The below document has been compiled based on information provided at MyVote.WI.Gov and is meant only as an organizational aid/tool, as the MyVote.Gov website does not have an easy way to print a sample ballot that can be contained on a single sheet of paper.
As stated previously, our family has recently lost both grandmothers within a span of the last three months, so it has become a time of healing for us. As such, it has made me reconsider a few of my priorities.
After spending most of a year (2022) sitting in on meetings for both the School Board and the Village Board and observing, my personal reflections are as follows:
The Village Board is operating as I feel a proper legislative governing unit should – as a group filled with strong personalities that represent a fairly diverse cross-section of the community. That board has very passionate discussions and debates about topics, because they have a passion for their community, and you can tell that those that are in opposition towards each other are good counter-balances towards each other in temperament and mentality. This gives the board a good balance, and I think the right drive to push the village forward in the right direction. It reflects the US Congress in that way. And while we all may have a complaint or two about Congress and how it works (or doesn’t!), the fact is that the push and pull between such groups is a healthy thing for a democracy. It shows passion, it shows interest, and it shows a desire to make things better (from their own diverse perspectives, of course). As a result, I’ve decided not to run this year for the Village Board.
As for the School Board, I’ve said it before on my site and elsewhere – I just don’t see that same passion, that same drive for continuous improvement amongst the board members. I see people smiling and nodding (when they aren’t yawning – not going to name any names) but mostly just going through the motions of the role. There is no debate, and any discussion is limited to social graces and perfunctory pleasantries. It definitely seems as though decisions were made previously before the meeting, and the meeting exists as just a formality to make decisions legally binding. Any passion that I have seen has been shown by our school staff – the principals, teachers, and even students that have presented to the board.
But, is that a bad thing? I’m not as certain as I once was. Just last month, the DPI released its score cards for the 2022-2023 school year. I will provide my standard line graphs below for you. In the past, I’ve provided graphs showing our district and its physically closest neighbors. However, I’ve come to understand that, for better or worse, the populace at large appears to care less for physical proximity to group nearby communities than it does about extracurricular activities. As such, it appears that those schools within the same “conference” as ours are of most interest to the electorate. So, even though Eau Claire’s Memorial High School is 10.6 miles away (a 15 minute drive), and the Columbus School District in Marshfield is 66.9 miles away (a 76 minute drive), the graphs below will show only those schools listed within the Cloverbelt conference, so they will show Columbus, but not the much closer Eau Claire schools. Schools were included where there was adequate data to make reasonable-looking graphs, removing only those schools that didn’t have sufficient data to show any lines properly (such as a couple of the “charter schools” that exist within a couple of districts).
These graphs all show the main “Overall Accountability Score” metrics, which have been run through my DPI Summary Consolidation Application, which aggregates all of the scores against “like” entities (such as all elementary schools, etc.), compares them, and ranks them to get a percentile. As stated previously, I created this application because of the DPI’s habit of “moving goalposts” making their thresholds arbitrary. By using this ranking method, we can get a solid baseline that’s based on how schools compare to each OTHER, creating a much better and more stable metric for comparison’s sake.
As with any percentile, it’s similar to golf scores – the lower the better! A percentile score of 5% means that that school/district is within the TOP 5% of ALL schools/districts of that type. Compare that to a score of 90%, which would mean that 90% of all schools/districts of the same type did BETTER than the school in question on this metric, which is why these charts will appear “flipped” from the kind you usually see, with the “larger” number at the bottom.
As I’ve already provided superfluous commentary above, I will refrain from doing so for the rest of this page, and just let the data mostly speak for itself. The charts will show, in order, the overall accountability scores for the Cloverbelt conference for all Districts as a whole, and then Elementary, Middle/Jr High Schools, and High Schools, each on a separate graph.
I have tried to make Fall Creek stand out slightly more from all of the rest of the lines by making the line “cricket green” with red marking points. You can click each of the images to enlarge them.
