Readers of this column might remember my frustration last year with the actions of the Gang of Five. When Mayor Doug Bade resigned last spring to move to Kentucky, the Common Council had several options in how to fill the vacancy. They could have held a special election. They could have appointed a new mayor from a pool of candidates. They could also have appointed a new mayor from a narrow pool of applicants - like themselves. The latter choice is exactly what they did.

Five members of the Common Council decided to limit the applicant pool to eight people - the members of the Common Council. In their eyes, nobody else in West Bend was even worth considering for the post. Furthermore, they made this decision with the full knowledge that only one of the aldermen would apply: Kristine Deiss. The Gang of Five was Aldermen Deiss, King Riffel, David Krochalk, Nick Dobberstein and Michael Schlotfeldt.

The end result was predictable. Deiss was appointed mayor on a vote of 4 to 3, with Deiss abstaining.

Now Mayor Deiss is up for election. She is being challenged by Michael Christian, a downtown liquor store manager. Christian supports an aggressive and expensive downtown revitalization effort. By most accounts, he’s a liberal who would advocate for higher city spending.

As I am wont to say, elections are about choices. I don’t like either of these choices, but I will be voting for Michael Christian.

Everything I’ve seen from Mayor Deiss is that she has lost the ability to view things from the perspective of the taxpayer. She’s ceased to be a representative of the citizens in their government. Instead, she’s become a representative of government to the citizens.

Furthermore, she also serves as Washington County’s Clerk of Courts. In a city the size of West Bend, I have a difficult time stomaching that one person should collect two taxpayer-funded paychecks from two elected offices.

Michael Christian offers a fresh perspective, even if efforts will have to be taken to temper his liberal tendencies.

After Mayor Deiss’ appointment the Gang of Five went further. Deiss’ former seat on the council for Aldermanic District 1 had to be filled. For weeks there was a single applicant: Tony Turner. He met with the council members and city officials, held citizen listening sessions, knocked on doors in the district to ask their opinions and generally prepared himself to serve the people. At the last minute, another applicant submitted his name: Roy Justman.

Despite the fact that Turner had clearly shown his interest in representing the district, demonstrated his deeper understanding of city issues and expressed concrete ideas for West Bend, the Gang of Four (sans Deiss) chose Justman to fill the seat

Justman is a good man, but Turner is clearly the better choice. He will be a firm conservative voice on the council. Since Justman was appointed, Turner has been knocking on doors, meeting people and showing how hard he will work to represent the district. Besides, as with Deiss, Justman is already on the County Board. How many government checks does one person need?

In the interest of full disclosure, I did volunteer for the Turner campaign, so yes, I’m biased. But this is an opinion column and it would be pretty boring if I didn’t have strong opinions about things.

Also on the ballot on April 1 will be the entire Washington County Board. The unwieldy board has 30 members. In fact, there are so many seats that District 7 doesn’t even have anybody running and 23 districts are uncontested. I certainly can’t keep track of so many board members, so if you don’t know for whom to vote, casting your ballot against the incumbent is always a good idea. Turnover can’t hurt.

Finally, the ballot will also finally give the citizens of Wisconsin the opportunity to finally kill the Frankenstein veto. This is the power that the governor has - to actually create new sentences by vetoing parts of several sentences. We have a legislature for a reason, and putting this much power in the hand of a single executive puts the balance of power on tilt. Vote "yes" for good government.

Every election is important. Every election has consequences. Be sure to vote.