Supervisor District 2 features three candidates

Voters in District 2 of the Winneshiek County Board will have to pick among three candidates.

Republican Floyd Ashbacher, Democrat Rachel Vagts and independent candidate John Franzen are all running for the District 2 spot on the county board--the only district that does not have an incumbent because of redistricting.

Ashbacher is a former Winneshiek County Sheriff was spent 33 years in law enforcement before retiring.  He points to his work getting a joint city-county law enforcement center while sheriff.  He says if he's elected supervisor, he will work to deliver the most service for the least amount of taxes.  Ashbacher says he also supports keeping Winneshiek Medical Center here and supports efforts to encourage renewable energy in the county.

Vagts is a member of the Decorah City Council, elected to an at-large district.  She has lived in Winneshiek County for 14 years.  Her campaign platform calls for cooperation, innovation and transparency as a way to help Winneshiek County think bigger.  She would like to see county board meetings streamed over the Internet and says the county should look for new ways to make effective use of tax dollars and not do something just because that's the way it's always been done.  Before serving on the Decorah City Council, she served on the city's Planning and Zoning Commission, so she supports using different parts of Winneshiek County for different purposes.

Franzen is also a member of the Decorah City Council.  He has worked in farming, managing rental properties, running a gift store and a variety of jobs, saying "I'm never afraid of change."  He advocates running county government like a business as a way to insure wise spending.  Franzen supports setting up regional zoning boards to review confinement operation applications, believing there are many different types of soils across Iowa and regional control would be better than state control.  He also sees renewable energy as a way for the county to reduce energy costs.

Floyd Ashbacher

Rachel Vagts

John Franzen