Incumbents prevail in contentious village race

In a contentious Grafton Village Board race in which challengers questioned the board’s handling of issues surrounding emergency services, voters on Tuesday decided to stick with the incumbents.

They returned incumbents Tom Krueger, John Gassert and David Antoine to the board while denying challengers AnneMarie Wenten and John Meinecke a seat at the table.

“There were a number of issues raised during this election, and the voters decided,” Krueger said.

Krueger received 1,916 (or 26%) of the 3,493 votes cast Tuesday. Gassert garnered 1,862 votes (25.3%) and Antoine had 1,792 votes (24.5%).

Wenten received 963 votes and Meinecke 802 votes, or 13% and 11%, respectively. Wenten said she wishes the incumbents the best of luck. 

“While the result is disappointing, I feel that I raised important issues about spending in the village,” Meinecke said.

Village President Jim Brunnquell was re-elected without opposition.

Gassert and Antoine said they were impressed with the voter turnout of 44.2%. Of the village’s 7,902 eligible voters, 3,493 cast ballots Tuesday.

“The voter turnout really shows there is an interest in village matters and the residents support and trust the trustees,” Antoine said. “I feel the village is going in the right direction.”

Gassert said there were a significant number of votes for Meinecke and Wenten, who opposed the incumbents on matters involving the consolidation of emergency dispatching services with the Ozaukee County Sheriff’s Office, fire department staffing, anonymous posts on social media and government transparency.

“We need to educate the constituents and make them fully aware of what is going on in the village,” Gassert said.

During the race, the incumbents said they support the transfer of dispatching services and adding more full-time firefighters-paramedics and believe anonymous posts on social media can spread misinformation.

When asked about adding more full-time firefighters-paramedics to the fire department, Meinecke — whose wife is Trustee Susan Meinecke — said the village should outsource firefighters through a contracting service and do away with the department’s three full-time employees. He also doesn’t support the transfer of dispatching and said anonymous social media posts happen all the time.

Wenten, whose husband is Grafton Police Chief Charles Wenten, said she ran for election because of the consolidation of dispatching.

Krueger, who served as the village’s utility director for 27 years, has been a trustee since 2015.

Antoine has been a trustee for eight years and Gassert was appointed to the board last fall after former Trustee Dean Proefrock moved to the Town of Grafton. Wenten had also sought to fill Proefrock’s vacant seat.

Village Board members serve two-year terms.