Home Community Following vote to remove fluoride, Alicia Williams launches write-in bid for DeForest Village Board

Following vote to remove fluoride, Alicia Williams launches write-in bid for DeForest Village Board

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Following vote to remove fluoride, Alicia Williams launches write-in bid for DeForest Village Board
Alicia Williams

Alicia Williams won’t be on the ballot on April 1, but she’s running for DeForest Village Board nonetheless.

“I was a little late getting started, but (I’m) going to bring the force and get out and get people to learn how to spell my name,” said Williams, who has declared a write-in candidacy to join the Village Board.

Three at-large seats are up for election, and only incumbents Jan Steffenhagen-Hahn, Rebecca Witherspoon and Jim Simpson filed to run.

On February 4, spurred on by an anti-fluoride activist from Green Bay, the Village Board voted 4-3 to remove fluoride from the village’s water supply despite pushback from village residents. Witherspoon and Simpson both voted to remove the fluoride.

That was too late to file nomination papers to appear on the spring election ballots, but still inspired Williams to run.

“We want our voices to be heard, and we want sound decision-making,” she said in an interview for the 365 Amplified podcast. “If I’m elected, maybe we should have a Scientific Advisory Board. Let’s make common-sense decisions with people who are experts.”

Listen to the full interview:

Voters will vote for three candidates, and the top three vote-getters will take up seats on the board. That means Williams just needs enough write-in votes to get third place.

A write-in candidacy is not unprecendented in the village; in fact, Taysheedra Allen won a seat on the board that way just last year.

Fluoride isn’t the only issue Williams is concerned with.

A community health worker for Humana Insurance, she helps support high-risk populations in Dane and Rock Counties.

“I help people with the social determinants (of health,)” she said. “I help them find housing, food, shelter, clothing. We believe that if you have your basic needs met … then you can thrive.”

She said she’s “intimately aware” of the lack of affordable housing in the area.

“DeForest is a growing town, but we need to make sure we have sustainable growth,” she said. “Affordable housing is important, and we need to balance that growth with preserving the beautiful green spaces we have.”

She also hopes to maintain the small-town feel.

“I love living here. My kids get to grow up riding bike trails with their fishing poles—that’s part of their story,” she said. “I want DeForest to be a place where they want to stay and have the opportunity to stay, no matter what they choose to do in life.”

Before moving to DeForest in 2019, Williams sold insurance all across Iowa, where she honed some key campaigning skills

“I’m not a stranger to knocking on doors and making the sales pitch,” she said. “Whether I win or not, this already feels like a success. I’ve gotten out there, talked to my neighbors, and they know I’m here to help make this place better … I hope I can inspire other people to get involved in their neighborhoods. What I do, day in and day out, is rooted in community—that’s always where I’m going to be.”

You can keep up with Williams’ campaign on Facebook.