With the decision of Isaac Okey to not run for a new term on the Cassville Village Board, that meant at least one seat was open for the April election. There may be as many as two new faces joining the board, with newcomers Steve Hagen and Ronnie Schergen joining incumbents Don Harbaugh and Sue Munro on the ballot.

Here are the responses we received from the candidates - Note, because of issues with email, responses are still coming in, and this article will be updated and annotated when additional information from each candidate comes in.

Steve Hagen has been loving Cassville since his family started coming to the community on weekends in 2007, deciding to move to the Mississippi River village in 2022 when he and his wife, Lori, retired from their careers - Steve having been an auditor, CPA, and for the last 15 years a controller for a chocolate manufacturer.

"We love boating with family and friends, and we enjoy the slower pace of living in a small town," Hagen shared. "I am an avid golfer and like to hunt and fish. I am also a big Badger and Packer fan."

Hagen is a graduate of Iowa-Grant High School and UW-Madison with a degree in accounting.He and Lori raised two adult children, and have two young grandhildren.

• What do you feel is the most important issue(s) in this election?  

I don’t think there is any one important issue.  I think there are lot of issues facing Cassville and other small towns in southwestern Grant County.  But if I had to pick one issue it would be keeping current businesses in town and attracting new businesses.  We do a great job promoting Cassville as tourist destination in the summer months.  However, we need to attract more families as a place to work and raise their families year round.

• Economic development, housing, or something else - what do you think is the most pressing need for Cassville? What do you think the village can do to fix that? 

Economic development is the most pressing need for Cassville.  Yes, Cassville has the potential to grow.  It will take a collective effort by our elected officials, community organizations, residents, nonresidents, and business owners. We need to work better together and I think we are starting to see that happening.

• Is there one of the municipal government agencies or services you plan to take a closer look at in the next term? What and why? Is there some place you feel has not received enough funding or attention? Is there an area you would like to see trimmed or reduced?

In general, I would say everything area should be scrutinized.  We can’t continue to increase the tax burden on property owners.  There are always ways to do more things more efficiently without increase expenses.

• Is there something you would like to see the village government address over the next term?   

I think the board could do a better job at assigning tasks and deadlines on issues brought up by residents and board members.  We also to do a better job of holding our outside resources accountable (Royal Bank, Delta 3, Ehlers, Johnson Block, etc.).  They work for Cassville, not the other way around!

• Is there any idea or initiative you would like to work on, if elected, to deal with economic development? 

No However, any ideas or initiatives that are presented should be scrutinized from a financial perspective which is where I can help with my financial background. 

• What initiative, idea, or plan would you like to push in your term, if elected? 

I don’t have any one initiative in mind. However, we need to get all community organizations working in conjunction with each other to come with strategies to pursue all initiatives.

Sue Munro is completing her first term on the Cassville Village Board, elected in 2023. Munro has been active in Cassville area items, serving on the Friends of Stonefield/Nelson Dewey State Park and Cassville Tourism boards.

Her and her husband bought a house in Cassville nine years ago, and they moved in permanently four years ago.

"As an active retiree, I look forward to continued service to my community as our Village President, Jared Kasten, and my board colleagues build on our recent accomplishments to address many issues that had been neglected or tolerated in the past," Munro said, touting things like updating the employee handbook and and dealing with uninvested general funds.

Munro noted that last year the village instituted a Room Tax to help fund tourism and other village marketing efforts, transitioned the employee retirement plan to the Wisconsin Retirement System, completed a thorough review of deposit accounts to close obsolete accounts and consolidate others to maximize interest earnings.

"Looking ahead, I am working to put more structure around employee training and development, as well as expanding village employment opportunities, especially with several employees at or nearing retirement within five years," Munro explained. "For Tourism, we are working on a business promotion package program to leverage the Director’s expertise in graphic arts, advertising, and social media to cast a wide net attracting visitors to Cassville, ideally for extended stays."

Munro grew up on a dairy farm near Belmont and graduated from UW-Platteville, earning a Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Science and a minor in Accounting. In 2007, she went to work for GE Healthcare, and her last job was with the state’s Department of Administration. "This was my introduction to public services, managing enterprise-class database systems for 26 state agencies at the state’s primary data center in Madison," Munro said. 

Sue says she stays active by working as a substitute teacher during the school year, while during the summer she is  a tour guide at the Stonefield Historical Site and as a deckhand on the Pride of Cassville car ferry. 

Her husband, Steve, and her have five adult children and six grandchildren.

