OCONTO – During the spring election on April 7 there will be two open seats — District 9 and District 29 — on the Oconto County Board.

The candidates for District 9 are Carl Blahnik and Joe Porior. The candidates for District 29 are Brenda Carey-Mielke and Cody Eric Schaal.

In an effort to give all candidates an opportunity to present their approach to the county board position, the Peshtigo Times reached out to candidates with a questionnaire form.

The response from Porior can be found in this issue. Blahnik, Carey-Mielke and Schaal did not respond.

Joe Porior

Why are you running for this position?

I decided to run for this position with strong encouragement I received from community members as the incumbent, Jolene, is not seeking reelection.
It is not a decision I take lightly as the demands of raising a young family and managing a modern dairy farm don’t leave me with a lot of surplus time.
However, I strongly believe our community needs to be represented on the board by someone with shared values and vision who will work towards continued improvement in transparency. I see it both as a duty to and an investment in my community.

If elected, what will be your top priorities?

I think one of the biggest challenges facing Oconto County is the projected population decrease of nearly 14% by 2050.

While I know that the county is currently home to many thriving businesses, we need to identify improvements that are needed in infrastructure, available services like childcare, and recreational opportunities that will make our communities even more attractive to potential employers and draw new, younger residents and, ultimately, spark economic activity.

We need to do our due diligence to seek out financial opportunities like grants that can help make these improvements affordable.

That is, of course, while preserving our productive farmland along with the streams, rivers, lakes, and forests that are so vital to our county’s tourism industry.

What is your approach to handling complex issues?

I tend to be a fairly analytical person and like to collect as much information as possible in decision-making and problem solving. I try to keep an open mind and look at things from different perspectives.

Eperience has taught me there are two sides to every story and often times there is more to an issue than what meets the eye. I’ve also discovered over time that many complex issues can be simplified by breaking them apart and looking at them piece by piece.

How will you involve residents in the decision making process?

I plan to maintain open lines of communication with each of the town boards of District 9 and attend the town board meetings when possible. I have been very impressed by Dave (Disrtict 8) and Jolene (Disrtict 9) with how they provide residents of Morgan with detailed updates from the county meetings on the issues and what the impacts are. I would continue those efforts to provide information and collect feedback.