More Golden Age Manor

Supervisor Neil Johnson has offered a Resolution for consideration at the November 12, 2008, Board Meeting calling for the "Golden Age Manor Board of Trustees (to) direct the Administrator to monitor and reduce the operation expenses for 2009 by $300,000." The proposed Resolution also directs the "...Board of Trustees (to) supply a detailed plan to the Polk County Finance Committee by December 10, 2008 and to the Polk County Board on the January 2009 monthly board meeting."
The Golden Age Manor Board of Trustees has legal responsibility and authority to make decisions concerning the Golden Age Manor and its operations. This proposed Resolution is yet another example of Supervisors attempting to micro-manage a department, except that, in this case, the Supervisor does not even serve on a committee that has authority over the operation of GAM. Supervisor Johnson's proposed Resolution would impact decisions already made by the Finance and Personnel Committees, not to mention the GAM Board.
Drastic cuts suggested by Supervisor Johnson would seriously undermine the level of care provided by GAM because a $300,000 operating budget cut would require an immediate termination of several employees as well as halting new admissions, thus jeopardizing future revenues. The facility's state license would be placed at risk due to the reduction in the quality of care necessitated by this drastic cut in the operating budget.
Supervisor Johnson might stop to consider that in the purchase agreement "negotiated" last year, Polk County promised to turn over a financially sound and operating nursing home at the closing. Supervisor Johnson, as a member of the Finance Committee at that time, certainly must be aware of the promises made to the buyers. Furthermore, if the legal challenge to the sale is successful and the sale does not go through, Supervisor Johnson's ill-advised Resolution would run the business into the ground, ensuring closure of Golden Age Manor. Is this the real purpose of the Resolution?
This constant harping at Golden Age management is really getting out of hand. A few Supervisors (along with the Finance Director, Tanya Weinert) appear to be obsessed with the idea of either selling or closing down the Golden Age Manor. Hardly a month passes without some measure being offered that imposes an unrealistic budget or personnel cut for the facility. How the employees and residents of this fine nursing home facility tolerate this distrustful and divisive behavior on the part of the County Board and Ms. Weinert is beyond me.
Our county Finance Director, Tanya Weinert, needs to remember that, as a county employee, she is not to take positions for or against policy initiatives such as the sale of Golden Age. The Polk County Board hired Ms. Weinert to provide accurate financial information to the Board so that the Supervisors, who are elected by the citizens of Polk County, are equipped to make these decisions. She needs to focus on her job duties and stay out of the policy argument. If Ms. Weinert wants to participate on that level, she should run for County Board.
On a related note, St. Croix County voters sent a message to their elected officials earlier this week regarding their county-operated nursing home. A non-binding referendum calling for the use of tax dollars to fund budget shortfalls in St. Croix County's county-operated nursing home passed 65% to 35%. Do the people of Polk County care less than the people of St. Croix County for their elderly citizens? I, for one, doubt that. Rather, I think that there are a few Supervisors in Polk County who are not truly representing the views of their constituents when they push for the demise of our County nursing home.

Golden Age News: Sylvester Heirs Located

Before her death, Annie Sylvester donated real estate in Amery for the purpose of constructing the Golden Age Manor. The Wisconsin Court of Appeals has determined that the county must continue to operate the nursing home, obtain a 2/3 super-majority of the county board to sell the home, or obtain permission from the Sylvester heirs to sell the property.
Theoline Isaacson and Ione Alwin, now living in San Benito, Texas, have confirmed that they adamantly oppose the sale of the Golden Age Manor, and would never agree to a sale of the facility.

Health Care Referendum Passes Easily

Although for some reason the county website fails to total the votes cast county-wide in favor of the Health Care Referendum, the measure passed easily, winning every single ward in the county. Similar measures were on the ballot in communities across Wisconsin, and all of the referenda passed with flying colors. The vote total in Polk County was 14,232 to 7,179 (66/34%).
The passage of this measure should send a strong message to the Wisconsin State Legislature that health care reform must be "on the table" and acted upon in the coming legislative session. The time has come for positive change in the way health care is delivered in this state and in this nation. The idea that a patient needs to be either poor or rich to be able to afford basic health care is simply ludicrous in this day and age.
For more information, click here: Citizen Action Wisconsin.

Health Care Referendum on the Ballot!

