Profiles of Smets' opponents:

• JoAnne Evans
• Mark Olsen
• Carol Olson

Issues Page: O&A with all the School Boards candidates

Budget issues of Eau Claire at a glance

 With questions and comments e-mail Elisabeth Barth

Voters' Guide home page

Anton Smets- financial advice for all

Omne is a Dutch word and means "for all". Omne is also the name of a mental health clinic in Eau Claire owned by Anton Smets, a psychologist and one of the four candidates for the upcoming school board elections. Four candidates will be running for three open positions. Smets' goal is to provide professional financial advice "for all" involved in school matters. He picked this name for his business for a specific reason. He was born in the Netherlands and moved to Eau Claire 25 years ago.

Smets said there are two reasons why somebody would run for a public office. "Either you want to replace a member or you want to provide community service." Smets' ambition to become a member of the school board is to be in service for his community. 

"What makes me distinctive from other school board members is experience." He said that he would have the long term business experience needed to run the school board successfully. Smets gained a well grounded knowledge in how to invest money most efficiently by first hand experience in his own health business.

"I am 49 years now and having lived for 25 years in Eau Claire," he said," I am looking for a way to give back the service the community provided for me." He also added that he felt obligated to volunteer somewhere. For him, the School Board is the ideal option to do so as he knows the challenge of accomplishing much with limited resources.

"I myself have two grown-up children," Smets said," so I am familiar with the needs and problems in a school system." Throughout most of his career he has advocated for children and parents and has learned how to make budgets work.

To the question why he became a psychologist, he answered "I am a people person." Back in his high school years, when he was 12, he already had to decide in which direction his academic career would go. An introductory day at a college turned out to be crucial for his decision. "I had a good instructor who helped me to see that I want to help people with mental problems."

Smets also profited from his knowledge in psychology in other fields outside his clinic. In the late 70s he worked as a school psychologist in La Crosse. He trained teachers and helped them in solving problems between teachers and students.

"My personal goal is to live healthy, continue with what I have been doing so far and to be a good grandfather some time." Smets likes movies and to entertain and loves to cook for others. At home he works on big improvement projects on his house. Being born in a different cultural environment, Smets can see Eau Claire from a more objective point of view.

"What I like about Eau Claire are the distinct seasons," said Smets, "and the fact that the crime rate is relatively low.": In his eyes, Eau Claire does not have extremes and the people here have high values. He also said that Eau Claire is an interesting area as far as economy is concerned. Many newly developed  products are tried on people in Wisconsin to find out more about  its quality.