Vote of No Confidence Delayed

Due to a couple of technical issues with the written proposal, the vote of no confidence on County Treasurer Jane Merten had to be delayed.

One question that has come up is what this resolution would actually solve.  First and foremost, it would put the County Treasurer on notice that we have higher expectations for her related to the County's internal controls.  It would also set the stage for additional action, if the Board decides that it may be necessary.

My comment in today's Washington County Daily News sums up my feelings.  Anyone can mistake a spoofed e-mail for a real e-mail, that's not the real issue.  Had she followed proper procedures, and refused to process the transaction until she had the correct paperwork, it would have been a non-issue.

The real issue is that she processed the transaction, with no invoice or other paperwork, based solely on an e-mail that went to her spam filter.  In doing this, she ignored the processes and controls that are put in place to prevent theft and fraud.  Since she is the person responsible for implementing those controls, this is in my eyes very concerning. 

Everything I have heard about Jane as a person is very positive.  This is not a referendum on Jane as a person, but on her handling of this incident and her operation & oversight of the Treasurer's department.

United Way

I don't normally talk about my giving, so this is unusual for me.  I received from the county a card with the opportunity to donate part of my salary as a County Board Supervisor to the United Way.  Looking at the groups I could dedicate my money to benefit, I saw several worthy groups that I have become more familiar with through my work on the human services committee, including the Heroin Task Force, Boys and Girls Club, Big Brothers & Big Sisters, and Friends of Abused Families.

I have done some work with the Heroine Task Force.  I also know that Boys and Girls Club, Big Brothers & Big Sisters, and Friends of Abused Families all lost some or all of their county grant money.  So I have decided to donate 1 month of my salary as County Board Supervisor, approximately $550, to the United Way.  I also chose to direct those contributions to these organizations (Heroin Task Force, Boys and Girls Club, Big Brothers & Big Sisters, and Friends of Abused Families).

I am doing this because, now that I am in the public eye a bit more, I decided that this would be an opportunity for me to lead by example.  I ran for County Board with the interest of serving our community.  Sharing part of my salary is one way I can do that.  These are all very worthy organizations, and I encourage everyone who can give to the United Way at their workplace to consider increasing their donation, and directing that increase towards these organizations.

October 25 County Board Meeting

There is a very important agenda item on the October 25 County Board Meeting.  Now that the investigation is complete, a motion has been brought forward calling for a vote of no confidence in County Treasurer Jane Merten.  You can read more about the motion on Washington County Insider at washington-county-board-calls-for-no-confidence-vote-in-county-treasurer-merten/.

My perspective on this:  The core responsibility of the County Treasurer is to safeguard the county funds.  Basically, she is there to make sure that other county officials, like the County Administrator, the County Clerk, the Register of Deeds, etc... are not stealing money. She does this by setting up and enforcing internal controls.  Internal controls are the accounting language for procedures to check and make sure transactions are legitimate.  Since this transaction was spoofing Josh's e-mail, her job was to make sure Josh wasn't stealing money, by closely reviewing the paperwork (such as an invoice).  How can she do this if there was no paperwork?

This is concerning to me.  While it may be the first incident that we know of, I am concerned that there either might be more incidents that we have not discovered yet.  Worse yet, I am concerned that there will be more incidents in the future.  In my H.R. background, I have fired people for less than this, both as a consequence for what happened, as well as a preventative measure for what could happen.

These thoughts form the core of my mindset as I prepare for the upcoming County Board meeting.

More Reliver Route Work

The reliever route is a proposal that carries a significant pricetag, with many of the alternatives coming in around $20 million.  With a pricetag that high, I don't want to make any mistakes, so I am putting in a lot of time to gather as much information as possible.



This afternoon I spent almost two hours meeting with Scott Schmidt, the County's Highway Commissioner.  It was a very informative meeting, and I am very thankful to Scott for dedicating so much time.



We discussed each of the 5 routes that I see as viable, and what the benefits and challenges of each route were.  He also showed me maps and costing analysis for each of the routes that were looked at back in 2005, which included some southern options.  We talked about the southern options, and the potential costs ($20 million in 2005 dollars, probably $30-$40 million in 2016 dollars) and challenges associated with these options.



I walked out with new concerns about the reliever route, and whether it makes sense from a cost/benefit perspective.


