Special election will be held July 18 for District 13 county board seat
A special election will be held on Tuesday, July 18 for the District 13 seat on the Taylor County Board.
The election was triggered by a recall petition signed by more than 200 residents of the district calling for the removal of incumbent supervisor Lester Lewis. District 13 includes the towns of Westboro, Grover and Molitor.
Challenging Lewis on the ballot will be Harvey “Bud” Suckow who moved to the district about a year ago and previously held office for 23 years on the Stratford village board, 12 of them as village president.
Lewis has been a longtime presence in local politics at the town and county level. He has been on the county board since 2002.
According to the Taylor County website Lewis is a member of the following county committees: Finance and Personnel; Committee on Committee and Rules; Economic Development; Land Information; Land Use Advisory; Law Enforcement and Emergency Services; Local Emergency Planning Committee; POWTS Revolving Loan Committee; Solid Waste and Recycling Committee and Zoning Committee. Lewis currently serves as chairman of six of those county committees.
In addition he serves as county representative to the Northwest Regional Planning Commission and to Northwest Wisconsin Concentrated Employment Program.
Lewis has come under fire largely by some members of the area veterans’ community over his role as the former chairman of the Veterans Service Committee, a position he no longer holds.
Specifically the concerns are related to the county’s handling of personnel issues related to the former county veterans service officer and veterans benefit specialist leading up to the resignations of employees in those positions. The former employees have made complaints against the county leading to an independent investigation by the county’s insurance provider.
The person who wins the election will serve out the remainder of the county board term which ends in April 2024. Lewis has stated on the record that he would not be seeking reelection at the end of his current term.
