Dorchester voters pick Lageman as president

By Nathaniel Underwood

With the votes tallied following the April 1 election, the Dorchester village board will see some shuffling of members and positions, but incumbent candidates largely held on to their seats in contested races.

Keith Lageman emerged as the new village board president after current board president Kurt Schwoch elected to not run for the position but instead put his name in the trustee race. Lageman defeated fellow board trustee Thomas Carter by 20 votes, collecting 102 votes to Carter’s 82.

There were also five candidates on the ballot running for three open trustee spots on the board. Current board members Kurt Schwoch, Clarence Klimpke and Eric Klemetson earned the most votes among the candidates. Schwoch finished with the most votes, ending with 111, followed by Klemetson with 109 and Klimpke with 105.

Challenger Dennis Reynolds finished with 93 votes and former board trustee Daniella Schauer had 57 votes. Lageman had two votes as a write-in in the trustee race.

With Lageman and Schwoch switching duties and Klimpke and Klemetson returning to their trustee positions, the board

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will still retain a similar makeup.

Klemetson had announced at the village board’s February meeting that he would be stepping away from his position on the board, but it was too late to remove him from the ballots. If Klemetson resigns from the position, the board would likely have to appoint someone in his stead.

Prior to the election, Lageman noted that he saw the task of continuing to grow the village as one of the biggest tasks that the board needs to focus on in the future. Finding ways to bring businesses and more housing into Dorchester was seen as a priority by Lageman, a sentiment that was shared by Carter and several other candidates.

Being responsible with the village’s budget was also a main talking point among the candidates. Following the recent closing of TIF districts in the village, the residents of Dorchester recently saw a hike in their property taxes this year, which seemed to keep the budget close to mind for many of the candidates. The specifics of how it might be managed differed, however, with some candidates calling for change on how the village spends its money while others noting that maintaining better communication between boards over time is key.