STEVENS POINT – Two candidates will face off in the Aug. 9 Republican primary race for the 71st Assembly District. The League of Women Voters of the Stevens Point Area (LWVSPA) recently reached out to candidates, Robert Glisczinski and Scott Soik, to get their take on current issues and provide a little bit of their background. Here are their responses:

Please share with us your educational background and work experience relevant to serving as the Assembly representative from the 71st District:

Graduate of Amherst High School, US Army Military Police School, USAF Patrol dog handler school, National Registry of EMTs, Mid State Tech Apprentice School. My career has included being crew leader and foreman on many jobs from power plants, paper mills and water treatment facilities to schools and municipal projects.

 Given the now nearly weekly mass shootings in this country, are you in favor of gun reform legislation in our state, and if so, what specific legislation would you support?

I believe legislation to approve teachers and staff in our schools be allowed to have firearms at their disposal to protect the children until police respond. There are also many veterans and retired law enforcement who would be willing to provide armed security at such places like schools, public events, and malls. The “gun free zone” signs have not stopped those with evil intent, and we cannot expect other legislation to affect the criminal element. We have these other resources I mentioned at our disposal and failing to utilize them makes efforts to push so called “gun reform” legislation disingenuous.

In your view, is the 1849 Wisconsin law that prohibits nearly all abortions too restrictive? If so, what legislation might you support that would allow for abortion, and under what circumstances?

I do not find the law protecting the unborn lives overly restrictive. I see the unborn lives precious gifts from God and are deserving of our protection. I do believe there is much work that needs to be done to make adoptions more streamlined to find loving homes for those born of mothers who find themselves unwilling or unable to raise the child. I also believe that there are cases where the pregnancy may endanger the mother’s life. Every effort to save the mother should be made while doing all in the doctor’s power to save the child’s life. Not all babies will survive these procedures, but the effort needs to be made and more will be saved than if the first option is to end the child’s life through abortion. As medical advancements are made, more lives will be saved as well. I do not believe the one person who should suffer and die from accidental pregnancy should be the most innocent. 

What legislative solutions do you propose to rectify the contamination of citizens’ wells by nitrates and other harmful chemicals in our 71st Assembly District?

First and foremost, regarding nitrate pollution, we need to determine if there is a problem. Many samples are of dubious origin and independent sampling and testing needs to be performed to ensure we are starting the conversation with clean data. In the Nelsonville area it is obvious that there are other agendas at play besides “clean groundwater” and there is no place for such games when groundwater quality and people’s livelihoods are at stake. We see this all too often lately where “the science” gets tainted by political opinion and personal agendas and the “experts” from the UWSP who have been involved in the Nelsonville issue are proof of that. We need to stop allowing such prejudice from tainting our policy making processes. I wish to solve the issue of nitrates, but we also need to be realistic in that there are mitigation options available such as reverse osmosis systems that can be employed to remove nitrates that may be sourced from residential septic systems as well as agriculture. Clean data and unbiased solutions must be at the core of any solutions proposed and those solutions must be equitable and fair without using the power of government to further personal agendas.

What is your view of solar farms and the increasing role they can play in our state and county to move us from dependence on fossil fuels?

Solar farms in my view are an alternative that we are not fully capable of embracing at this point. There is only 4.2 hours of useable daylight in our area and there are no concrete plans for disposal of the panels at their end of life. This may result in much toxic waste produced with no solutions. The power companies themselves have affirmed this. That is why I suspect that they are sub-contracting solar farms to insulate themselves from this liability. We lack the technology to make solar anything other than a supplemental source so we will always need reliable energy from fossil fuels and nuclear to keep our power grid alive.I also see it as a fool’s errand to be siting solar farms on prime/productive ag land. We have ample marginal ground these facilities could utilize and taking farmland out of production while there are hungry mouths to feed seems sinful. We also need to rid ourselves of the idea that “fossil fuels” is a dirty word. The so-called “fossil fuels” are natural resources that are harvest from the earth and if we put the efforts and financial resources we waste on “pie-in-the-sky” “green energy”, we would be able to utilize these natural resources called fossil fuels in a far more harmless manner than most of the “green energy” proposals. One such technology is ReACT which is in use here in WI and I know that if we took the politics out of our science, we could find other solutions. I embrace an “all of the above” stance when it comes to energy production but with the caveat that sound science untainted by emotion and politics must be at the core of such decisions. I would much rather see efforts to promote nuclear energy as a power source over technology like wind and solar at this point because the sheer volume of hazardous waste is much less and shouldn’t that one of our primary concerns? 

Please share with us your educational background and work experience relevant to serving as the Assembly representative from the 71st District:

Education: Stevens Point Area Senior High School: 1990-1993; United States Marine Corps: 1993-1997; Colorado School of Trades: 1998-2000.

Employment:  1997-2007, Earth Inc. ; 2006 to present, owner, River Valley Specialized Machining.

Political Experience: 2004-06: Town of Linwood Board Supervisor; 2004-12: Town of Linwood Plan Commission; 2011-17: Portage County Board of Adjustment; 2011-17: St. Paul Lutheran School Board; 2017-20: Town of Linwood Plan Commission Chairman; 2020 to present: Portage County Board of Supervisors.

Given the now nearly weekly mass shootings in this country, are you in favor of gun reform legislation in our state, and if so, what specific legislation would you support?

These shootings and the other violence and crime we are seeing across this nation is tragic. We must always hold criminals accountable for their actions. It is clear that we have growing issues surrounding mental health and we must do better here in Wisconsin and across the country in helping deal with it. That’s why it is so unfortunate that Katrina Shankland has repeatedly voted against funding increases for mental health treatment in Wisconsin.

As your state representative, I will uphold my oath and protect our constitutional rights and make sure we focus more strongly on mental health issues.

In your view, is the 1849 Wisconsin law that prohibits nearly all abortions too restrictive? If so, what legislation might you support that would allow for abortion, and under what circumstances?

I believe that life is precious and am the only candidate in the Republican Primary on Aug. 9 who has been endorsed by Wisconsin Right to Life.

What legislative solutions do you propose to rectify the contamination of citizens’ wells by nitrates and other harmful chemicals in our 71st Assembly District?

The first step to addressing water quality issues is making sure we have accurate data identifying the problems that exist. There is no one size fits all solution to water quality in Wisconsin or even here in Portage County; varying soil types, bedrock, and land use make this a difficult problem. I believe the state can work to compile data collected by local governments and individual homeowners to pinpoint any areas with contamination and notify residents if their well may be in need of remediation. The state can also work to educate homeowners about the importance of regular well testing and resources that exist if test results raise concerns. What we don’t need are sweeping regulations on our farmers who work tirelessly to put food on our tables.

What is your view of solar farms and the increasing role they can play in our state and county to move us from dependence on fossil fuels?

In late June, I attended the Midwest Renewable Energy Fair right here in the 71st District. I was able to learn about some of the emerging energy technologies on the market today and the companies that produce them. As a free market advocate, I am happy to see these new technologies and businesses gain traction and hope they will help lead to lower energy costs for the residents of Portage County. 

I support finding ways to lower energy costs for Wisconsinites and the residents of Portage County. With gas prices at record highs and out of control inflation, legislators need to focus on keeping energy prices down. We are not seeing that kind of leadership from our current representative. If elected, I will work to ensure the residents of Portage County have access to affordable and reliable energy sources to heat their homes and travel.

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