Below, please find the Guest Opinion column I submitted to the West Bend Daily News, which was published in today's edition.
My goal is to be one of the most accessible County Board Supervisors, a leader my neighbors can trust for a no-nonsense approach to running County Government. If you have a question, concern, or viewpoint about a county issue, I want to hear from you.
Scrolling Banner
Friday, August 22, 2025
Guest Opinion - UW Campus Needs to Focus on Actual Proposals
Below, please find the Guest Opinion column I submitted to the West Bend Daily News, which was published in today's edition.

Thursday, August 7, 2025
UWWC Campus Developments
In the Nutshell
Just a quick synopsis. The building is zoned and built for educational purposes. We only really have 2 proposals, one to buy the building and 1 to lease a significant portion. Since the proposal to purchase the building appears to be a good
proposal from a local, faith-based non-profit, I am very likely to support it.
I do have a few questions about it though. Ideally, I would like to maintain some use of the building for the community, including the theater.
Quick notes
Before I get started, I do want to mention that I reserve
the right to revise and extend my remarks.
I might correct a grammar mistake, or reword something that I realize
was worded unclearly. I might also add a
few thoughts that I forgot about while originally writing this.
I should also mention this.
About 3 years ago, I switched churches, due in part to COVID protocols,
but also due in part to shifting ideological priorities of the church I left,
including their wholesale support of illegal immigration. The new church I attend is supportive of Ozaukee
Christian School (“OCS”), and every year OCS comes to our church to report on
the good work they are doing in providing a Christ-centered primary-school education
for their youth. As such, I begin with a
very favorable view of OCS. When I
learned that they were submitting a serious proposal to purchase the building,
I was excited and saw it as a positive development.
I know that OCS is a growing school, and they recently
bought land to facilitate that growth.
And then this possibility came around.
Last Thursday’s Meeting
Last Thursday, the UWWC Campus Task Force held a meeting to review
a proposal by Ozaukee Christian School (“OCS”) to purchase the building and a
portion of the property. Cedar Lakes
Conservation Fund (“CLCF”) would purchase the remaining 55 acres.
At the meeting, I was very disappointed by the behavior of
several individuals who came to the meeting already opposed to this
proposal. They interrupted board
members, shouted out random questions whenever they felt like it, tried to
argue with board members, and in general tried to disrupt the orderly flow of
business. At one point, I admonished
them for their disrespectful and inappropriate behavior.
After the meeting, several people thanked me for challenging
their behavior. A few of them had attended
the meeting to learn more about this proposal, so they could decide whether or
not they thought it was a good proposal, and they were shocked by the behavior
they saw from these individuals. A few
others were supporters of OCS, who were glad someone stood up against this bad
behavior. I also ran into one gentleman
over the weekend who had left the meeting after only 10 minutes, due to the bad
behavior he saw. He had wanted to learn
more about this proposal. When I
mentioned that I had challenged their behavior, he thanked me.
I was also surprised by how quickly this group decided they were against this proposal. Prior to this, when Accel Learning had submitted a proposal, they had stated that they were only against Accel because they were out of state, and because they were not completely non-profit (they were only mostly non-profit, their oversight board is for profit). OCS is a local school that is entirely non-profit, so their sudden opposition to OCS raises questions about their true intentions, at least in my mind.
I should also mention that there were individuals at this
meeting, who are opposed to the sale to OCS, who did behave respectfully and
with appropriate decorum. They either
sat there as quiet observers, or they raised their hand and waited to be
recognized to speak. One such person asked
a very good question, and in the ensuing dialog, I learned that options to sell
the property to a developer had been thoroughly explored, but that none of the
developers had expressed any interest in pursuing the purchase of the property
after reviewing the property in detail.
One rumor I have heard is that some of the opposition to this sale may be based on anti-Christian sentiments amongst some of the opponents. I have also heard a lot of speculation to this effect. Christian schools tend to do a much better job of educating students in reading, writing, and math. In my view, a better-educated community makes a better community. Additionally, there are laws prohibiting discrimination against religious institutions. For all those reasons, I remain very open to the sale to OCS.
