Jon Doemel and Gordon Hintz, the candidates for Winnebago County executive, participated in an hour-long forum in downtown Oshkosh, March 25, 2025. PC: Fox 11 Online
OSHKOSH, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) — Winnebago County voters have one week left to decide who they want to occupy the political post in their county.
Their two options have very different backgrounds.
On one side is the incumbent, Jon Doemel — the former owner of ZaRoni’s Pizza in Oshkosh, who is still serving his first term in public office. He’s an independent primarily supported by Republicans who defeated the previous incumbent, Mark Harris, by less than 2,000 votes in April 2021.
Across the aisle is Gordon Hintz, a former Democratic State Assembly member who finished his 15-year tenure with a stint as Wisconsin’s Assembly Minority Leader.
The two shared the spotlight at a public forum in downtown Oshkosh on Tuesday morning.
Candidates seeking options for UW-Oshkosh-Fox Cities campus
The biggest item on the agenda — quite literally — is the future of the UW-Oshkosh-Fox Cities campus after an unusual deal with the Menasha Joint School District fell through earlier this month.
As part of the deal, Winnebago County and Outagamie County would have turned over the campus to the district for just $1. Instead, the counties remain on the hook for the $800,000 annual maintenance costs until another solution is found.
As of now, the two counties are planning to split the maintenance cost, so Winnebago County taxpayers would contribute $400,000 for upkeep of vacant buildings.
“We’re ready to pivot,” said Doemel. “We have some closed sessions with facilities today to discuss some of those options, and I’m confident that we are going to have something amazing there for that community that is going to be the best and highest use for that campus.”
Hintz sees the campus as a valuable part of the community.
“We would like to see public use going forward,” said Hintz. “We’d like to see maintaining childcare. We’d like to see the cultural assets like the [Barlow] Planetarium, like the theater, like the Weis [Earth Science Museum] preserved.”
Though Doemel couldn’t speak publicly about their ongoing meetings, he did make a promise about the planetarium and museum.
“The Barlow and the Weis will exist,” said Doemel. “Where they exist is up in the air.”
Until the counties find a suitable buyer for the grounds, they’ll have to find ways to manage the six-figure expense.
“I don’t think we would have to increase taxes,” said Hintz. “But it would probably come at the expense of another program.”
New sales tax is a possibility
Doemel said there’s a chance taxes would increase — either sales or property — but hopes to avoid that. Winnebago County is one of two counties in Wisconsin with no sales tax. A sales tax could arrive, but with a caveat.
“It has to [include] a property tax reduction,” said Doemel. “We are way too dependent on property taxes right now.”
With Winnebago County drawing visitors for EAA Airventure, Lifest, Waterfest and other events throughout the year, they could collect money from citizens of other counties and states.
“People spend money in Winnebago County, and we don’t capture that revenue,” said Hintz. “Some people say we should capture that same benefit. But again, you don’t raise a tax for the sake of doing so, and I wouldn’t lead with that.”
Election Day is Tuesday, April 1. Visit myvotewi.gov to register to vote and find your polling place.
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