Mystery group sends emails
By James Card
The town of Dayton has a couple new faces in its upcoming election on Tuesday, April 4.
Running for town chair are Jeff Barlow – whose is currently a town supervisor – and newcomer Fred Silloway.
Current town chair John Miller is stepping down and running for town supervisor. Also gunning for that position are incumbents Jeff Barlow and Jim Peglow. Newcomer Dan Johnson is also running for a town supervisor spot.
Barlow can legally run for both the chair and supervisor position. If he were to win both races, he must resign from one of the offices and then the town advertises that position and takes applications.
The current two board members and the clerk interview candidates and each vote for a substitute to fill the open seat. Barlow has been on the town board for the past six years.
Town Clerk Wanda Hiltgen and Treasurer Brenda Hewitt are running unopposed.
Mystery emails
Starting this past winter, Dayton residents received emails from an anonymous account named the “Dayton Information Group (DIG).” The group emailed the candidates with five questions: reasons for running, what they stand for, specific changes to make, how they will campaign, and how they will communicate to electors. The group has claimed to be unbiased on issues.
In a March 16 email to Dayton residents, Barlow addressed the anonymous emails and clarified the emails were not coming from the township. He emailed the group requesting that they identify themselves and the group did not reply.
“It is clear DIG is not interested in a free and fair election, and only provides misleading information in an attempt to confuse voters and support certain candidates. They are obviously trying to persuade the town electors to promote their personal agenda,” he wrote.
Barlow also addressed how the email addresses of voters can be obtained. The state of Wisconsin has a public voter list that can be purchased. Not all of the listings have email addresses.
Barlow obtained a list for Dayton and found it has 1,871 registered voters with 726 email addresses. He cited https.badgervoters.wi.gov to learn more.
Hiltgren refused to comment or elaborate on the matter by telephone. However, the towns did post an official memo on its website:
“The Town Board is aware of emails being sent by a group called the Dayton Information Group. The Township has received complaints regarding the sharing of personal email addresses. The Town of Dayton did not share personal email addresses with anyone. Many residents are receiving information that is not officially from the Town of Dayton nor does it properly explain state laws, statutes and procedures. The information being shared is the opinions of a group of individuals.”
Partnered platform
Informal Meet-the-Candidates events at the Dayton Town Hall were scheduled for March 25, 27 and 31. In a March 23 email further addressing the identity of DIG Barlow wrote that he was hesitant to answer any further questions about DIG.
He also stated he was not going to the Meet-the-Candidates events: “I am uncomfortable with the idea of using town and taxpayer resources for campaign purposes as an elected official,” he wrote.
At the March 25 gathering, only Silloway, Johnson and Miller were present. They formed a three-man campaign committee they named “Dayton Deserves Better.”
All three have websites with the following format: dayton4lastname.wixsite.com/dayton4lastname
Here are a few of their key concerns and ideas:
• Dayton has never had an internal audit of financial data by an independent CPA, a standard business practice that ensures misuse of resources is detected.
• Dayton does not have a budget for parks and recreation. They think the town should invest in this as it benefits residents and visitors, noting that tourism is a key business in the town.
• The town has $1 million in cash previously collected from the taxpayers. They recognize that high-speed internet is essential to modern life and investing in this infrastructure to get it to people in rural pockets that are still on dial-up.
Fred Silloway
Silloway is a UW-Stevens Point graduate and spent 30 years working in the field of in-store marketing design. He is currently a partner in an accounting firm that consults owners of tax and accounting firms in seven states. He is the president of the Friends of Hartman Creek State Park, a Waupaca Historical Society volunteer, a chair of the Waupaca Chain O’ Lakes District Board and on the Dayton Planning Commission.
“Transparency. Open and proactive communication. Clear and concise. I have not seen that on a consistent basis with the current board.
Collaboration is the second point. We’re in this together. There’s been a lot of animosity and divisiveness built upon where you live with the township. I don’t understand that but I’m collaborative. All of us have common goals. I’m a firm believer in reinvesting in the community and build a sense of community. We’re fragmented here in Dayton. You’ve got the lake community, the agricultural community, the rural and the residential, we’re spread out. We’re working to bring people together,” said Silloway.
Dan Johnson
Johnson has two bachelor’s degrees and two master’s degrees. His career background is in the telecommunications industry and he has researched and developed cellphone and network technology. He is retired but is active on the water: he’s a boating safety instructor, chairman on the Chain O’ Lakes advisory committee and a committee member of Wisconsinlakes.org, a nonprofit group.
Johnson has paid attention to the town board activities and he wondered why certain decisions were made. “I didn’t feel if the make-up of the board was working together and they were communicating things to the community in a timely manner. I didn’t feel as if their decision based off of data and input from subject experts. Part of that is my background. Being in research and development and being an engineer, the decisions I made were based off of very solid foundations of facts and data. If I don’t know it, I reach out to somebody that does,” said Johnson.
John Miller
Miller’s decision to step down as chair (he has served for the past eight years) and run for a town supervisor spot is a matter of an older veteran taking a mentor or consultant role.
“I was impressed by Fred and Dan and I fully support both of them but what I agreed to do, rather than step down totally, I thought I could lend my experience to help or guide or answer questions they don’t know. It takes some time to get an understanding of all the rules and regulations that we have. It’s time for new blood to come in,” said Miller.
Candidate Jeff Barlow responded to issues raised in this article