Wisconsin Primary Next Tuesday Small, but Important

Felicity Bosk 

Wisconsin will hold a primary election on Tuesday, February 20. The ballot will be noticeably small with just three names on it. The only election is for Supreme Court Justice, a politically nonpartisan seat. The top two candidates with the most votes will go onto the next election in April. The candidates are Rebecca Dallet, Michael Screnock, and Tim Burns. 

Dallet resides in Whitefish Bay, and has been a judge for the Milwaukee County Circuit Court since 2008. She has stated on her website the criminal justice system is in need of reform. She has denounced partisanship in high court elections on twitter, especially political campaign contributions. 
Screnock lives in Reedsburg and has been a judge on the Sauk County Circuit Court since 2015. He was once the finance director for the city of Ashland. He was appointed to his seat by Gov. Scott Walker before winning an election to maintain that judgeship. 
Burns lives in Middleton, is an attorney for Perkins Coie LLP, and is a board member of the American Constitution Society. Burns will be in Superior on Thursday the 15 at 10 a.m. at the Kitchen restaurant for a meet and greet. Burns has been endorsed by progressive groups like Citizen Action of Wisconsin.

The general election for the Wisconsin Supreme Court will be April 3. 
In August there will be a primary election for the 7th Congressional District that serves in the U.S. House of Representatives. The seat is currently held by Sean Duffy. Last week Margret Engebretson announced her candidacy in Superior. She will be in Superior again holding a campaign kickoff and fundraiser on Thursday February 15 at 6 p.m. at Vintage Italian Pizza. The general election for that seat will be Nov. 6. 

Superior Lessens Restrictions on Tourist Homes, Air BnB
 
Superior homeowners can put their houses up on Air BnB and similar home-sharing websites. The City Council recently approved an ordinance change allowing tourist homes in all residential districts. 
Previous rules for home sharing said that the property must be either a single family or duplex housing and must have paved off street parking. After a resident requested approval of a special permit for tourist housing, the planning commission looked at the restrictions and decided to change them. 
“It was put it in front of plan commission, and they basically asked themselves why do we have restrictions at all? Let them be in any district,” said Jason Serck, Planning Director. 
Serck said that this is different from how Duluth regulates tourist homes. There, a resident must have their permit approved by the Duluth City Council and the city also limits the amount of permits given to 60. As of June 2017 all 60 permits had been granted or were under review. Superior has no cap on the amount of permits given out.  

“The planning commission opinion was, these places are revenue generators. They’re going to be upkept. They’ll be good, nice looking facilities, and you won’t even know they’re there. Also that motel/hotel tax adds to our commerce,” said Serck. 
The city defines tourist homes as “a dwelling in which accommodations are provided or offered for one or more, but not exceeding ten, transient guests for compensation for a length of stay not to exceed 30 consecutive nights.”