Madison Ald. David Ahrens, District 15, will run for a vacant seat on the Dane County Board of Supervisors, he told the Cap Times Thursday.
Ahrens, who is not running for reelection to the council, will contend for county board seat 17, left vacant by former Supervisor Jeff Pertl, who resigned in February to take a job in the Evers Administration. Pertl, who now serves as the Deputy Secretary of the Wisconsin Department of Children and Families, was one of three Supervisors to resign in order to take positions in the new governor’s administration.
A six-year alder, Ahrens currently represents two districts. In addition to being the elected alder for District 15 on Madison’s east side, he took over the duties of adjacent District 3 after Ald. Amanda Hall resigned in February. Council President Samba Baldeh decided Hall’s resignation was too close to the April 2 election to appoint an interim alder and asked Ahrens to take over her position.
In his time on the council, Ahrens has been vocal about his displeasure in the way the city spends money. He was the only alder to vote against the 2017 budget, which he said was “not fair for taxpayers and ... not sustainable.”
He has also criticized the city’s handing of the Judge Doyle Square development project, which has cost the city hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal fees in their lawsuit against the developer.
Ahrens has recently been the subject of controversy when an east side strip club announced they intended to sue him for slander after he started a petition to have the club’s alcohol license revoked. In his petition, Ahrens alleged the club was “a hub of illegal behavior including shootings, thefts, drug-selling, and prostitution.”
The special primary election for the county board is tentatively scheduled for May 7, with a general election scheduled for June 4, though the dates have not yet been approved by the board and are subject to change.
