Veteran trustee resigns just months before his term ends expires

By DAN BENSON

Ozaukee Press staff

Citing family commitments, longtime village Trustee John Long has resigned from the Fredonia Village Board, four months before the spring election, which promises to see an upheaval in village leadership.

In an email to fellow trustees on Dec. 20, Long wrote that he was resigning “effective immediately from the Village Board and all committees I serve on. At this time, I feel that serving as a trustee on the Village Board is no longer a good fit for me.

“It has been my pleasure to serve on the Village Board and committees for the residents and businesses of Fredonia. I wish the board future success.”

In an interview, Long said he was resigning from the board to spend more time with his family in retirement.

“It was a very hectic year” in 2022, he said. “I’ve been talking for the last year that I wasn’t going to run again. All the board members are great. Development in the village is really going nice.”

Long has been a village trustee for nine years and has served on various committees since 2005.

He recently retired as a wastewater project engineer for Rockwell Automation.

Long’s seat is up for re-election on Tuesday, April 4, along with two other trustee seats and village president.

Trustee candidates include Village President Don Dohrwardt and newcomers Tiffany Bartz and Kurt Meyle.

Trustee Dan Gehrke is the sole candidate for president.

The deadline for registering as a write-in candidate is noon on Friday prior to election day, in this case, March 31.

If there are no registered write-in candidates, the Village Board can appoint someone to fill the vacant seat.

In the Northern Ozaukee School District, incumbents Brent Neis, representing the Town of Saukville, Kevin Klas, representing the Town of Fredonia, and Jennifer Clark, representing the Village of Fredonia, are running for re-election.