Waupaca County residents are ready to see a new direction in the district attorney’s office. Republican Veronica Isherwood and Democratic challenger Robert Forseth are poised to do just that, replacing former D.A. John Snider. Both candidates spoke at last month’s Waupaca County Board Meeting.
Robert Forseth
Forseth graduated from Waupaca High School in 2001, and received his Bachelors degree in Political Science and Social Science from UW-Stevens Point in 2008. In 2011, he graduated from Thomas Cooley Law School in Grand Rapids, Michigan, with an emphasis on constitutional law.
Forseth says the biggest thing that he would like to emphasize within the District Attorney’s Office is public interaction.
“I’d like to see the office interact with the public a lot more and represent the constituents better,” said Forseth. “I want he public to feel comfortable coming to the office with their issues, and having them addressed.”
Forseth believes he’ll be able to do that better than anyone because he is already publicly engaged daily.
“I’m currently the head wrestling coach at Waupaca high school. I’ve been all the way up to Embarrass and Clintonville and I’ve had people that have recognized me from wrestling duels and just being involved with the wrestling team.”
Forseth takes great pride in coaching wrestling and hopes he would continue to coach if he were to win the election. His public engagement, however, doesn’t stop there.
“I’ve been very active in the Lion’s Club in the last several loves and I really appreciate it. Some of the things you can see me involved with in that is the Iola car show. I usually organize organize the members to volunteer for parking the cars, but I’m also involved in the county fair,” Forseth added.
It’s public engagement that helped him get started in this race, and he believes that is what it will take to restore the public’s confidence in the Waupaca County District Attorneys Office, while understanding his office also needs to work more closely and better support local law enforcement.
Veronica Isherwood
Current Waupaca County Assistant District Attorney Veronica Isherwood is running on the Republican ticket and believes experience matters for the position.
Shes been an Assistant District Attorney for 15 years, spending the last 2 years in Waupaca County. She believes it’s her familiarity with the county that makes her the best candidate.
“Being in Waupaca County I can see what needs to be changed in that office,” she believes. “I believe there needs to be an overhaul of polices. We need to do a better job of triaging our cases so that the important cases are given the greatest priority.”
Isherwood claims that she has the support of law enforcement because she takes great pride in working closely and effectively with authorities.
“I believe that I have shown them that I am available 24/7, that I give the appropriate answers, and that I’m willing to come to the scene and help anytime they need it. Those men and women are out everyday, risking their lives to keep us safe, and if we drop the ball in the district attorney’s office, why have we bothered?”
Along with day-to-day duties, Isherwood says she is aware of the need to be cost-effective in the county, and identifies ways that can be achieved by simply running a paperless office.
“I think that our office can work smarter,” Isherwood claimed. “The money that we can save on paper, on copying costs, on mailing costs, is tremendous. That also goes for staff as being paperless will reduce the burden on staff.”
Isherwood hopes to save not only money in the office, but also everyone’s time. She says everyone from attorneys to secretaries are constantly looking for files in any one of the thousands of open cases at a time. Making these changes, she believes, will result in a more efficient office.
