It is nearing the big day for the 2008 spring election on Tuesday, April 1st. True, it is April Fools Day, but this election is no joke. There is a lot riding on the ballot this day, for one thing, a $62.2 million dollar school referendum.

Add an important State Supreme Court race and half of Brookfield's Common Council too, throw in a Constitutional Amendment and a few other races and I hope it adds up to a good turnout.

I will start with the biggest ticket item first. My picks are in bold and marked with an X. I live in the 7th district, but I will also include my picks for other districts as well. As always, familiarize yourself with the candidates and issues and make an intelligent choice.

My policy is to only vote for those I support. Unless I am reasonably familiar with a candidate's stance, I do not vote for them. If a candidate is unopposed and I don't support them, I don't vote for them. I may vote for a write-in instead as a protest vote. (My comments are in parenthesis.)

HERE IS TUESDAY'S BALLOT  (Thanks Fairly Conservative for the tip on looking up your area's ballot.)

AUTHORIZING GENERAL OBLIGATION BONDS (A.K.A. Elmbrook's $62.2 Million dollar referendum )

_ YES

X NO!!!

QUESTION 1: Partial Veto (A.K.A. Frankenstein veto)

X YES

   NO
 

Non-Partisan Races: 

JUSTICE OF THE SUPREME COURT 

X MIKE GABLEMAN (Endorsed by Cong.Sensenbrenner, Ryan, Wisconsin Right to Life, and more info)

   LOUIS BUTLER (Endorsed by Sen. Feingold, Kohl, AFT & WEAC, Lesbian-Gay-Bisexual-Transgender Center Advocates)

COURT OF APPEALS JUDGE, DISTRICT 2

X WILLIAM GLEISNER (Endorsed by Paul Bucher, who's ads state Gleisner is pro-life, gun rights, and voter ID)

   LISA S. NEUBAUER (Gov. Doyle appointee, more liberal than Gleisner)

 

COUNTY BOARD SUPERVISOR

THOMAS SCHELLINGER (Tom will make it for this one without my vote, remember 2006?)  

Former alderman JIM HEINRICH is also on the ballot for another area.

ALDERMEN, City of Brookfield  My picks if I could vote in every district. My district 7.

DISTRICT 1

X DAN SUTTON*  (Hands down my favorite here. Dan has great instincts. I hope to see him as council pres.)

DICK BRUNNER (My impression: Voted with mayor's agenda for every development and against neighborhoods.)

DISTRICT 2

X TERRY HALMSTAD (Seems to be everything I would look for in a candidate, he would be an asset on the council.)

RICK OWEN (Seems he votes with mayor's agenda for every development and against neighborhoods--including ours. Will the real Rick Owen please stand up?)

DISTRICT 3

X RON BALZER* (Ron often votes independently of mayor's agenda.  I would vote for him if I lived in 3.)

JACK SHAW  

DISTRICT 4

STEVE PONTO (I can't remember a vote of his that wasn't the mayor's agenda. Drives a cute red VW convertible though.)

DISTRICT 5 

SCOTT BERG* (His votes sometimes surprise you--not always with the mayor's agenda--he also is surprising.)

DISTRICT 6 

X CHRISTOPHER BLACKBURN* (I am so glad he is running again and has no opponent. He is very pro resident.)

DISTRICT 7 

X RENEE' LOWERR (Very energetic, hard worker, and I think will be sensitive to neighborhoods regarding development since she had her own NIMBY experience.)

TOM SCHELLINGER*, AGAIN. (Nice enough guy, but a neighbor refers to him as Mr. Roll-a-dex, because when he called Tom about an issue, Tom got the neighbor a phone number to call to solve for himself. Position never known on an issue until vote.) 

*The star denotes the aldermen who voted with our neighborhood to preserve our little Kinsey Park woods from an unwanted, paved, bike road. We barely squeaked a victory and would not have won had Gary Mahkorn not been on vacation.

Oh, I almost forgot...

SCHOOL BOARD: all unopposed 

X TOM GEHL (Tom and I don't see eye to eye on everything, like the referendum, but he made the hard decision to vote NO to 4K because it did not show academic merit. He is very prompt and polite in his response time to email questions.) 

DAVID MARCELLO (David is also pro referendum and will probably get in unless enough people write in CINDY KILKENNY as I will do. Then maybe we can start maintaining our schools.)

GARY JONES (He will get in, but this is another chance to choose your ideal candidate with a write-in. Gary seemed nice enough at the forum, but again, he is pro referendum.) 

Correction: C G SCHMIDT Cost summary of Referendum

ACADEMICS, NOT ATHLETICS AND AIR CONDITIONING!  

Tomorrow is MILLIONS OF DOLLARS Tuesday!

Links: Brookfield7, Betterbrookfield,  Vicki Mckenna