In a special election on the recall of DeForest Board of Trustees member Bill Landgraf, challenger Alicia Williams overwhelmingly defeated him and Stacey Peterson, another challenger, earning 78.4% of the vote. Landgraf got 10.8% and Peterson 10.6%.
With three candidates in the race, if no candidate got more than 50% of the votes, the top two candidates would go on to a general election in November. Williams’ vote total was enough to declare her the winner outright.
“Thank you, DeForest,” Williams said in a phone call with Madison365 after the results were announced.
The Board of Trustees has been under public pressure since voting in February 4-3 to remove fluoride from the village’s water supply. Landgraf was one of the votes in favor of removal. Following that vote, Williams ran a write-in campaign, coming just over 100 votes shy of winning a seat. Landgraf was not up for election at that time.
Residents started collecting signatures for a recall against Landgraf over the summer based largely on the way he behaved during the debate over fluoride.
Several village residents told Madison365 that he made a habit of “lurking” in his car outside the homes of political opponents. He acknowledged to Madison365 that he called the employer of a dental hygienist who spoke in favor of fluoride in the water, but insisted he did not intend to indimidate her. He also admitted to Madison365 that he posed as a reporter for a national newspaper in an effort get an opponent of fluoride removal, who had chosen to stay anonymous, to identify herself.
Williams said one of her first priorities after she’s sworn in would be to get a code of conduct implemented, “so that when residents feel like they’re being targeted or harassed, they don’t have to recall a member, and that lets everybody know the rules that we’re playing by. And put something with some teeth in it, because it’s important.”
Whether or not the board implements formal rules for conduct, Williams hopes to bring civility to the board.
“I think this (election results) is a message to the board that we want our voices heard, and we want to be heard in a respectful, civil manner,” she said. “I think now more than ever, we want to have civility, we want to have kindness in how we choose to talk about local politics.”
Original article online at: https://madison365.com/alicia-williams-overwhelmingly-wins-recall-in-deforest-incumbent-unseated-in-primary/