Scott Williams, swilliams@wolfrivermedia.com
Two appointees caught in a political squabble were replaced Wednesday when Shawano County Board members agreed to stop fighting the board chairman over the issue.
Chairman Jerry Erdmann succeeded in replacing two members of the county’s human services board, which oversees $9.5 million in yearly county social services programming.
Erdmann ran into vocal opposition last month when he first tried to replace Marshal Giese and Herb Tauchen with two other appointees, one of whom was Giese’s estranged brother and the other a former longtime county human services staffer.
After the County Board blocked those appointments, Erdmann presented other candidates Wednesday and won board approval amid signs of contrition from supervisors who were displeased that the matter had sparked a harsh personal exchange.
By a vote of 24-2, the board agreed to replace Giese and Tauchen with Shawano Alderwoman Lisa Hoffman and civic volunteer Jim Leuenberger.
“I think we have two outstanding people here,” Erdmann said.
County Supervisor Bonnie Olson was among others who voiced support for the new appointees, saying she was grateful to see citizens come forward and show interest in county government.
“I’m honored that they’re willing to serve with us,” Olson said.
The human services board is a nine-member panel that combines county supervisors with resident appointees to oversee the county’s human services department. The department spends about $9.5 million a year to assist senior citizens, behavioral health clients, people with disabilities, recovering drug addicts and others.
The board meets monthly with direct oversight of some departmental operations and authority elsewhere to make recommendations to the County Board, including on the annual budget for human services.
Giese and Tauchen both were longtime members whose latest three-year terms were expiring when Erdmann decided to make a change.
The chairman last month sought County Board approval to appoint Rick Giese, a former County Board member and brother to Marshal Giese, and Lynnae Zahringer, a former county staffer who last year ran unsuccessfully for County Board. The Rick Giese appointment stirred questions in particular, partly because he and his brother have a long-running personal feud that is well known among county insiders.
Erdmann initially said neither of the incumbent appointees had requested to be reappointed, and the chairman insisted he was only trying to bring fresh faces to the human services board.
On Wednesday, Erdmann said Hoffman and Leuenberger were selected from among seven candidates who ultimately showed interest in the appointments. Although the other five candidates were not all identified, Erdmann said that Marshal Giese and Herb Tauchen were among them.
In presenting the new appointees, Erdmann told county supervisors that Hoffman is an active citizen who frequently attends County Board meetings, and that Leuenberger is a former citizen of the year award-winner known for promoting Shawano County’s barn quilt attractions.
“Both of them, I feel, are outstanding character-wise,” Erdmann said.
Supervisors Steve Gueths and Ray Faehling cast the only votes opposing the appointments, which are for three-year terms expiring Jan. 1, 2020.
When some supervisors questioned whether the new appointees are qualified to work on human services issues, others voiced objections and expressed regrets that the matter had become so political, especially involving the Giese family.
Supervisor Deb Noffke called it “embarrassing” that citizens who stepped forward to serve the county last month were subjected to such questioning.
“You shouldn’t start nitpicking about whose buddies get chosen for what,” Noffke said. “It was just disgusting.”