Berning’s Alarming Statements
This letter to the editor, by Peg Audley, appeared in the Hudson Star Observer on April 2, 2026.
I am alarmed at the statements Paul Berning made in the HSO voters’ guide regarding his vision for St. Croix County. Many of his so-called plans not only ignore the wishes of county residents, they often fall outside the purview of the county’s scope and jurisdiction and do not accurately reflect his voting history.
In the voter’s guide he says that the nursing home needs to be paying their mortgage within the next two years “County taxpayers should not be stuck subsidizing costs that the operation itself should be able to carry.” He previously led the charge to sell and privatize the home - that the home is now able to pay half of the debt annually, is above and beyond the 2015 original agreement when the County Board approved the campus never expecting the home to assume the debt.
He wanted to fight the Public Service Commission and Xcel Energy on the solar energy project at Ten Mile Creek and argued against negotiating a joint development agreement. No one has ever won this kind of fight against the state and fighting it would serve no purpose other than to take taxpayer dollars away from the needs of St. Croix County residents.
He further led the charge against a vetted federal program that allowed refugees to settle in our county. Even though he claimed partisan politics aren’t part of the board, he recklessly pursued the issue, hoping to gain conservative support against a federal program that is outside the scope of the county and selfishly put county tax dollars in jeopardy.
His short sighted idea to eliminate the wheel tax, which funds our highway department, road maintenance, snow removal and for which we receive no state money - essentially jeopardizes our road safety.
He claims to support law enforcement, yet actively campaigned against the public safety referendum. He supports using sales tax revenue for the debt service vs. using property tax, which will not close the debt service gap but will create unreliable and fluctuating revenue that heedlessly depends on the economy.
Overall, his self-serving, grandstanding theatrics only waste valuable time, resources and do not address or consider the needs of St. Croix County residents. If re-elected, he will clearly continue to pursue his personal agenda and neglect to support the county services that St. Croix County residents have grown to expect.