Polk County can send a message to Madison on November 4 that affordable health care for all must be a priority NOW! Cast your "Yes" Vote on the Health Care Referendum.
The Referendum does not specify exactly which health care plan should be adopted. The Referendum simply tells our legislature that health care must be their number 1 priority, and that they should get to work immediately to find a way to provide affordable health care for Wisconsin residents.
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Economic Impact of Golden Age Manor: the Rest of the Story, JoAnn Hallquist

The Ledger’s October 2nd edition reports Golden Age Manor losses at $8.1 million over the last 10 years. Sorry, but this isn’t the correct number to focus on. The losses over the last 10 years totaled $2.4 million. Why the difference?

The federal government pays the government-owned nursing homes, not just Golden Age Manor, to stay in business through a program known as the Intergovernmental Transfer Program (now called Supplemental Payments Program). Those federal funds enter Polk County to help pay our county nursing home, Golden Age Manor, for the extra costs associated with a high percentage of Medicaid residents – costs that are above and beyond the inadequate reimbursement under the Medicaid program. Those funds have totaled $5.5 million over the last 10 years.

Everything was fine as long as Golden Age Manor made a profit and contributed to the county coffers. The problem of the last ten years is that the County Board members see losses on the balance sheet – the County has transferred $2.1 million ($207,040 annual average) to Golden Age over the past 10 years. If the projections are accurate, Golden Age will realize a profit for 2008 due to numerous factors including a change in billing by a new therapy contractor.

A key question: what happens if the Golden Age Manor becomes a private nursing home? The number one responsibility of the private owner is to make a profit for its owners. To accomplish this at Golden Age Manor, there will be many difficult decisions such as to reduce costs and/or change the revenue sources. Based on what happens in other private nursing homes, they could cut employee wages and benefits or reduce the number of Medicaid patients. The Alzheimer’s unit could be converted to another use because of the high cost of operation.

No federal funds will be available to cover the extra costs no longer being reimbursed. I repeat that the federal funds will no longer be available to the Polk County economy if a private nursing home replaces Golden Age. The federal funds create a significant economic impact in Polk County - an annual average of $547,207 over the last 10 years. Those funds pay for wages, benefits, supplies and other purchases; those purchases are turned over in the economy because the stores where the money is spent benefit, and they in turn are able to employ more people, make more purchases. That is the economic multiplier theory but it is real in Polk County. I am still checking how many times that money turns over in our economy but it is anywhere from 2 to 4 times and possibly higher. Some of those sales are subject to the half percent sales tax and contribute to Polk County revenue. Golden Age employees live in many locations in the County so the impact is not confined to the southeastern part of the county.

There is an additional revenue loss that occurs in this way: If all five nursing homes – all privately owned – turn away a Medicaid patient because they can’t provide the services, the County is liable under Wisconsin State Statutes (Chapter 51.42) for treating them at other out-of-county facilities that are equipped to accept them. Those facilities charge $740 per day and more. Polk County has to pick up the tab under the Human Services budget. If one person can’t be handled in a county facility, then the average annual loss of $207,040 would be exhausted in 279 patient days.

The County engaged in strategic planning last year and probably all County Board members would agree that the County needs to pursue economic development projects. Yet, it forgot that objective in trying to transfer the Golden Age Manor to private hands.
It is not easy to estimate the full economic impact of a sale but it is clear that the county transfers to cover past losses do not tell the full story.


JoAnn Hallquist
715-268-6134
Town of Lincoln

What Next in the GAM Saga?

The upcoming September 30 Board Meeting will address the GAM situation, which is turning out to be a total fiasco for the County. It's too bad, because the money Polk County has blown on legal fees would have gone a long way toward running the facility. Nevertheless, it is what it is, and we have to move forward from here.
My feeling is that the deal that was struck with Rice Properties was a sweetheart arrangement for Rice Properties. It was never in the best interests of the County, the residents, or the employees of the Golden Age Manor.
As our population ages, the services offered by the Golden Age Manor become increasingly important.
If Rice Properties could operate the Golden Age Manor at a profit, is there any reason why Polk County cannot operate the facility to break even? We don't expect the nursing home to turn a profit and help reduce our taxes, do we? We don't expect the Sheriff's Department to show a profit, or the Highway Department.
When Jim Drabek, a concerned citizen, brought the matter of the deed restriction to the attention of the County Board, he was treated disrespectfully and essentially ignored. I guess Mr. Drabek got the last laugh with the Appellate Court decision last week.
Gene Sollman also deserves credit for hanging in there in the face of some pretty vocal opposition on the Golden Age Manor Board. He did the right thing for Polk County.

