Goodwill Chekwube Obieze has defeated longtime incumbent Rick Rose to represent Madison’s East Side on the Dane County Board.
Obieze, who served as student Senate vice president at UW-Oshkosh, garnered 54.7 percent of the vote, winning with 2,852 votes to Rose’s 2,340.
Rose has been under scrutiny in recent months after the Opioid Settlement Committee, which he chairs, recommended $2.4 million be spent on a harm reduction center, and CAYA Clinic, where he is employed part-time, was recommended to get the funding.
The Dane County Board of Health ultimately voted against giving CAYA the funding after Madison365 reported that CAYA’s proposal contained many falsehoods regarding partnerships it claimed with Black-led organizations and diversity among its staff. Madison Alder Sabrina Madison, who first raised questions about the proposal, and who lives in Rose’s district, has been sharply critical of Rose’s response to the controversy, accusing him of racist behavior and microaggressions in a series of public meetings since the proposal was derailed.
Madison endorsed Obieze in the County Board race.