The Current Situation
In looking at the current situation, here is what I
see. We have already invested 16 months
into the process, while all of the other counties who lost UW schools have
already moved forward with their plans for the obsolete campuses. During that 16 months, there has been a ton
of community discussion and outreach, and there will be more opportunities coming.
We are spending about $500k-$750k per year in regular
maintenance and utilities for the building.
Previously, the lease with UWM covered those expenses. As well, when UWM decided to vacate the
building, since we didn’t know whether we would be leveling the building,
keeping it, or selling it, we put a halt to some upcoming maintenance items
that are rather expensive, including over a million dollars to repair the electrical system. The building
is zoned for educational/institutional.
If we want to keep the building, we need an anchor tenant
who will pay about $750,000 per year in rent.
The only proposal we have received to that effect was from Accel. If we sell the building to OCS, we will
unburden the tax-payers of this recurring expense (and in government, managing
recurring expenses is a critical component to keeping the tax rate low). We have no other substantial proposals to
consider, and the task force recommended selling to OCS (with some poison pills thrown in by 1 task force member). In my mind, this makes sense.
Some things I do want to learn about:
- Is there still and opportunity to have a social capital center within that building (probably leased from OCS)?
- Will the community retain access to the theater (probably by leasing it from OCS)?
- Would OCS be willing to lease space to the public schools, or to the City of West Bend.
- I do know that OCS. in their proposal, mentioned that they would need to team up with some community partners, but I would want to learn more about what that would look like.
John Torinus brought up the idea of giving the northern
third of the building to the City of West Bend (along with the land CLCF wants). Since that would contain the gym, and every
grade school needs a gym, that would essentially destroy the deal with
OCS. I recognize a poison-pill when I
see one, and would oppose this idea. His
idea would also mean giving the city 40% of the value of the campus, when they are
only 26% owners of the campus. I also
don’t know how the county would sell or lease 67% of a building. What I could see the county being willing to
agree to is giving the city the land CLCF wants and some cash as a way to buy out their equity.
Invalid concerns
A few concerns were brought up that I don’t put much validity in. One of them was OCS' staffing, and whether they currently have the positions they would need to service a much larger student base. This concern, surprisingly, was put forward by Joh Torniuus. Of course, currently they don’t have that staff, because currently they don’t need that staff. As they grow, they will ramp up their staffing to meet their needs.
Another concern that was brought up revolved
around whether or not they can financially support such a large building. As Adam Williquette mentioned, that’s an
issue between OCS and the bank loaning them the money. In other words, banks have responsibility for
vetting loans before making them, and they proved themselves to the bank. As I side note, I know that OCS has deep community roots, and will likely be well-supported.
WBSD
This issue is not in any way a referendum on public
schools. I attended public schools, and got a very good education. That said, I stand against any idea that we must reject any proposal from any private school, as a show of loyalty to the public schools, especially for property that is zoned and designed for educational use. While I am not opposed to public schools, I reject any contrived "loyalty test" to them.
Regarding the West Bend School District (“WBSD”), the only
proposal they submitted was un-actionable.
They proposed leasing around 10,000 square feet, a proposal that would
leave 95% of the building vacant. The
rent on such a small lease would not provide adequate funds to the county to
cover its costs associated with the building, and therefore do not qualify as an
anchor tenant.
WBSD has floated other ideas throughout this process, but has never made any actionable proposals regarding those ideas. These options involve other school districts, with West Bend as the primary agent, and coordinating a proposal between 5 school districts would bring its own challenges.
It is important to realize that in the last 10-15
years, WBSD closed 1 grade school and will soon be closing 2 more. In the upcoming years, the demographic models
show a continuation of the trend of declining enrollment for WBSD. Based
on these factors, I can’t imagine WBSD being able to support the lease of a
substantial amount of space within the UWWC campus building, and as such don’t
see them as a viable anchor tenant. It is also worth noting that $750,000 per year is a large line-item to add to their budget.
So given all of this, how could I or any other board member
reject this proposal based on the possibility that WBSD will come forward with
a proposal of their own that would meet our needs. WBSD has had 16 months, and they’ve talked
about a lot of interesting ideas during that time, but at no point have they
put forward a meaningful, actionable proposal.