As you can see, with the exception of the elementary school, the “trajectories” of the other schools, as well as the district as a whole, are in a positive direction. So, even though I do still have concerns about the passion and transparency of the school board, the operation of the district as a whole seems to be largely functional and mostly improving year-over-year, and especially as our children rise in the grades/years.
As such, I have made the final decision to skip this upcoming election for the school board. I will watch the district for another year with the slight change-up in the sitting board member roster and the change of superintendent, and see how they do this school year, before deciding whether to run again the same time next year.
Due to the recent death of my mother after two years of fighting cancer, and fears and concerns about a couple of other major health issues in my immediate family, I am putting my active campaign into suspension. My family and I need time to heal, recuperate, and recover from these troubles, and I need to be with them to give them my support.
I’m still considering whether or not to have a “passive” campaign where I just do what’s necessary to get on the ballot and perhaps make a few more posts on my site here, but I will definitely not be canvassing in the next year or so.
I’ve had some time to look things over, and to formulate my thoughts on the election and its results. So, here they are.
First, I am actually excited to see that from last year’s election, we almost DOUBLED the number of participating voters, from 22.2% of all eligible voters, to 38.6% of all eligible voters. This is good news for our democracy. It shows that on the local level we’re getting much more interested in the process, and want to have our voices heard. This is a great thing!
I’d like to start by looking back at last election cycle to see my personal results, and then compare those to this cycle.
Last Year
Here were my 2022 Spring results:
I did half as well for the Village Trustee position as I did for the school board, which makes sense, because really the school board is where my heart is, as I really want the best for our kids more than anything else. I also had some VERY strong competition for the Village Board, as pretty much everyone else on the ballot were well known names already in the local community, and I had just gotten started. I talked with my wife about the school board results, and while my percentage was extremely low, she told me that I should be proud of myself for accidentally running against the school board president who’d been on the board for over 15 years. I’ll have to take her at her word for that, as she has experience with this kind of thing, having grown up in another small rural Wisconsin community.
Now, looking at this year’s results…
This Year
In the School Board Primary, I did almost exactly as well as I did last year’s general election. So I have to assume it was largely the same people voting for me. The fact that it’s a primary however, and many people ignore primaries and just vote at the “regular” elections makes me feel a bit better about my results. Even though I was the lowest vote-getter and got knocked off the ballot, getting as many votes in the primary as I got in the general election last year I think I should consider some form of win. The total number of votes cast during the primary was 1,257. The total number of votes cast for the School Board during this year’s general election was 2,454, with only 14 of those being write-ins. Making the assumptions that if my name was still on the ballot, and that I would have received the same percentage of the vote… if we just increased the total number of votes cast from the primary to match the general election and increased my votes proportionately, then I would have theoretically received 253 votes, putting me at third place. Now, of course, that’s a WHOLE LOT of postulating, and most likely wouldn’t match up with reality. But it’s a slightly comforting thought to blunt the loss.
I did SUBSTANTIALLY better in the Trustee race than I did this time last year. In fact, almost three times better. So that shows some good progress. This could be partly attributed to the fact that my votes weren’t “split”, as I’m sure last year that at least a good chunk of people believed that I should only have one position or the other, but not both. This year, with me being knocked off the ballot for school board, I most likely consolidated all of the votes I would have gotten. I’m slightly miffed that with the efforts that I put in that I barely got more votes than two people who didn’t do any advertising that I had seen, and didn’t do any canvassing that I’m aware of. Que sera, sera.
This year, I started my canvassing at the opposite side of the Village from where I started last year and worked my way backwards. Between the last two years, I’ve physically canvassed roughly 75% of the Village of Fall Creek proper. Being a family man with a full time job, my time is fairly limited in that way, and physically walking from house to house to talk to people is EXTREMELY time consuming. Unfortunately, I haven’t had time to even TOUCH the more “remote” areas outside of the main village that are still within the bounds of the school board’s jurisdiction, such as the Towns of Seymour and Lincoln. I hope to get to them next year.
