Concerns raised over county election mailings

Supporters
say outside
influence,
coordination
not new
By Jonathan Anderson

~ f f~iE}/KElAND

TIMES

Oneida County Board

supervisors technically hold
nonpartisan offices, but this
spring's recent election may
have opened a window onto
a different reality.
Candidates in lour nowconcluded county board
races were criticized this
week for what one observer
called a negative-and

pam..

san coordinated campaign

effort.

Backers of the campaigns,

however, say they did nothing improper.
At the county's regular
board meeting on Tuesday,
Joel Knutson, a town of
Crescent supervisor, raised
questions about flyers that
were mailed to voters prior
to the April election.
The flyers were mailed in
four races: District 7
between incumbent Bob
Mott and Dennis Schoeneck,
District 11 between incumbent Bob Martini and Robb
Jensen,. District 20 between
newcomers Alan VanRaalte
and Ken Dirks and District
18 between incumbent Candy
Sorensen and Lance
Krolczyk.
Jensen and Krolczyk prevailed, while Schoeneck and
Dirks lost.
Schoeneck, Jensen, Db:ks
and Krolczyk paid for the
mailings, but the effort was
coUective!Y organized and
bad outside assistance,
according to multiple

sources.

One outside supporter was

State Sen. Tom Tiffany of
Hazelhurst. Jensen and Dirks
said Tiffany had offered to
help them produce the flyers.
In an interview, Tiffany
said he offered suggestions

on how the flyers should be

designed, and he said the
finn Full Impact
Communications near
Milwaukee created the fly-

ers.
The flyers are nearly identically structured. Some flyers criticize the county's purchase and sale of the former
Wisconsin Public Service
building in downtown
Rhinelander. The county sold
the building at a substantial
loss this spring.
Another version of the flyers claim that some county
supervisors have a plan to
eliminate dams.
According to Jensen, the
flyers were sent to people on
Republican and independent
voter lists.
Jensen said he paid $400
for his flyers, while Dirks
said he paid $998.
Jensen and Dirks both said
they did not develop or write
the flyers, but did review
and approve them.
Schoeneck declined to
comment for this story, and
Krolczyk did not immediate-

Jonathan Anderson photo

An example of one of the mailings sent in support of condidate

Robb Jensen.
ly return a voice mail seeking comment.
An official with the
Rhinelander Post Office said
he could not disclose the
identity of the person or
organization that paid for the
mailings.

.rdes

80th
to blame?
In public comment during
Tuesday's county board
meeting. Knutson questioned

the propriety and accuracy

of the flyers, noting that
some of the candidates targeted were not involved with
the purchase or sale of the
former WPS building, and
that other supervisors who
had recommended the sale of
the building were not targeted.

See Concerns, Page 6A