Tuesday, June 3, 2025
The Future of the UWWC Campus Building
A little over a month ago, I sent this Letter to the Editor in for publishing with the Daily News:
As we discuss the future of the vacated UW campus, some confusion seems to have emerged about the county’s focus. The county is not in the business of creating competition for the public schools. At the same time, we are also not in the business of preventing competition for the public schools.
We are in the business of managing the UW Campus building and grounds. For several decades, we have managed the maintenance and utility costs for this campus while UWWC occupied it.We are also in the business of addressing the mental health needs of our community. This is a mission I view as a major priority. The social capital hub Josh is proposing could significantly improve the delivery of mental health services effort. To make this work, we need an anchor tenant that pays a significant rent, and our annual costs to maintain the campus are around $750,000 per year.
Our County Executive has assembled a task force, which is charged with looking in detail at all of the available options. I anticipate that they will be thorough in their work and closely examine all of the options. I know there are a lot of options and details for them to review, so it will likely take them some time to complete their work. Once they have completed their work, they will make a recommendation, which will then come to the County Board for review. We can accept or reject their recommendation as we determine appropriate.
During this time, I ask for the public’s patience and understanding. I also ask for their input and welcome dialogue about the options being considered. I can be reached by e-mail at Christopher.bossert@washcowisco.gov or by phone at (262) 404-5158.
Thank You
Christopher Bossert
County Board Supervisor, District 4
Over the last month, I have heard from numerous constituents regarding this issue, and their comments all fall into 4 groups.
- One group of constituents believes that we are best served by tearing the building down and allowing a redeveloper to build housing or a mixed-use complex on the property.
- Another group believes very strongly in Josh's idea to make the building a "social capital hub." Our County Executive envisions this as allowing for improved delivery of mental health support services by putting a lot of the county's non-profit organizations in the same facility. The belief is that this will facilitate more collaboration and cooperation. This idea would also keep the campus' theater available to the various cultural and theater groups within the community.
- Another group believes that we should primarily focus on plans that protect the Public Schools from competition, by not allowing private or charter schools to have access to using any portion of the facility.
- A final group believes that we should actively recruit a private or charter school, especially one that will offer a tuition-free option, in order to support parental choice in education.
From my perspective, the County is not in the role of either shielding the public schools from competition or promoting competition with the public schools. So the County should really approach this decision without regard to how it impacts the public schools and let the chips fall where they may.
With that in mind, between the two remaining options, I would tend to support the approach of transforming the building into a social capital hub. I have always been a strong advocate for supporting the mental health needs of our community. If we have the opportunity to improve the deliver of mental health support services, we should do it. Josh's social capital hub idea is dependent on having an anchor tenant. West Bend Schools did not submit a meaningful proposal related to being an anchor tenant (they are requesting about 5,000 square feet). We have one proposal from a national charter school, and may have proposals coming from a local charter school and a potential catholic school option.
The social capital hub would also ensure that the theater remains available to the community. While the county is not really in the business of providing theater access, this is a nice perk for the community, and in this case something we should do since we easily can. This option also supports parents who want more choices for their children, and don't have the financial resources to afford private school. While the county is not in the business of expanding school options, that seems to be where our anchor tenant options are coming from. Personally, I am empathetic towards parents who are frustrated with the poor performance of West Bend Public Schools, and like the idea of expanded the choices available to parents.
If we cannot find a viable anchor tenant, are only remaining option is to sell the building and/or land. While I would prefer to implement the social capital hub, if it is not viable, then I have to accept that.
One final note: If the West Bend School District is truly worried about losing students, maybe they should focus on improving proficiency ratings (and not just on lowering the standards to inflate the numbers. West Bend currently loses a few hundred kids every year to open enrollment, with many of them enrolling into Germantown or Slinger while others get homeschooled (and we have a lot of children in our community who are being homeschooled).
When I looked at their proficiency rates, for the last year of the old (higher) standards, only 47.3% of kids in West Bend Schools can read at grade level (which they call "English Language Arts"), and only 50.9% of kids can do math at grade level. Under the revised, lower standards, for 2024 the numbers jump up to 59% reading at grade level and 64.9% performing at grade level on math. Those results make sense, as anytime you lower the standards, more kids will be able to meet that lower standard, so that's a great way for the state to hide declining academic outcomes for public schools in Wisconsin. In fact, statewide the proficiency averages for reading change from 40.4% to 50% and for math from 38.5% to 51%. Interestingly, West Bend schools had the lowest proficiency scores of any district in the County.

