Supervisor District #5 is the most rural of the five districts

Supervisor District #5

Republican Lonnie Pierce and Democrat Mark Kuhn have been doing a lot of traveling this fall while campaigning in Supervisor District #5.  The district encompasses nine townships in Winneshiek County, making it geographically the largest of the five supervisor districts.

The district contains around half of the roads and half of the bridges in the county as well.  That makes road maintenance and the county budget an important issue.

Pierce is a Winneshiek County native who graduated from North Winneshiek High School in 1971.  He left the area, but returned to Winneshiek County in 1991 and successfully ran for county board in 2010.  He says he decided to run then because he was tired of property taxes going up and knew the county would face even more financial issues.

Pierce says county government can hold the line on spending by becoming more efficient, such as sharing services with surrounding counties.  He says county government can't keep going back and asking for more tax money.  He does, however, fully back the county's Health Department, saying it provides an important service.

Pierce says a higher state gasoline tax would be one solution to maintaining county roads and suggests that operators of heavy equipment might have to pay a higher fee for their vehicles. 

Kuhn has lived in Winneshiek County for more than 50 years.  He is a livestock crop farmer and small businessman in the Fort Atkinson area and has also managed the Inwood Ballroom for the last eight years.  He is currently president of the Winneshiek County 4H Foundation and formerly was president of the Winneshiek County Cattlemens Association.

Kuhn says the secret to holding the line on taxes is to attract more businesses to Winneshiek County.  He says everyone is concerned about financial issues.

He opposes local control for confined animal feeding operations, saying it could lead to lawsuits against local governments.  He says older buildings should not be restored if they have no future use.

Kuhn says he's heard complaints about how difficult it is for citizens to get in touch with their county supervisor.  He says he is open-minded and listens to everybody's views.

Republican Lonnie Pierce

Democrat Mark Kuhn