Conclusion
I have determined that, with the progress that I have made, that there is a good portion of my fellow residents that hear my message and agree with it. I believe that I’m starting to build what they call a “constituency”, and I thank them all for their support. It’s been a long, hard road, and will continue to be one.
I don’t get anything for “free”, because I’m not what they call a “native son”. The “Bennett” name is not a name that’s been in the Fall Creek area for generations. I don’t get free automatic votes from people that knew me their entire lives, because nobody in Fall Creek has known me that long. I have no family, and very few friends here. I’m not a very social person, and I know that I can be very off-putting and rub people the wrong way. I’m working on that, the best that I can. I’ve had to work for every single vote that I’ve gotten so far, and I appreciate each and every person that has blessed me with their trust and faith. Thank you.
I have decided to continue my efforts. However, next year I will most likely focus on one board or the other, rather than splitting my attentions between both. Which one I choose will depend on a couple of factors, including who else may be running next year for the open positions.
I will no longer be attending the board meetings that the majority of my fellow citizens have decided that they don’t want me at. I don’t want to be where I’m not wanted. Which means that I won’t be able to record those meetings and publish them. I IMPLORE both boards to do this voluntarily themselves, and show the community that they believe in full transparency, and that they aren’t afraid to let the public know how they behave and interact with each other. Meeting agendas and minutes only give the public so much information, and in my opinion, it’s not nearly enough. Non-verbal and verbal interactions between board members reveal a whole lot more about a person’s character than the way that they vote, often times.
I’m going to be reducing my Facebook footprint substantially. It’s been pointed out to me that it’s caused more detriments than benefits to my campaigns. People can misinterpret and take things the wrong way or only read/hear part of the message and ignore the rest. I’ve also been told that that constant presence there has become irritating to some, and if there’s one thing I don’t want to be, it’s an irritant. We need to be able to talk about important issues without getting personal, and apparently that’s much harder to do on Facebook. So I will be mostly restricting my own thoughts to this site from here on out. That way people can come here if they want to know and hear them, rather than have them “forced” on them. I also do much better face-to-face than I do in text format, frankly, as it gives me the chance to see people’s reactions, and respond to them in kind, explaining myself further or in a different way as needed to make sure the message gets across correctly and isn’t misunderstood.
I’ve pointed out to most people reading this the faults and the problems that I’ve seen. And I think a lot of people are starting to open their eyes to those issues. The first step to solving a problem is admitting that there is one. Now, I think it’s time to start working on creating solutions to those problems.
I will also be slowing down a bit, spending some more time with my family, less time walking around, more time thinking about what I think this community needs, and formulating potential plans for improvement. To start focusing on solutions, rather than just problems.
I would like to thank again those that voted for me. Your voices have been heard. It’s not a roar, rather a low rumble, but I suspect that it will be a constant one that will grow in time.
Finally, I would once again like to congratulate all of the sitting board members that maintained their position in this election, as well as congratulate Amy Kurtz for her big win on the School Board. I hope that she will make some positive changes to the status quo.
Congratulations on all of the sitting Village Board members who maintained their positions.
I will have to reflect for a while on my results and consider what they mean for me. I didn’t do as well as I would have liked, but I did better than I feared I would.
Below are my answers to the Tri-County Area Times Questionnaire which they sent to all Board Trustee candidates that they could get a hold of.
1). Why do wish to serve or continue to serve the Village of Fall Creek as an elected official?
I was raised a Navy brat, knowing no real “home” for my entire childhood, which I’d always longed for. This happily changed when I moved here and settled down in this fantastic community. The Village of Fall Creek is a great place to have a family and raise children. Having my wonderful wife and two children of my own, I’d like to be able to represent myself and other “middle aged” parents on the board. I would like to see the village continue to prosper, renew, and to continue to be a place where my children would want to settle and raise their own families in the future.
