1 • Wednesday, April 24, 2019 - The Independent-Register
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Town officials’ last meeting offers teachable moment By Tony Ends
CORRESPONDENT
A rumor raised and dispelled at the Town of Sylvester’s annual meeting last week had few pupils present for its important lesson. Fewer than a dozen of Sylvester’s 641 registered voters turned out to witness a closing era in their rural community’s politics. With less than half those registered voting two weeks previous (305 voted), it was the final meeting for two people who’ve served the board 18 years. Town Chair Anna Anderson and Supervisor Terry Reed were stepping down after losing re-election in the rural area touching Juda, Monticello and Albany, a few miles west of Brodhead. Distracting from what seemed an important moment in town life and public service, one person in the tiny audience raised a surprising issue. It concerned accusation that Sylvester’s town hall basement was under water, which sparked another person’s outrage that this simply must not be tolerated. A trip downstairs following the meeting, however, proved the basement, even the sump pump, completely dry. The town hall, indeed, sits above the intersection of County Highway FF and State Highway 59, with a commanding view of rich farmland all around, which pioneers cleared gradually from 1830s settlement forward. Anderson did not let the unfounded charge last Tuesday spoil comments she’d prepared for her and Reed’s successors. New chair Dan Moehn and new supervisor Mike Witt are stepping in to far more complicated and contentious issues many of Wisconsin’s 1,255 townships are facing. Too much is at stake to let rumor cloud decision. “Mike, you are very intelligent and well-educated,” Anderson said to the new supervisor. “You are a successful businessman with a beautiful family. You have it all. You are bringing so much potential to the town board and township. “My advice to you is to research everything before making decisions. Things are often not as they seem or as the most vocal people profess them to be. “Might doesn’t make right.” Don’t be taken in by intimidation, scare tactics, misinformation and outright lies,” Anderson said. Remarkably gracious and pleasant, almost cheerful despite defeat, Anderson continued the same praise and encouragement to her replacement as chair. Moehn, like Witt, sat silently listening. “Dan. I don’t know at lot about you, but I understand you are a salesman,” Anderson said to Moehn. “As such, you are most likely very good at establishing relationships. This will serve you well on the board. You bring good potential to the board and township. “Just a word to the wise; your friends and neighbors will try to influence you and won’t necessarily tell you the truth,” she said. “You wouldn’t be the successful man you are if you allowed people to use you like a puppet and not think things through to logical conclusions.” Anderson then urged the newly elected to work with remaining town supervisor Dave Schenk, who was unopposed and re-elected with 235 votes of 241 cast. “I know Dave the best of the three of you,” Anderson said. “He is calm, rational, and analytical. The three of you working together, combining your strengths, can make an unstoppable team. I sincerely wish each of you well. May you always hear the voice of the majority over the loud, squeaky wheel that represents the minority.” For Anderson, who worked two fulltime jobs in Monroe most of the nine
TONY ENDS PHOTO Brodhead Independent-Register
Town of Sylvester’s 2018 board, from left, Dave Schenk, Terry Reed and Anna Anderson, react last Tuesday to an unfounded rumor at the town’s annual meeting.
times she served 2-year terms leading Sylvester’s town board, life will surely now seem less complicated. Reed, too, contributed time and talent in many ways to save the town money. Going out in pairs with others, for instance, Reed removed trees fallen across roads in storms to cut town costs of calling in county crews.
Town of Sylvester’s board now faces tough decisions about how to resolve controversy swirling around many issues. They are issues affecting rural people everywhere in Green County and around Wisconsin. Livestock waste handling, contracted fire protection, roads in disrepair, and expensive public services are just a
few. Related health and safety, ground and surface water protection, limited resources are at issue, too, for Sylvester’s scattered population of not much more than 1,000 residents. Questions are already being raised about special meetings to discuss and decide issues ahead of Sylvester’s next regular monthly meeting in May.
With a thin requirement of only 24 hours’ public notice and weak attendance in the town’s annual meeting, it’s uncertain whether Anderson’s advice for research rather than rumor will guide lessons learned. Only time and a new town board will tell before the 2020 annual meeting the third week of next April.
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