Veteran administrator takes shot at county seat

As usual, most county supervisors up for re-election on Tuesday, April 7, are unopposed, but there are three contested races, including one in Saukville that pits two well-connected local political veterans against each other.

In the 5th Supervisory District, Saukville businessman Don Clark, the incumbent, is being challenged by former village clerk Chris Lear.

Clark, 61, is the owner of Village Printer and is active in the community as a member of the Lions Club.

He was appointed to the County Board in 2015 and re-elected in 2016 and 2018. He serves on the county Health and Human Services Committee and the Washington Ozaukee Public Health Board. He also serves on the village’s Board of Zoning Appeals and Board of Review. 

Lear was the Saukville village administrator for 10 years and also served as the clerk for the Town of Saukville, administrator in Germantown and village manager in River Hills. 

The 5th District includes most of the west side of Saukville, roughly between Highway W and Orchard Lane and from Cedar Sauk Road north to Cold Springs Road.

Lear, 70, retired two years ago and now serves as deacon at Living Hope Lutheran Church in Saukville. 

He also serves on the village Plan Commission and is on the Program and Facilities Committee at the Feith Family YMCA and is chairman of the YMCA’s annual fundraising campaign. 

“I’m running primarily so I can put to use my education and experience,” Lear said last week. “I’ve spent 40 years of my life leading local government. I’m not running against anybody; I’m running for the County Board. Now that I’ve been retired a couple years, I thought I’d give it a shot.”

Lear said his years in local government has given him experience in budgeting, taxation, economic development — “just about anything you can imagine.”

Clark said his experience as a businessman helps him “bring common sense to the job” of supervisor.

“There are things I want and there are things I need, and government is the same thing,” he said. “I have a lot of experience in how things work.”

Since he was first elected to the County Board, Clark noted that the Lasata Senior Living Campus has become self-supporting and no longer dependent on the tax levy.

“It’s actually making money and putting money into the budget,” he said.

Lear said his fiscal philosophy reflects his upbringing by thrifty Depression-era parents.

“But I realize the budget is a policy document and sometimes there is a need for change. I tend to always looks for a bargain,” he said.

Lear said he is a “nonpartisan person” who wants to be “proactive at getting involved in things.”

One issue the County Board recently faced that seemed to split the board on partisan lines was a resolution urging the state Legislature to no longer draw elective districts.

  Lear said if elected he would have sided with the minority, which favored the resolution and wanted to take that responsibility away from the current Republican majority in the Legislature.

“I’m not sure the current way is fair,” he said.

Clark voted with the majority against putting the resolution on the spring ballot.

Lear said if he was elected he would have quarterly meetings where residents could get updates on county business and ask questions.

“The idea of being proactive means reaching out to people and not necessarily waiting for people to come and find you,” he said.

Clark said the county’s aging population poses challenges for the county as that will cause heightened demand for services.

In other County Board races, Fredonia Village Trustee Joshua Haas is challenging incumbent Don Dohrwardt in the Second District while former supervisor Bob Wallerstein is challenging incumbent Justin Strohm in the 21st District in Mequon.

Christopher Duecker is running to fill Supr. Doug Gall’s seat in the 16th District in Cedarburg while Natalia Minkel-Dumit is running unopposed to succeed retiring Supr. Jennifer Rothstein in the 26th District.