GREENWOOD TWP- In a hotly-contested election here, Robert “Rick” Stoehr defeated longtime Greenwood Supervisor Carmen DeLuca, 162-104, to fill the open supervisor seat on the five-member town board. Incumbent Clerk Debby Spicer, running unopposed, kept her seat with 145 votes, though write-in candidate JoAnn Bassing received 94 votes.
There were 268 votes cast, including 56 absentee votes, by the unofficial vote count.
The election of Stoehr will shift the balance of power on the board, which also saw two incumbents ousted in last year’s election when Barb Lofquist defeated incumbent Larry Tahija by seven votes, and Sue Drobac defeated incumbent Byron Beihoffer by 40 votes.
On many issues this past year, board votes have split along a 3-2 line, with Drobac and Lofquist in the minority. Stoehr campaigned on providing positive change for the township, for simplifying the township’s tedious data practices policy, and for having supervisors who “actually perform the work” they were elected to do.
Bassing had run for the one-year clerk opening last year and lost by a slim two-vote margin. She opted not to file this year, but later mounted a last-minute write-in campaign.
DeLuca was first elected to the board in 2008 and served four non-consecutive terms on the board. Stoehr ran once before for supervisor in 2019, losing by only a handful of votes.
Stoehr has lived in Greenwood Township since 1995. He moved to the Iron Range in 1977, and worked at Minntac until 2009, when he retired. An active Navy veteran, Stoehr is perhaps best known for his volunteer work with the Eighth District VFW, where he most recently served as District Commander, overseeing the 20 posts in the Eighth District.
Annual meeting
Residents at the Greenwood Annual Meeting voted 25-13 to continue the annual meeting to Thursday, June 23 at 6 p.m.
Before a vote for the moderator could be called, John Bassing put a motion on the floor to recess the meeting because the clerk had failed to publish the required notice at least 10 days prior to the meeting, as set forth in state statute.
Clerk Debby Spicer said she had talked with the Minnesota Association of Townships attorney Steve Fenske who told her that “most townships vote to not follow that.” Spicer added the notice was posted on the website and the township bulletin board. In past years, Greenwood Township, along with most other area townships, has published notice of their annual meeting in their official newspaper. In either case, the town board never voted to go without the published notice.
Bassing said moving the meeting to June also gave the opportunity for “snowbirds” to attend the meeting, and that there would be more information available about both the broadband and ALS ambulance issues, which could help in the decision of setting the 2023 levy. Greenwood has often continued its meeting until summer, and the township is not required to set their levy in March.
At the request of an audience member, township residents were forced to vote by paper ballot on Bassing’s motion, which confirmed almost two-to-one support to continue the meeting at a later date.
Most of the approximately 40 people in the audience then sat and waited for the township election results, which took another 45 minutes, slowed by the number of write-in votes in the clerk’s race.
The board then held its Board of Canvass. The new supervisor will be sworn in prior to the reorganizational meeting set for March 24.
The board also voted to set a special meeting for Tuesday, March 15 to pay claims and payroll and pass a resolution affirming the township’s voting place. The board had planned to do this business after the March 8 meeting, but the meeting was not properly noticed as a special meeting. Special meetings, held outside of the regular date, time, or location, need to have a specific agenda posted, and only items on that agenda can be acted on at the meeting.