2). What is your opinion on the relationship between the Village of Fall Creek and the Town of Lincoln and Eau Claire County and it’s importance for the future growth of the village?
I think that it’s important that the village continue to work together with the Town of Lincoln on local issues that affect both municipalities, and yet still maintain their separate spirits. The Town of Lincoln serves a community of individuals that live further apart from each other, while the Village of Fall Creek serves those that live generally in closer proximity. As such, they each have different wants and needs, and I think it’s important for us to recognize that, and for both groups to work together to achieve common goals, while not stepping on each other’s toes. Meanwhile, Eau Claire County continues to provide extended support for both municipalities, and it’s important for that dialogue to continue, for us to express to the county our needs, as well as representing ourselves sufficiently at that level of government. We must work together and try to tamp down on any divisive rhetoric. We’re all in this together, we should support and help each other. It’s the Midwest way.
3). Is there a project or program or initiative you would like to see the village take on or accomplish during your term in office that would help improve the quality of life in the village and what would it be?
Well at the forefront always, we should be mindful of “rural decay”, which is a very real issue facing villages such as ours. I don’t like seeing buildings that appear abandoned right in the heart of the village, and I think we can work together to resolve that. But that’s a long-term goal. In the short term, if I can just accomplish the task of opening government to fuller transparency and engaging the electorate in a more consistent and regular way, then I would consider my tenure to be one well spent. This would involve recording and publicizing all public meetings on the Village website (as I’ve been attempting to do as a private citizen), as well as providing all public documentation to the community online for free, without requiring an open records request. I’d like to make it policy that our local government pushes to give the community all the information they need to make informed decisions BEFORE the issues affecting them have been voted on, so that they have a chance to let their voices be heard.
The reason I decided to run for school board is simple… the TEACHERS!! Our teachers have been asked to go above and beyond in the onset of COVID and in the aftermath of COVID the high expectations haven’t gone away- in fact higher expectations have been placed on our teachers. Teachers who feel supported, heard, and their educational needs are being met create positive learning environments for their students.
What areas for improvement do you see in any areas under the board’s purview?
There is a significant need to address the educational gaps in our current curriculum, assessments, and how students are overall evaluated.
Presumably if someone is on a board, or wants to be on one, it’s because they want to make a positive impact on the community. What’s the biggest positive impact that you would like to see?
I would like to see our space needs met and be able to give ourselves room to grow. Currently classrooms are either nearing capacity or are over capacity. I believe the Fall Creek School Board and Fall Creek Village Board need to work together to plan for the future of the community.
What plans do you have to affect change, and why are these changes needed?
I plan to observe all classrooms in the Fall Creek School District and have open, honest communication with all teachers and support staff. I want to see the great things that are being done and get a greater insight on each classrooms needs. I can’t make affective change unless I truly know and understand the barriers teachers and support staff are facing.
To run for this position, you must believe that a change needs to be made and are working to replace at least one sitting board member. What makes you a better candidate for the position than the current sitting board members that are running to maintain their seats?
My reason to run for school board has nothing to do with the members up for re-election and everything to do with it being the right time in my personal life to run for school board. In the last year, I have seen how my children have been affected by decisions that have been made and I decided what better time than now. I want to be able to make a positive impact when my children are young and then be able to move on and enjoy my children’s school years.
How many board meetings have you attended in the last year? If none, why not? If you have attended meetings, what questions have you asked and/or what input have you provided to the sitting board?
I have attended one school board meeting in the last year. I attended this meeting to address the board on behalf of the kindergarten parents regarding the kindergarten class room sizes and requesting another kindergarten teacher be added for the school year. I drafted a letter to the board and gathered signatures from other kindergarten families who were in support of adding a kindergarten teacher due to significant safety issues and students’ educational needs not being met.
