Town of Hayward appoints chairman

Meeting in special open session Wednesday May 1, the Town of Hayward Board of Supervisors appointed Benjamin Kurtzweil as interim town chairperson.

Kurtzweil fills the vacancy created by the resignation of interim town chairperson Gary Gedart, which was effective on May 1. Kurtzweil will serve for one year, until the April 2025 election.

Besides Ben Kurtzweil, the board received applications from five other candidates for the town chair position: John Czarnecki, John McCue, Margaret “Peggy” Dobbs, John Froemel and Ron Siemers.

On the first ballot, Dobbs was nominated for chairperson by board member Brenda Dettloff. The motion failed on a 2-3 vote.

The supervisors then voted 4-0 to appoint Kurtzweil as chairperson. He currently serves on the Town of Hayward Planning Commission.

Kurtzweil has worked as a property assessor for 21 years, doing assessments for seven towns in Sawyer County and three towns in Bayfield County.