Two vying for rural Grafton seat on County Board

With longtime supervisor Paul Melotik leaving his 10th District seat on the Ozaukee County Board, two other town of Grafton men are vying to replace him.

Doug Johnson, a retired manager and administrator in the nuclear power industry and a 15-year town resident, will face off against Dan Vogel, a 13-year resident and member of the town Plan Commission.

Johnson said his experience managing seven nuclear reactors in Wisconsin, Iowa,  Michigan and Minnesota has equipped him to be a member of the County Board.

“I am running to work cooperatively as a team member on the County Board to establish a shared vision for the future and to develop goals and plans that make that future possible,” he said.   

“Ozaukee County is a very unique and special place to live because the county continues to have a rural atmosphere while the controlled and balanced growth has brought services and conveniences to citizens,” he said.

“The county citizens have an expectation and public officials have a duty and obligation to assure that Ozaukee County continues to thrive and remain a special community for families to reside.”

He said he wants to focus on maintaining that by advocating fiscally sound policies.

“As Ozaukee County continues to grow, I will advocate policies and practices that will not cause taxes to increase while maintaining public services and quality of life standards for the citizens of the county,” he said.

  Vogel said he is running for the County Board because of what he called supervisors’ “once-in-a-lifetime failure” to protect Clay Bluffs Cedar Gorge, a 134-acre nature preserve on Port Washington’s south side on the bluffs overlooking Lake Michigan.

Plans to develop the preserve were scuttled by a secret vote of the state Legislature’s Joint Finance Committee to block the use of grant funds to purchase the land.

That was overcome when Gov. Tony Evers made funds available from the state surplus to finish the deal.

Vogel blamed County Board members in part for the near failure.

“The entire consideration process by the board for this precious lakefront property lacked transparency and integrity, further damaging trust in the government,” Vogel said. “The shenanigans at both the county and state level required Gov. Evers to save the project.”

Vogel said he should be elected because he got involved in town government almost as soon as he arrived in town.

“I used to go to the Town of Grafton Planning Commission meetings to see what was going on. I never had an agenda,” he said.

“At those Planning Commission meetings, Town Chairman Lester Bartel noticed me and eventually appointed me to serve on the commission, which I’m still on today.”

He said he has been involved in several conservation groups, including the Ulao Creek Partnership, the DNR Whitetail Committee and the Open Spaces Commission and as an Eagle Scout.