Based on our discussion, I have decided to eliminate route 1 from my priority list.  That makes my current list:

1. Route 4 (inside Hartford route)
2. Route 7 (Arthur Road route)
3. Route 9 (Exit Highway K, transition to Arthur Road)
4. Route 11 (Highway K)

Merit Pay for City of West Bend Employees

I want to give a quick kudos to the City of West Bend, which is taking another step towards adopting a merit-pay system.  You can read more about it here:

http://washingtoncountyinsider.com/2016/10/west-bend-mayor-suggests-merit-pay-increase/

Reliever Route Information

I know that many people in my District may have concerns about the highway 60 reliever route.  I have not decided yet whether or not I will support the reliever route, especially since there currently is not 1 route to support or oppose (instead there currently are 11 possible routes).  I welcome any contacts from my neighbors in district 3.

For any of my neighbors who oppose the reliever route, there is a group based out of the Town of Hartford who is engaging in a coordinated approach to resisting the reliever route.  You can find them on the web at http://www.norelieverroute.com/.

Heroin Task Force Legislative Breakfast

Picture courtesy of the West Bend Daily News

Heroin use/abuse is an epidemic that is damaging a lot of lives in our county, our state, and our country.  Since being first elected 5 months ago, I have been getting involved with the heroin task force, a group that is focused on finding solutions to this epidemic. 

Last Friday, I attended a legislative breakfast, where a panel that included our State Senator Duey Stroebel, our State Assemblymen Bob Ganon, Dan Knodl, and Jessie Kramer, our Mayor Craig Sadownikow, and almost a dozen County Board Supervisors.  I want to thank all of the publically elected officials who came out for this event.

One of the topics that was brought up involved TAD grants.  TAD stands for Treatment Alternatives to Prison.  Our County had to decline to reapply for our TAD grant, as the TAD program has a new requirement that we form a drug court.  Our Circuit Court Judges have told us, and all evidence confirms this, that they do not have the resources to devote to a drug court until our county is given a 5^th Circuit Court Judge.  The State Government of Wisconsin grants the funding for circuit courts.

Another topic was where heroin prevention and treatment fell in the County’s priority-based budgeting.  Most of the heroin prevention and treatment items scored very well, and were rated as priority 1 or 2 items.  For example, the Heroin Task Force was rated as a priority 1 item.  A couple of smaller programs related to heroin were rated as priority 3 items.  The only major program that was ranked as a priority 3 item was the DARE program, which is viewed by some a redundant with the Human Services Program that relies on evidence-based practices that have been demonstrated to have much higher success rates.  Overall, the priority rankings reflect a commitment to the prevention and treatment of heroin addiction.

Another topic that was brought up was the legalization of marijuana.  Every one of us opposed legalization.  I made a point to mention that there are some parts of the plan that have no recreational value, and are being researched for potential medical benefits.  For example, cannabis oil is being shown as potentially helping children control seizures.  So far, the research seems to be showing that an individual cannot get high from taking cannabis oil pills, so I would support legalizing that.

A question was asked about when we would start treating heroin as a disease, and not a criminal matter.  In my view, heroin addiction is both a crime and a disease.  While we are treating the disease through prevention and treatment (over $500,000 in priority 1 & 2 prevention and treatment programs), I saw that question as laying ta dangerous framework for legalizing heroin under the presumption that it is a disease and should be treated only as a disease, a viewpoint I disagree with.  I absolutely oppose any effort to legalize heroin.  I support efforts to treat heroin addicts, and I am open to supporting allowing a judge to expunge heroin convictions for individuals who remain drug free for an extended period of time.  I also believe that the criminal penalties are a necessary deterrent and consequence and especially for heroin addicts who have no interest in treatment or recovery, we need to enforce those consequences.

Here is some info on Heroin-related programs at the county level, and where they fell on the priority-based budgeting:

Health

Public Health

Heroin Task Force

32,302

1

Human Services	Behavioral Health	Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse  Female Residential Treatment	150,316	2
Human Services	Behavioral Health	Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse High School Youth Prevention and Education Programs	172,908	1
Human Services	Behavioral Health	Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse Male Residential Treatment	150,316	2

Sheriff's Office	Drug Unit	Community Drug Presentations	14,630	3
Sheriff's Office	Drug Unit	Drug Clean Sweep	6,273	3
Sheriff's Office	Drug Unit	Drug Unit Grant & Asset Forfeiture Programs	29,309	3
Sheriff's Office	Drug Unit	Narcotics Investigation	301,414	1
Sheriff's Office	Drug Unit	Undercover Operations	205,869	2
Sheriff's Office	Public Relations	Drug Abuse resistance & Education (DARE)	84,986	3