• What do you feel is the most important issue(s) in this election?

A comprehensive strategic plan for the village.  A five-year plan was prepared in 2022 for the 2023-2028 period. It was controversial, focused on a single proposal putting a significant sum of village funds, present and future, at risk. We need a unifying plan that the community can be enthused about to attract real estate or business investments, and in turn, new permanent residents.

• Economic development, housing, or something else - what do you think is the most pressing need for Cassville? What do you think the village can do to fix that?

Cassville’s most pressing issue is owners of underutilized, vacant, and blighted properties. Over the past two years, we have contracted with a different building inspector and overhauled the building code ordinances to make them enforceable. Growing our tax base and attracting new residents dictates higher utilization of these properties along with the beautification of our downtown area. The village lacks rental units suitable for a family for near-term relocation until a home can be purchased. In addition, we have numerous active seniors who wish to remain in Cassville, desiring a modern apartment or condominium home to eliminate the burden of maintaining a house. This would make several beautiful, well-maintained properties available to new homeowners. One strategy is to designate some of the village’s stretches of open space as a TID to help us attract and fund these developments. As a community on the shore of the Mississippi River, attracting marine, tourism and other service-related businesses aligns with our economic growth strategy. We need help from Cassville Township, our state representatives, and the Department of Transportation to designate additional road routes for UTVs in and out of the village. Tourism and area campground operators have discussed this need for several years, to attract riders to our area, however, there isn’t a clear path for it to get done.

• Is there one of the municipal government agencies or services you plan to take a closer look at in the next term? What and why? Is there some place you feel has not received enough funding or attention? Is there an area you would like to see trimmed or reduced?

Our school enrollment rose this year, with eleven new students joining since the official DPI count last September. However, over 40 students are open-enrolled to other school districts. I would like to know more about the factors that led these families to leave or not choose Cassville schools. As a substitute teacher, I see firsthand how caring and dedicated our staff is to student success. Our school district covers 90 square miles, so there is much opportunity for housing developments within and outside the village to grow school enrollment. We should expand the content on our village websites and social media presence to provide information and aid relocation for new families. Community support of the Little Chargers Daycare is crucial to aid its expansion to attract young couples and families to live in Cassville! Cost-cutting opportunities exist with village-owned buildings. We are in the process of eliminating one building and making improvements in others to make them more energy efficient.

• Is there something you would like to see the village government address over the next term?

We need to pursue diversified investment of village funds. Having 100% of our funds held by a single financial institution doesn’t seem prudent in today’s economy. Public safety is also top-of-mind. We should continue investing in technology solutions, training, and equipment for law enforcement, emergency response crews, and school staff.

• Is there any idea or initiative you would like to work on, if elected, to deal with economic development?

I anticipate several large opportunities and challenges during the next two years. Recently, Alliant Energy transferred three vacant lots on Bluff Street to the village. This along with a potential land acquisition could lead to an expanded village-controlled property footprint. Ideas for these spaces are multi-family housing, a business park, a marina, campsites, and an RV park. Challenges are permitting processes on the main river channel, excavation restrictions in sensitive environmental areas, and an expensive infrastructure project planned by the DOT in 2028 when Highway 133 is reconstructed through the village.

• What initiative, idea, or plan would you like to push in your term, if elected?

At the recent candidate “Meet and Greet” event, a person asked what is Cassville’s identity now or what could it be. I loved that question! Cassville’s history is rooted in being a Mississippi River port for shipping lead mine ore and steamboat mooring. I would like to see the riverfront district revitalized, bringing back the glory of being a significant marine destination. We should build on the popularity of the public boat launch area that overflows with traffic on summer weekends.
 
Please feel free to add any additional comments/ideas here at this time:

Our community has so much going for it. Cassville is vibrant with stores and restaurants for everyday living in a naturally beautiful setting without leaving town. Special events, business owner ingenuity, Nelson Dewey State Park, the Stonefield Historic Site, the Pride of Cassville, and more attract many visitors to Cassville every day. In partnership with the high school and CESA 3, the village offers apprentice opportunities to encourage graduates to remain here in adulthood, building a new future for their generation. Our village has an uncommon asset, an airport. My husband and I spend a day at EAA Air Adventure in Oshkosh every July. It is exciting to see demonstrations of aviation innovations, especially for personal aircraft. I predict we will see flying cars landing at our airport within five years. If re-elected I am excited about my continued service to Cassville as a village board trustee!

We are working with the remaining candidates to get their responses in as quickly as possible, and will make updates