Scheffler announces Crow Wing County Board challenge

Troy Scheffler announced his candidacy to represent District 4 on the Crow Wing County Board.

In a news release, Scheffler said he has never held office and is not a career politician, nor does he wish to be.

“I do this out of obligation to my county, nation, and God,” Scheffler stated. “Our County Board is weak and ineffectual. The Board fails to represent the people who elected them and instead allows unelected bureaucrats within the county to push the county in the direction they wish; often times the opposite of what The People wish.

“I want bold leadership that openly addresses the community's interests plainly and clearly without the mealy-mouthed excuses and cowardly omissions of the truth that we all have grown accustomed to. No more. If I want to see the change I expect then I can only expect to be that change. This is why I am going to take District 4 back for The People.

“It is abundantly clear that the current make-up of the board is using the position as a retirement program and I personally am not ready to let Crow Wing drift into retirement too.”

Scheffler described the county’s COVID-19 response as a “hysterical disaster,” adding the county assisted the state in shutting down and fining businesses while now expecting taxpayers to tighten their belts with rising property taxes and no vision for the future.

“I will join you in our struggle, something not one of this current Board would ever do, and will commit $10,000 of my first year’s salary to be donated back to community causes. After all, it isn’t my money, it’s yours,” Scheffler stated.

Scheffler said he would bring transparency to the board and stop the isolation of municipalities the county should be serving. He said he would bring communication and cooperation between the sheriff’s office and local police agencies and if the board can’t fill empty deputy positions with the budget it has, Scheffler said he would vote to cut commissioner wages.

“Our Sheriff’s Department is in shambles, our patrol deputies are spread thin, and our jail is suffering dangerous levels of morale. I am sick and tired of seeing all our county workers with the boots on the ground taken for granted,” Scheffler stated. “However, the public would never know it because they all always selflessly do their jobs keeping our roads smooth as silk while our Board absolutely refuses to rock the boat in fear they may not be reelected. Help is on the way guys.”

Scheffler said mental health issues will be a top priority for him as children, police and veterans fall through the cracks. He said the County Board refuses to engage in projects the whole community can invest in and be a part in building, not only from an infrastructure standpoint, but as a project of civic ownership.

“Simply said, the current board members are conventional, not creative. Suicide and other deaths of despair are wholly ignored except with Commissioner comments such as, ‘I don't know why we're in such a big hurry to save somebody like this; I guess it sounds kind of harsh, but it kind of gets rid of a problem, in my mind.’ No, these are symptoms, the problem is the people we allow to sit as Commissioners,” Scheffler stated.

A unified and self-sufficient county that doesn’t feel the need to take marching orders from the state is a goal, according to Scheffler’s release.

“This idea of mortgaging our future in relentless and saturating dependency will come to an end to a degree that we will be able to weather any storm that comes from State and Federal ineptitude. We will have a contingency plan established where we don’t have to suffer through threats of food and baby formula shortages. We are an amazing community and there is no reason we cannot have a County Board that prioritizes such a vision,” he stated.

“We will rehabilitate Brainerd without hindering Baxter. We will bring back the idea of having a County Corps. We will give our youth reasons to stay in the County after graduation because after all, who will later take care of us if we don’t? We will take our County back and we will do all these things together.”

Scheffler is challenging incumbent Commissioner Rosemary Franzen. District 4 includes Lake Edward Township, the majority of the First Assessment District, as well as the city of Baxter north of Highway 210 and the city of Brainerd’s Ward 2, Precinct 1.