County Commissioner District 3
William Stearns
Occupation:
Self-employed owner of an insurance business
Relevant Education and Experience:
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I have a four year college degree in business management and have been self-employed in the insurance business in Wadena since Jan. 1, 1978. I have been a county commissioner representing District 3 for the past 8 years.
1. Please describe what you feel differentiates you as a candidate from your opponent:
That same education and experience in business and government that I have listed above.
2. Are there any areas in policy where you differ from previous county board decisions? If so, please explain. If not, give examples of what policies you agree with.
Since I have voted with the majority most of the time the past eight years one could say that I probably did not disagree with the majority position very much. I just voted to raise the tax levy for next year 2.9 percent. I feel we are at a point with budget that we will only need small inflationary increases in the levy instead of large staggering ones like the 9.9 percent one a few years ago. We live under "the rule of law" not "the rule of men" and freedom does cost money.
3. What specific new
initiatives would you like to do if you are elected to the job?
Other than sharing services and department heads with other counties when it makes sense I really do not see any new initiatives. With the state facing another $5 billion deficit in the 2012-13 biennium, just replacing lost state aid dollars will be enough of a challenge. The state needs to eliminate some of their programs instead of just pulling the plug on funding them and then mandating that the counties still fund them through the property tax.
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One thing, however, we can say is that we are "debt free" in Wadena County and there are not a lot of counties that can say that.
