Local candidates speak at Red Willow County Republican Candidate’s forum

McCOOK Neb.— Local candidates had a chance to make their case at the Red Willow County Republican Candidate’s forum Sunday

Candidates for local races included Rose Weskamp, Randy Dean, and John O’dea.

Weskamp is running for sub-district one for the Middle Republican Natural Resources District. She is currently on the board of EMR. Weskamp said, “We can all do better with our natural resources. I know that water is a huge issue. It is with me. And I know that there are a lot of solutions out there. We’ve never tried.”

She has offered her property as a test site and an educational piece. She shared that she believes we must start teaching the kids how important water and our natural resources are at a young age. Knowing that we are a nitrate-rich county, she suggests testing soil and water and maybe using less fertilizer based on those tests. “that’s what I’m going to be doing with my cornfield,” Weskamp said, “We’ve got to work together. We do.”

Rose Weskamp and Andy O’Dea are vying for one Subdistrict 1 seat in the Middle Republican Natural Resources District. This race will auto-advance to the General Election. Andy O’Dea was absent at the candidate’s forum.

Randy Dean is running as the incumbent candidate. Dean has served as the current county commissioner for District 2 for three years. Accompanied by his wife, Kathy, he shared his long service history, starting as an EMT on an ambulance crew at 22. He currently serves on the board of directors for Hillcrest Nursing Home and is on the Hillcrest Foundation.

He briefly wanted to share what being a county commissioner entails, saying that most people think it’s all about roads and gravel, of which he says he hired a driver to haul over 10,000 tons of gravel for the roads in District 2 alone. But that is not all they do.

He shared that the county has 67 sections of its budget, and some have up to 50 line items.

He said that the county is involved in many household hazardous waste; for instance, we control the Fair Board, the Sheriff’s Department, and the jail, and it could go on and on and on and on and on top of the road. The one that he’s most involved with is zoning. “We just got through having a big fight on solar fields west of McCook,” Dean said.

He discussed the decreased levy despite an increased valuation, “We’ve lowered the mill to keep the county’s property taxes down. I can’t say the same about some of the other taxable entities in the county,” Dean said.

C. John O’Dea and Shane D. Messersmith will challenge incumbent Randy Dean on the Republican ballot for one District 2 seat on the Red Willow County Board of Commissioners. The race will be decided in May’s election. Messersmith was absent from the candidate’s form.

Local cattleman John O’Dea, or as he calls himself, ‘Big John, ‘cited his diverse background, saying, “I’ve done basically every nasty mean job there is to do...There is nobody in this county that I can’t relate to.”

Married to his wife for 24 years, O’Dea is proud that his two sons are local business owners. “I spent a whole life here; I have no desire to be anywhere else.”

O’Dea has served on the Southwest Public School’s school board for 10 years.

He is proud that the school board has held its budget nearly flat before the state told them to.

Three federal candidates were represented at the candidate’s forum. Cole Lumsden represents Senator Deb Fischer, John Walz for the House of Representatives 3rd District, and John Glenn Weaver for the US Senate.