Board Activites So Far

I did attend the new County Board Supervisor Orientation on April 25.  This was a largely informational meeting that, while not closed session, was probably not of interest to the public.  I am also now listed on the county's website as the Supervisor for District 3.


1 potential upcoming issue


Night meetings.  While the board meeting was in recess, one supervisor mentioned to me that some of the Board meetings may be moved to the evenings, and stated that he "Would never show up for a night meeting."  My initial inclination includes some concern for this type of thinking.  While I respect this supervisor, I disagree with his opinion on this issue.  Is he representing his constituents properly if he skips meetings just because he doesn't like the time the meeting is scheduled for?  Is the entitlement with the supervisors to have meetings when it is convenient for them, or is it with the people who elected the supervisors to observe their elected officials at work (I believe it is the later).

If the issue comes up, I would support having more meetings at night, whether it is 4 meetings a year, 6 meetings a year, or all 12 meetings a year, for the following reasons:

• Night meetings are more accessible to a greater population within the community.  Many of us work during the day, and would need to take time off from work in order to attend a night meeting.  At the April 19th meeting, members of the community who owned lakefront property may have wanted to be there, but may not have had the ability to take off from work. 
• The meeting video is good, but not great.  The meeting video isn't available yet on the website, a full week after the April 19 board meeting.  Any constituents who missed the meeting still can't watch the video online.  I know the video will run on the local cable access channel, but I am not sure if that has been fully implemented yet.
• Countless other governmental boards meet during the evening.  I took a quick look, and see that the following groups all hold their meetings in the evenings:  West Bend Common Council, Town of Trenton's town board, City of Hartford Common Council, and the Germantown Village Board.  I did not see any governmental bodies that held daytime meetings in my quick review, other than our County Board.
• It makes me more accessible to you, my neighbors, so that you can tell me about the issues that are important to you.
• For a board that has traditionally only held 1 meeting each month during the evening hours, any increase in the number of meetings scheduled for evening hours is a positive improvement.

April 19th Board Meeting

The April 19th board meeting was really 2 board meetings.  First, the outgoing board held their last meeting.  Several annual reports were given, including the County Sheriff, District Attorney, and Clerk of Courts. 

The most important thing that occurred in this meeting was the postponement of consideration for chapter 23, which affects the zoning of shorelines.  I know that the final version of chapter 23 went out very late, and this is a very important issue for anyone who owns lakefront property in Washington County.  The last thing we want to do is adopt rules, have those owners rely on those rules, and then change those rules 2 months later, so giving the board another 2 months to review the rules is prudent.

The 2nd meeting was the first meeting for the new board.  I was called to my desk and sworn in, and we began the process of electing a new chairperson and executive committee.  Based on what I know so far of the other board members, I think we elected a pretty strong executive committee. 

When it came time to approve resolution 1, a commendation for Ralph Hensel, I made a point to try to be on the record for advancing that resolution.  I have a tremendous amount of respect for Ralph, and his admirable service over 14 years for District 3.  I was recognized by the chair as seconding that motion, which I appreciate.

I have had a chance to speak with both Supervisors Michalak and Gundrum about my preference for being assigned to the Administrative committee.

4/19/16 County Board Meeting

For the upcoming county board meeting on 4/19/16, it is actually 2 separate meetings.

Meeting #1 will occur with the old board, with Ralph Hensel representing District 3 for the last time.  There are a number of annual reports that will be given, and a few significant issues.  The capital improvement plan for 2017-2020.  Several county codes with be amended, including chapter 2 which governs the county board and chapter 23, which is a revision of the shoreland, wetland, and floodplain zoning.

Meeting #2 will commence at the end of meeting #1.  I will be sworn in as the new County Supervisor, along with 25 other County Supervisors.  The executive committee with then be elected.  Following that, there will be a series of resolutions commending the outgoing board members.

Meetings so far

So far, I have started getting to know the people I will be working with for the next 2 years.

Late yesterday afternoon I met with the County Administrator in a one-on-one meeting.  It was a very productive meeting, as we shared philosophies regarding a variety of issues. 

• We spent some time talking about ways in which we could work collaboratively with employees to reduce the health care costs of both the county and the employees, while strengthening the dwindling reserves we have for covering health care costs.  Since the County has a self-insured plan (meaning the taxpayers directly pay every medical bill an employee incurs) we have a lot more flexibility in how we work to collaborate with employees.
• We spent some time talking about the County's role in economic development, and some of the projects that are currently underway.  I also shared much of the feedback I had received from my neighbors while campaigning for office.
• We spent some time talking about the current budget, and upcoming budget initiatives.  We seem to share a common vision regard the desire to either continue to deliver property tax reductions or, at a minimum, maintain the current tax level.  Neither of us expressed any interest in increasing taxes.
• We talked about committee assignments.  It looks like there is a strong possibility that I will be put on the Administrative committee, which in the new committee structure will oversee the County Clerk's office, the Human Resources office, the Information Services office, the Finance office, the Treasurer, the Register of Deeds, the Library, the Historical Society, and the Agriculture and Industrial Society.
• We spent some time talking about ways in which we could recognize the accomplishments of some of the best County Employees.

At Monday's (4/11/16) County Board Orientation meeting, we received some clarification regarding a budget overage that was reported in the West Bend Daily news on 4/9/16.  Essentially, one line of the budget was over in 2015 by 229% due to several very high risk behavioral health clients.  We incurred $1.8 million dollars in expenses but were only budgeted for $800,000, so the shortfall is about $1 million dollars.  The budget overall for the Human Services Department is $21 million, so the department is now 1.4% over budget.  To remedy this for future years, the Human Services Department is working with the Winnebago County Inpatient Unit on some improvements, working on some procedural improvements within their own department, and increasing the 2016 budget.

In looking through the expenses by year, it does look like costs for this budget item are very erratic and unpredictable.  While expenses seem to average slightly more than $1 million per year, the variance to that average is significant.  On one extreme, 2009 incurred only a little more than $400,000 in expenses, while 2015 was the most costly year with $1.8 million.

Since Human Service was another committee I expressed an interest in, if I am placed on that committee I will be working fairly directly on this issue.

My First 180 Days

During my first 180 days in office, this is what my agenda will be:

• Begin to fully familiarize myself with the board, along with its procedures, processes, and committees.  I plan to do a lot of information gathering during this period.  In order to be effective, I need to first become fully familiar with the board's operations. 
• At the April 19 board meeting, I do not plan to run for a position on the executive committee or any committee chair person.  There are many experienced county board supervisors, and as a first term board member it isn't practical to expect that I would be prepared to chair any committees.
• Begin to gather information related to economic growth.  Specific areas of economic growth that you, my neighbors, have told me are important include allowing Fleet and Farm to operate out of a bigger location and bringing a Target store to our community.  I do want to also look at other opportunities for economic growth, identify the counties role in identifying and supporting any economic development opportunities, and identify barriers to economic growth.
• At the end of my first 180 days, I plan to the situation and begin making my plans for the next 180 days.

I look forward to serving our community.