Letter: Commissioner Lisa Weik is a ‘Champion for County Taxpayers’

My wife Michele and I have raised four children while living in Woodbury since 1992. As election time approaches every two years, we make a mental list of the things we believe would make Woodbury a better place in which to live. We then compare our list with the public statements of candidates for various city and county elections.

In this year’s election cycle, Nancy Remakel, who is challenging Lisa Weik the incumbent Washington County commissioner in District 5, has stated that she would raise county taxes to develop public transit along the I-94 corridor and to improve the county library system. These initiatives, according to Ms. Remakle, would help to stimulate economic development within the county. (Editor’s note: Remakel told Patch she never said she would raise county taxes to develop public transit along the I-94 corridor, but would have to keep libraries open.)

Sadly, the most devastating economic loss for Washington County over the past seven years was the closure of State Farm’s Woodbury operations and the 1,500 jobs that went with it. During that same period, Ms. Remakle, while serving as a member of the Woodbury City Council and the Woodbury Planning Commission, has failed to advance even one idea that would result in the development of the still-shackled State Farm complex.

Meanwhile, Lisa Weik has proven to be a champion for county taxpayers by consistently prioritizing spending in favor of improvements to core services like public safety, increased capacity on roads and bridges and helping the most vulnerable in our community.  

During Ms. Weik’s four-year tenure as commissioner, Washington County operating costs and expenses have held steady as the county received two AAA bond ratings and grew in population.

Given the public record of both candidates, a vote for Lisa Weik is, as our kids like to say, “a no brainer.”

—Tom Spencer, Woodbury

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