Washington Co., WI – The deadline to file candidacy papers for the Spring Election, April 5, 2022, is 5 p.m. Tuesday, January 4, 2022.
In Washington County, the Board of Supervisors has been trimmed from 26 districts to 21. Click HERE to see who has filed and the seats still open.
There has been some redistricting in Washington County; click HERE for the latest maps.
In District 1 a noticeable non-candidacy has been filed as Supervisor Kris Deiss steps aside. “I had been thinking about stepping out,” said Deiss. “I wasn’t looking forward to being out in the cold getting signatures and one evening I was thinking I didn’t really have to run.”
Deiss then cites a wonderful quote she found on social media that read, “The older you get the more you realize how precious life is and you have no desire for drama, conflict or stress. You just want good friends, a cozy home, food on the table and people who make you happy.”
“That’s the point I have reached,” said Deiss who officially filed non-candidacy December 10, 2021. “The decision was even a surprise to me….” said Deiss. “I’ve put in 8 years on the Washington County Board, and I reached a point it is time to get on with the next part of my life.”
“I worked at the County for 30 years but 15 of those years I was in the elected position as the Clerk of Courts,” said Deiss.
Deiss spent three decades working with judges in Washington County. “I worked in the Clerk of Courts office maybe 8 years and then I was appointed the Register and Probate in the Clerk of Juvenile Court by the judges,” Deiss said. “I was in that position until I ran for Clerk of Circuit Courts and that was when Carol Puerling did not run again.”
The head Washington County Judge at the time was Judge Richard T. Becker
“I worked with him as his judicial assistant for five years before I retired,” said Deiss.
Other Washington County Judges in the court system while Deiss was there included Judge Tom Merriam, Judge James Schwalbach, Judge Becker, Judge Leo Schlaefer, Judge Lawrence Waddick, Judge David Resheske, Judge Andrew Gonring, Judge Annette Ziegler, and Judge Patrick Faragher.
Wearing a number of political hats, Deiss was also District 1 alderwoman in the City of West Bend. She was initially appointed to the aldermanic seat in May 2005 when alderman Doug Bade was elected mayor. Fast forward two years and 2007 when Deiss, who was council president at the time, was named acting mayor after Bade resigned to take a job outside the state.
Deiss was elected the first female mayor of West Bend in 2008.
“When I was Clerk of Circuit Court, I was involved on a number of state committees and I took great pride in being on the committee that built the new Justice Center for the courts,” Deiss said.
“I’ve enjoyed my time on the County Board and I enjoyed my time with the City.”
Deiss is born and raised in West Bend. “I was in the Class of 1965 at the old West Bend High School,” she said.
Carl Mayer was Deiss’s father. “He was the first and only Chief of Police for Barton,” she said.
Retirement for Deiss will be directed by “the Man upstairs.”
“I plan on enjoying my kids and my grandkids,” she said.
Photo courtesy Washington County.