November 7, 2018 at 4:14 p.m.
Voters approve school referendum, oppose potential sulfide mine
Hartman cruises to re-election
Voters approve school referendum, oppose potential sulfide mine
Meanwhile, in the major local race of the night, incumbent Oneida County Sheriff Grady Hartman handily defeated his opponents, With all precincts reporting, Hartman garnered 13,212 votes or 73 percent of the total. Constitution Party candidate Tom Wakely received 3,452 and registered write-in candidate Larry Mathein drew 1,266.
This marks the second time that voters have retained Hartman as sheriff. He was appointed to the office by Governor Scott Walker in 2012, following the retirement of Jeff Hoffman, and then elected to the position in 2014.
Hartman was at his desk early Wednesday morning eager to move past campaign season.
"I'm glad that the political ads are done and I'm looking forward to getting back to work," he said, adding that he was heartened to see such a large voter turnout for the midterms.
"If it was not a record it was close to a record for a midterm election," Hartman said. "People came out and ultimately had their say, and that's a good thing."
The School District of Rhinelander asked voters for permission to exceed the revenue limit by $4.25 million a year for the next four years starting with the 2019-20 school year. The ayes prevailed by a close margin, 5,582 voters agreed to approve the request while 4,226 said no, according to unofficial results provided by the district Wednesday morning.
District superintendent Kelli Jacobi said she was "ecstatic" about the results.
"It was wonderful news and I'm thrilled," Jacobi said Wednesday morning. "I'm glad that the community supports the school district and the kids of the school district by voting to continue the support."
As for the advisory referendum asking whether the county should lease county forest land in the town of Lynne so that an open pit mine can be dug to harvest an estimated 5.6 million tons of recoverable metals, voters responded with 11,927 "no" votes and 7,129 "yes" votes. However, it should be noted that the mining referendum is advisory not binding. If a majority of county board supervisors feel their education on the subject is superior to that of the public, they can choose to ignore the results of the vote and permit or deny mining in Oneida County as they see fit.
Peter Zambon, a spokesman for Protect the Willow, a grassroots group that spearheaded the campaign against the referendum, said he was pleased to see so many people offer input on the matter.
"Its pretty incredible the voice and power of grassroots organizing and it was really wonderful to see residents come together and have their voices heard," Zambon said. "And their clear statement about fighting a mine at Lynne, it seems we don't have a social license to mine at Lynne, as the referendum results have shown. Oneida County residents have faced this question before, and yet we have chosen to maintain the integrity of our water resources. I hope that other communities across Wisconsin will take note of what happened in Oneida County yesterday, and make the same choice to protect their water resources for generations to come."
Jamie Taylor may be reached via email at [email protected].
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