education.

In Loyal, there are two races for seats. For the district’s at-large seat, the candiates are current Board President Jen Kadolph and Holly Lindner. For the seat that represents the area of the district south of Highway 98, Dennis Roehl is challenging incumbent Cara Prior. Dave The first-degree homicide jury trial for the Mosinee man accused of killing 27-year-old Cassandra Ayon of Loyal in 2020 has been scheduled for Jan. 23-27, 2023. Jesus Contreras Perez remains in custody in the Clark County Jail under a $1 million cash bond as court proceedings in the case against him progress.

The trial dates were set during a March 25 scheduling conference with Judge Daniel Diehn, who was appointed to preside after Contreras Perez asked for a substitute for Clark County Circuit Court Judge Lyndsey Brunette. A Nov. 7 motion hearing date has also been scheduled for the court to consider any pre-trial motions that may be filed by either the defense or the prosecution in the case.

Contreras Perez, 42, was charged in June 2021 with first-degree intentional homicide even though Ayon remains missing. Prosecutors believe she was murdered and are proceeding with the homicide charges even though her remains have not been located. Contreras has officially been charged with first-degree intentional homicide/as party to a crime, hiding a corpse/as party to a crime, and stalking-resulting in bodily harm/domestic abuse.

Ayon was first reported missing by her family in early October 2020. She was last seen at the home of a friend in Unity in the early morning hours of Oct. 3, but never returned home nor showed up for work. Authorities conducted an extensive search for Ayon, but were not able to find her or any remains. They concluded through an extensive check into her life and background that she had likely been killed.

Witnesses told detectives investigating Ayon’s disappearance that her former boyfriend, Contreras Perez, had been stalking and threatening her in the weeks prior to early October 2020. The couple, who had a child together, had reportedly broken up shortly before her disappearance, and she had told friends that Contreras Perez was angry that she may have been seeing other men. On the night she vanished, witnesses said Ayon was watching out the window of a friend’s home to see if Contreras Perez was following her.

As detectives closed in on Contreras Perez in their investigation, they tried to contact him, but he had traveled to Minnesota. When he returned, he was interviewed as to his whereabouts on the night of the disappearance and his possible connection. In contacting Contreras Perez’ employer, investigators learned that he had shown up for work at about 6 a.m. on the morning of Ayon’s disappearance. Later that morning, he visited a local telephone store to get a replacement for a cell phone he claimed he had lost.

Contreras Perez made an initial appearance in court on June 15, 2021, when cash bond was set at $1 million. A preliminary hearing was held on July 2, when Diehn ruled there was enough evidence to bind Contreras Perez over for trial in the case.

He was initially represented in court by a public defender, but now has a private attorney from a Milwaukee law firm as counsel. Wisconsin Assistant Attorney General Annie Jay and Clark County District Attorney Melissa Inlow are prosecuting the case.

Clintsman is running unopposed for a new 3-year term representing the district area north of Highway 98.

There is also a race in the Greenwood School District. Incumbent Rebecca Greisen is not seeking a new term for the seat representing the city of Greenwood, and the candidates to replace her are Vince Morales and Jessica Wolf. For the seat representing the northeast quadrant of the district, Jamie Gardner is running unopposed for the seat now held by Dawn Jacobson, who is not seeking re-election.

In Spencer, three seats are open in this election. One of them represents the village and is currently held by Board President Tom Schafer, who is not running again. Incumbent James Kelnhofer is running for one of the seats representing the village and Barb Wesle is running for the other. For a seat representing the rural area of the distirct, incumbent Becky Gorst is running unopposed.

In Granton, incumbent Dennis Kuehn is running unopposed for a new 3-year term.

Clark County Board There are a few contested races this spring for seats on the 29-member Clark County Board of Supervisors. In District 10, incumbent Bryce Luchterhand of Unity will see a challenge from former Board member Jeff Kolzow of Colby.

In District 17, Anthony Horvath of Greenwood is challenging incumbent Chuck Rueth of Loyal for a 2-year term.

In District 19, incumbent Gordon Haselow of Loyal is being challenged by Sharon Rogers of Loyal. Rogers previously served on the Board representing the city of Greenwood, but resigned from that seat when she moved to Loyal.

City/village seats In the city of Greenwood, there is one contested race for a city Council seat. Incumbent Tracy Nelson is running again in Ward 1, but is being challenged by Jeff Hoeper. Ryan Ashbeck is unopposed for a Ward 2 seat. Mayor Jim Schecklman is also running for a new term, and his is the only name on the spring ballot. Incumbent Council member Dave Hansen is a write-in candidate for the mayor’s seat. In the city of Loyal, only incumbents are running for Council seats. They are Tim Froeba and Dave Geier in Ward 1 and Tom Bobrofsky and Matt Prein in Ward 2.

In the village of Spencer, three seats on the Village Board are open, but there are only two candiates for them. Incumbents Allen Jicinsky and Patrick Krause are seeking new terms, but Phil White is not running again.