What have you done as a private citizen thus far to attempt to improve this community?
I have been and will continue to be a positive voice for the children in our community. I will continue to stand up for any injustice for our students, teachers, and community members.
I care about the students of Fall Creek School District and want to make sure we can educate our children but stay in budget.
What areas for improvement do you see in any areas under the board’s purview?
I feel that the board is doing a great job of putting the children’s education as top priority.
Presumably if someone is on a board, or wants to be on one, it’s because they want to make a positive impact on the community. What’s the biggest positive impact that you would like to see?
I would like to see better communication between the Village Board and the School Board. I will only make Fall Creek a better place to reside and to send their children.
What specific positive changes have you individually made so far, and what others do you have planned going forward?
As a board member we don’t do “individual positive changes”. We work together to make sure that the students are getting the best education possible, that the school stays on budget and all of the employees are being paid fairly according to other schools the same size as Fall Creek.
What distinguishes you from other sitting board members? What makes you a different kind of representative to the board that’s not already covered by any sitting board member? What do you offer that other board members do not?
I don’t feel that I stand out any more than any other board member. I have been on the board for 9 years and have enjoyed being part of a board that truly cares about the children and the employees of the district. We all have other jobs and we can utilize our experiences with other occupations to help run the school district proficiently.
What specific questions have you raised that have created more thoughtfulness in board decisions? What were the outcomes of those questions?
Any questions that I have raised that have created more thoughtfulness have been in closed session so they will not published.
Why do you think others have decided to run for your position? What have you done, or do you have planned to address their concerns and reasons for them to be running?
I have not heard from any other candidates as to why they are running for school board so I can’t answer that.
Because I love the Village of Fall Creek, its people, the whole environment, and I think I can make a good difference here if given the chance. While I lost the primary for the school board, I can still be a write-in candidate, and I’m still on the ballot for the village. I think there’s a chance to really make a difference!
What areas for improvement do you see in any areas under the board’s purview?
Both Boards: Video recording and publishing of the meetings and their related info packets and implementing my “Take a Break Act”.
Village Board: I’d like to scour the ordinances with a fine-toothed comb and take out all the stuff that doesn’t make sense, and the stuff that’s getting in the way of the Village being more prosperous. Also, while debt is considered normal for most municipalities, I’ve never been a fan of it. It’s essentially giving money away to your borrowers. While sometimes necessary when we’re in dire need of fixes/upgrades, I’d like to see the Village put a ten-year plan in place to get out of debt, and to plan and budget for future expansion, rather than let us dip into the hole again.
School Board: I’d like academic curriculum to be an open discussion at regular board meetings, rather than shunted behind closed doors to committees. I’d like the budget reworked to handle facility maintenance and other required operating expenses first, and then move right to direct teacher needs before even considering the expansion of new purchases or equipment. Our teachers and students shouldn’t have to beg for money from the community to educate and be educated.
Presumably if someone is on a board, or wants to be on one, it’s because they want to make a positive impact on the community. What’s the biggest positive impact that you would like to see?
I’d like the community to be able to both have pride in itself AND be able to take constructive criticism that’s conducive towards improvement and growth, without that pride getting hurt, or turning defensive. I don’t see these two things as mutually exclusive. I don’t think that pointing out areas for improvement should hurt our pride or make people enemies. We should be able to have civil discussions and disagreements about important topics without taking personal offense. I hope to be able to show that by putting my ideas as well up on the chopping block.
For those not currently on the board, but seeking to get on it:
What plans do you have to affect change, and why are these changes needed?
Increase governmental transparency, communication, and accountability. They are necessary because our local boards so far have adopted largely a “pull” mentality that expects their citizens to come to them if they want to know anything. I believe in a “push” mentality that advertises out loud everything that the local government is doing. Government should attempt to be always completely transparent and communicative wherever possible.
