LETTER: Why is a state senator lashing out at school board candidates?

To Ozaukee Press:

I am responding to claims State Sen. Duey Stroebel makes on his Facebook campaign page, “Duey Stroebel for Senate.” His diatribe concerning the Cedarburg School Board election is certainly unbecoming of a senator.        Stroebel condemns four nonpartisan candidates for the Cedarburg School Board—Kate Erickson, Ryan Hammetter, Hani Malek and Jamie Maier—as hypocritical liberals guilty of character assassination.         

Is this because the Democratic Party of Ozaukee County endorsed them? Could they be moderate or slightly conservative? Does the 11 years in public service touted by Stroebel on Facebook give him the right to label candidates just because he does not agree with them?

Is it the senator’s mission to control the Cedarburg School Board the way he tries to control the Ozaukee County Board? Even his wife, Laura Stroebel, who happens to be a candidate for a Cedarburg School Board seat in competition with the candidates attacked by Stroebel, states a liberal ideal: “When we foster a strong environment of communication, we grow stronger as a district. Transparency plays an important role in communication.”

Stroebel is appalled that campaign signs were vandalized at his home and implies, without evidence, it was done by supporters of the “liberal candidates.” Stroebel’s private property damage needs to be addressed to the sheriff and not Facebook.

Stroebel states on his campaign site, “Let’s pull back the mask on some of these people and in the process hope that the destroy-at-all-costs mantra of many from the leftist persuasion becomes a distant blip in our history.”    \    Stroebel’s own mask needs removal with an explanation for pocketing over $63,000 in federal farm subsidy funds while not owning a farm. For a government official,  that is kleptocratic and certainly hypocritical.

Ted Poull
Saukville