Bradley Takes President Seat; Dobbs, Wanggaard And Prott Also Win

Bob Bradley has unseated incumbent Village President Ron Coutts, in Tuesday's election. He is the only challenger to have successfully unseated an incumbent.

In the trustee races, incumbents Jim Dobbs and Kevin Wanggaard have kept their seats, and David Prott will join them on the board. Prott previously served on the Board in 2005.

“I’m excited, honored and humbled," Bradley said. "I hope that I can live up to everyone’s expectations. But I also appreciate all of the hard work Ron has done over the years. Hopefully I can fill his shoes.”

Once in office, Bradley plans to focus his attention on getting water out to Interstate 94 to help attract development. He also intends to work with the Caledonia Historical Society and the Caledonia Conservancy to help build Caledonia’s identity.

“We’ll be settling into this new board and take care of some general housekeeping, but we’ll also need to set some goals,” Bradley said. “Our big target is to find out who Caledonia is and take advantage of the opportunities that we already have in Caledonia, like working with the Caledonia Historical Society and the Caledonia Conservancy. I want to work to give Caledonia an identity.”

Caledonia's local races have been particularly contentious because of a proposed Walmart on North Green Bay and 4 Mile roads.

Prott said he’s excited about winning the election and is looking forward to working with the new board. “It’ll be good to get back to working again with Caledonia citizens,” Prott said.

He plans to focus on attracting business to Caledonia.

“There’s a discussion that needs to be had about how we attract good businesses, and good-paying jobs in our community,” he said.

Dobbs said he was a little apprehensive about the election at first.

“But I’ve worked hard and I think I’ve done a decent job,” he said. “As a board we need to plan long-term. And I’m hoping the new president will be setting meetings so that we can brainstorm, get a vision of what we want this community to be and get to know each other.”

Dobbs also wants to see water and sewer extended to the Interstate, and to develop a plan to take care of the Village’s infrastructure.

“Our buildings—the fire department and village hall—have been neglected for years,” Dobbs said. “Not that it’s all going to happen overnight, but we need to set some goals about where we want to be.”

Wanggaard said he’s humbled to have been re-elected, feels really good about the new village board and appreciated the support from those who elected him.

“Ron did a lot of work and spent a lot of time and commitment into this board,” Wanggaard said. “But hopefully Bob will bring some added excitement. But I consider both of them to be my friends.”

Wanggaard said he intends to focus on a number of issues, including how to help existing businesses grow and tackle the village’s aging infrastructure. However, he also talked about the Walmart project.

“Everyone is talking about Walmart, but it is just another piece of the puzzle,” Wanggaard said. “To be focused only on Walmart would be a grave mistake for anyone. You have to look at everything… but I expect that there will be some good discussion on it and I’m looking forward to having them.”

By 6 p.m. a number of voting places had more then 25 percent voter turnout, according to election officials.

Officials with the Wisconsin Government Accountability Board had predicted a 20 percent voter turnout.

Here are the vote totals for all polling places in Caledonia.

Village President

Bob Bradley

2,648

Ron Coutts*

1,804

Village Trustee (No. 1)

Eddie Willing

1,711

David Prott

2,402

Village Trustee (No. 3)

Maureen Cramer

1,749

Kevin Wanggaard*

2,851

Village Trustee (No. 5)

Jim Dobbs*

2,304

Richard Frazier

1,674

* denotes an incumbent.