Wednesday, January 8, 2025
What Fiscal Responsibility & Fiscal Restraint Looks Like
Washington County has kept its levy flat for at least the last 8-10 years. We've done this through exercising fiscal restraint and fiscal responsibility. Below are some of the key principles we have focused on. Some of these may sound remedial, yet so many governments ignore these principles.
Overriding Principles
"The problem is not that government taxes too little, the problem is that government spends to much" - Ronald Reagan
In Washington County, we live within our means.
Annual (Bi-Annual) Budgeting
Most local governments, when it comes time to budget, start with their expenses. They then invest their efforts in trying to stretch their revenue to cover those expenses. When that fails, they raise taxes to cover the shortfall. They remind me of the carpenter whose only tool is a hammer. That carpenter will quickly come to see every problem as a nail. These municipalities only know how to address budget problems by raising taxes, so every budget gap starts to look like a revenue shortfall.
Our County has taken the opposite approach. We start with our revenues, and identify ways to shrink our expenses to fit within those revenues. That approach has allowed us to keep our levy essentially flat since 2014 despite starting each budget cycle with a $2.5 million dollar gap between expenses and revenues.
We also recognize the distinct difference between recurring expenses and one-time expenses. If we cut a $100,000 one-time expense from the budget, that's a nice savings for that year, but it has no effect beyond that. If we cut a $100,000 recurring expense from the budget, that's a nice savings for every year going forward. Over 10 years, it is $1 million in savings, over 20 years it is $2 million. Likewise, if we add in a new expense, and it is a recurring expense, that's a new expense that will need to be funded every year going forward. A new $100,000 recurring expense we add in will cost us $2 million over the next 20 years.
Rule #1: Start with our current revenue, and finds ways to trim our expenses to fit within that revenue.
Rule #2: During budgeting, think of recurring expenses not just in terms of their cost in the current budget cycle, but also in terms of their long term financial impact.
Recurring Money vs. One-Time Money
One thing our county has been very focused on is pairing one-time revenue with one-time expenses. The "American Rescue Act" was a great example, where we received a ton of one-time money (roughly $26 million). Many governments took that one-time money and used it to justify all sorts of new recurring expenses, including pay raises or additional staff. Once the one-time money runs out, they still have the recurring expense, with no revenue to fund that expense. Our county has always been disciplined about recurring expenses, they are only allowed if they are paired with a recurring revenue source.
Rule #3: don't fund recurring expenses with one time money.
Staffing
One of the largest expense items in any government is staffing. Our county has been diligent about finding efficiencies and reducing staff. In other government agencies, especially at the state and federal level, all too often when positions are no longer needed, no action is taken to correct the overstaffing.
Rule #4: We will never create a position unless we eliminate a position (even if that position is eliminated from another department).
Rule #5: When we eliminate a position, we will never use that as an excuse to create an additional position.
Shared Services Creates Efficiencies
In many communities in Wisconsin, multiple government agencies perform the same tasks. In Washington County, we have focused on finding ways to eliminate that duplication of services, and we continue to seek out more. If towns, villages, and cities and doing the exact same thing we are, let's combine forces and either save the taxpayers some money or allow the municipality to use that savings to fund other things. We reject the old axiom that many other governments have lived by, "why have one, if you can have 2 at twice the price."
Rule #6: Seek out cooperative agreements with local municipalities that reduce duplication of services and provide a net savings to the taxpayer.
Borrowing Money
Many local governments, when they borrow money, use it as an opportunity to raise taxes. Sometimes, governments fund recurring expenses through borrowed money (which is one-time money). Washington County has adopted a different approach. First, when possible, we plan for major expenses and save up for them. Second, when we do borrow money, we attempt to pay for that out of our existing operational budget. This fits our "live within our means" approach to government.
Rule #7: Do not ever borrow money to pay for recurring expenses.
Rule #8: Work diligently to fund any borrowing from within the current budget. Raising taxes to fund borrowing should be a last resort.
