The township should have nothing to hide.”

Sue Drobac

GREENWOOD TWP- Incumbents Larry Tahija and Byron Beihoffer lost their bids for reelection to the Greenwood Town Board during the township election on Tuesday. Tahija lost to Barb Lofquist 167-160, while Beihoffer lost by a much wider margin to former clerk Sue Drobac, 184-144.
Interest in the election was high this year, and turnout topped last year’s totals, with at least 328 voters casting ballots, compared to fewer than 300 last March.
Lofquist ran against current chairman Mike Ralston last year, losing by 12 votes.
Both Lofquist and Drobac strongly opposed Option B, which voters rejected nearly 2-to-1 for the second year in a row.
Lofquist has been a strong supporter of former clerk Drobac. She was against the installation of the surveillance cameras in the clerk’s office and noted that this system did nothing to improve actual safety for the clerk. If safety wwe the issue, she noted, the town board would have decided to install a decent security system, with an emergency button in case there is an emergency.
Lofquist also hopes to get seasonal residents more involved in township matters and is in favor of increasing public input at meetings, including virtual meetings, and would like to see the board continue to offer the option of virtual attendance at meetings once in-person meetings resume.
Drobac ran for clerk last year and easily beat Debby Spicer, 186-102. Spicer was appointed to the clerk position in September when Drobac resigned from her seat, citing the board’s decisions to cut her office hours and pay, to install surveillance cameras in the office and several other measures passed by the board which Drobac felt were intended to harass.
Drobac pledged to increase the transparency of township business.
“The township should have nothing to hide,” she said.
Both successful candidates were also strong supporters of bringing broadband internet to the township.
Interim Clerk Debby Spicer narrowly kept her position for the remainder of Drobac’s previous term, outpolling JoAnn Bassing by two votes, 165-163.
Interim treasurer Belinda Fazio, who ran unopposed, won with 265 votes.
Option B, which would have given the town board the authority to hire a clerk and/or treasurer, lost by a lopsided 215-110.
The results of the election were announced during the board of canvass held following the annual meeting, where the decision was made to reconvene the meeting on Thursday, July 22, at 6:30 p.m.
Head election judge Kathy Lovgren read the election results and Chairman Mike Ralston asked for a motion to accept the results. There was a long pause before Larry Tahija finally said he would put the motion on the floor. When none of the other supervisors volunteered to second the motion, Ralston did. The vote to accept the election results was unanimous.
The winning candidates will be sworn into office at some point prior to the board’s annual reorganization, set for Thursday, March 25.