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| 1/15/2008
11:18:00 AM |
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John Waelti,
D-Monroe | | Waelti to make bid for
Assembly
Resigns from Monroe school board;
will run in 80th District as
Democrat
Mary Jane
Grenzow
MONROE
- John Waelti resigned from the Monroe school board Monday to
begin his bid to win the 80th Assembly District seat away from
Rep. Brett Davis.
Waelti said today he plans to make a
formal announcement of his candidacy at a public event at 3
p.m. Jan. 27 at Turner Hall. A retired economics professor, he
will run as a Democrat and face at least one other challenger,
Kris Wisnefske, a Monroe nurse, in a September primary. Davis,
R-Oregon, has not yet announced a re-election
bid.
"I've been critical of politicians. Now it's time
to put myself on the line. It's time to walk the walk," Waelti
said.
In his letter of resignation to the school board,
Waelti wrote he hoped to be able to address the state revenue
caps imposed on school districts at the legislative level.
These spending limits force school districts to turn to
referendums in order to keep programs and staff.
A
"more stable formula" is needed for school funding, Waelti
said today. "I don't have the answer, but it needs to be
addressed."
He also wants to see the Legislature take a
closer look at health care. It should be addressed at the
federal level, he said, but in the meantime states should be
looking at health care.
"If handled right, it could be
an economic development tool," Waelti said, explaining it
could be an incentive to small businesses not to have to
provide health insurance.
He also mentioned campaign
finance reform as an issue he would like to address if
elected.
One of his strengths, Waelti said, is his
variety of experiences, ranging from being a "78-buck-a-month
teenage Marine private" to being a Ph.D. student at the
University of California-Berkeley to teaching agricultural
economics to working with state-level government.
"I
can talk with a variety of people," he said.
He grew
up on a 220-acre dairy farm just north of Monroe, the grandson
of Swiss immigrants. He graduated from Monroe High School, and
after three years in the Marine Corps, the University of
Wisconsin-Madison. After earning advanced degrees in Arizona
and Berkeley, he spent more than 30 years as an economist at
the University of Minnesota and New Mexico State University.
He also served as visiting professor at the University of
Nairobi and Sultan Qaboos University in Oman.
After
retiring, Waelti returned to Monroe in June 2005. He was
appointed to fill a vacancy on the school board that December,
and ran for election when that term was up the following
April. His term is set to expire in 2009.
School
district business administrator Ron Olson said the district is
checking with the State Elections Board to determine if it
should begin the process of appointing someone to replace
Waelti, or wait until the after the spring election, in which
three other school board seats will be up for election.
Waelti's replacement will serve until his term expires in
2009.
Waelti also has been an unpaid freelance
columnist for The Monroe Times.
Gov. Jim Doyle
appointed Waelti to the Southwest Wisconsin Regional Planning
Commission. Waelti also is a member of the New Glarus chapter
of AmVets.
Daphne Newman Stassin of Brodhead will serve
as Waelti's campaign manager. Former Evansville mayor and 2006
candidate for the 80th Assembly District Janis Ringhand will
be his campaign treasurer.
Waelti lives in Monroe with
his wife Sherry. He has two adult children: Kara is a
registered nurse in Madison and John Jr. is a corporate
communications professional.
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