To run for this position, you must believe that a change needs to be made and are working to replace at least one sitting board member. What makes you a better candidate for the position than the current sitting board members that are running to maintain their seats?
I have a unique and different way of looking at the world from most other people. Late into my adult life, I was diagnosed with high-functioning autism, and it made a lot of sense to all the problems I was having with connecting with people on an individual level. I just think differently. I think this is a HUGE benefit, as it lets me look at situations and issues from a variety of different angles that might not occur to others or might seem outlandish and ridiculous to others. However, sometimes those “unusual” ideas and out of the box thinking are just what’s needed to affect positive change.
How many board meetings have you attended in the last year? If none, why not? If you have attended meetings, what questions have you asked and/or what input have you provided to the sitting board?
I’ve attempted to attend every school and village board meeting that I could, and I’ve recorded them and posted them on my website for everyone to see. I’ve asked multiple questions at village board meetings to offer different perspectives or to support citizens that had concerns. The school board, I have not spoken in front of, as I needed to learn a bit more about how it works, since it appeared to be much more “un-debated”. If you look at the village board meetings, you’ll see many more civil disagreements and discussions, which I see as a good sign of a thriving collection of leaders that have differing viewpoints. If you look at the school board meetings, you’ll see a lot of “business as usual”, with the board going through the motions and just voting “yes” to everything with VERY little, if any, discussion or debate. That to me seems like five followers and one leader, rather than six leaders.
What have you done as a private citizen thus far to attempt to improve this community?
I’ve provided the video recording service I mentioned earlier. Beyond that, I’ve tried to collect as much information and data that I could and publicize it, such as information packets for the board meetings, so that everyone can see what’s going on. I’ve also personally donated a little over $3500 to help fund 19 projects from 12 different educators for the Fall Creek School District over the past three years because I want our great teachers to have all the resources they feel they need to excel at teaching our kids! However, our teachers still need even more funding, as there’s still constant continuing requests coming in, as well as a very full Amazon Wish List that has yet to be tackled.
I’ve constructed the below questionnaire for all candidates for all governmental boards. Questions that I would like my candidates to answer, and questions that I would expect to answer to the public if I was running (which of course I am). So that the people know that you’re not just voting for a name and a smile, but rather for someone that has shown some substantive leanings. I’ve tried to formulate the questions in a “generic” way so that they can apply to a broad range of elections and a broad range of candidates.
I will provide my own answers to the appropriate questions on my own separate page a little while later. I invite all of my fellow candidates to post any and all answers to these questions in any way they choose, in any format that they choose, on any platform that they choose. I will also gladly and willingly answer any other questionnaires that anyone else requests that I answer. This is just mine.
If a candidate chooses to provide these answers directly to me at my e-mail address (west@bennettforoffice.org), I will gladly post their answers here to provide them a platform as well.
For all candidates:
Why are you running for the board?
What areas for improvement do you see in any areas under the board’s purview?
Presumably if someone is on a board, or wants to be on one, it’s because they want to make a positive impact on the community. What’s the biggest positive impact that you would like to see?
For sitting board members:
What specific positive changes have you individually made so far, and what others do you have planned going forward?
What distinguishes you from other sitting board members? What makes you a different kind of representative to the board that’s not already covered by any sitting board member? What do you offer that other board members do not?
What specific questions have you raised that have created more thoughtfulness in board decisions? What were the outcomes of those questions?
Why do you think others have decided to run for your position? What have you done, or do you have planned to address their concerns and reasons for them to be running?
For those not currently on the board, but seeking to get on it:
What plans do you have to affect change, and why are these changes needed?
To run for this position, you must believe that a change needs to be made and are working to replace at least one sitting board member. What makes you a better candidate for the position than the current sitting board members that are running to maintain their seats?
How many board meetings have you attended in the last year? If none, why not? If you have attended meetings, what questions have you asked and/or what input have you provided to the sitting board?
What have you done as a private citizen thus far to attempt to improve this community?