Amery-Dresser Trail Becomes a Reality

After years of negotiation, litigation, hearings, planning and delay, it was amazing how quickly a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) was approved by the Polk County Board that created the Amery-Dresser Trail.
Debbie Peterson, the head of the Parks and Recreation Department, assured the Board that no money from the County levy will be used to operate, repair or maintain the trail. The source of funds for trail development will be grants and other contributions from business and private sponsors. The DNR will take care of initial clearing and grading the trail for foot traffic. The MOA contemplates further improvements so the trail can be used for bicycling, provided grant money is obtained for that purpose.
My hope is that the Property Committee will keep its promise to "work co-operatively" on the Amery-Dresser Trail issue. Some members of the Property Committee may prefer to delay development of the Trail for non-motorized use, in hopes that State law will change to permit motorized uses on State Trails. We'll be keeping an eye on this.
The Amery-Dresser Trail is located within 60 miles of the Metropolitan Twin Cities, a major population center. The tourist dollars that a bike trail will bring into our area are significant. Business will benefit, and new businesses will appear. There is plenty of evidence to support this statement. Just look at similar developments in Menomonie, Wisconsin, and Lanesboro, Minnesota, where "Rails-to-Trails" just like the Amery-Dresser Trail have benefited their respective communities and the surrounding areas.
The benefit goes beyond economic. There are public health benefits, too. People will be able to get out and exercise on a safe trail separate from high-speed traffic on County Roads, particularly County Road F near Amery. Some folks will bike to work on the trail. Kids willl be able to bike safely to see friends or to go to school.
Recent surveys show that living on a bike path is second only to lakeshore property in popularity. Property values along the Trail will improve with development of the Amery-Dresser Trail.
This will be a gem that will make Polk County proud for generations.

Samantha's Here!

Our new grand-daughter, Samantha Liu Stoneking, arrived on August 20 at 2:30 a.m. She's a beauty, 7 pounds 5 ounces and 19 3/8 inches "tall". Mom and baby are doing fine. They're coming home today.

Polk County Tourism

Promoting tourism in Polk County makes terrific economic sense. Why? Because, by definition, money spent by tourists from outside Polk County is money brought into the local economy from outside. With the rising price of gasoline a tourist destination that is close in proximity to a major population center, and boasts the striking natural beauty that Polk County offers, is a natural draw for those tourist dollars.
Some think that only hotels and restaurants benefit from increased tourism. This ignores the fact that a dollar spent at a restaurant is spent again by the waitstaff or restaurant owner (most often a county resident) and most often in a local business. This same dollar is then spent again and again in the local economy. Furthermore, tourists spend at businesses other than motels and restaurants. I think it's safe to say that vacationers spend more freely than people who stay at home. We save up for vacations so we can spend more on attractions and recreation.
But the major point is that these are NEW dollars injected into the economy, not recycled money from our own pockets.
The folks staffing the Polk County Information Center, which is ideally located just across the U. S. 8 bridge, field more than tourism-related questions. The Center is entering its 15th year of operation.
Many inquiries concern re-locating businesses to Polk County, where to cast votes in elections, where to pay taxes, information concerning recycling programs, as well as Sheriff's Department and other aspects of Polk County Government.
In June, 2008, the Center had a total of 8619 contacts, including 1872 e-mail requests for information, 2216 "hits" on its web site, 1008 telephone requests for information, 3472 entries in the visitor's book, and 4 "snail mail" requests for information (proving that there are still people using the U. S. Mail!) The Center provides the Polk County Visitor's Guide, County and State Maps, State and Federal Parks information packets, information about local churches, fishing/hunting regulations and maps, snowmobile and ATV maps, biking and hiking guides, resort guides, campground locations, motel and Bed & Breakfast maps, restaurant guides and information about local real estate. And this is only a partial list.
The advertising obtained by the staff at the Polk County Information Center is priceless. Through their close relationships with the Wisconsin Department of Tourism, Minnesota Monthly, Wisconsin Trails, AAA, Twin Cities and area newspapers, television and radio stations and travel shows, the staff works tirelessly to keep Polk County "on the radar" for potential tourism and economic development. For more information, contact the Center at www.polkinfo@charterinternet.net or check out the Center's web site at www.polkcountytourism.com.
Here's the bottom line: According to State of Wisconsin figures, tourists spent an estimated $75.3 million in Polk County in 2007. Tourist dollars supported 1,810 full-time equivalent jobs in the county.
For the benefit received through the Polk County Information Center's efforts, taxpayers pay $95,000. Not a bad return on investment.
Cutting funding for the Polk County Information Center would be nothing short of killing the fabled "Goose that lays golden eggs." Very short-sighted...

Jeff Peterson's Appointment to the BOA

At the June meeting of the Polk County Board of Supervisors, Chair Bryan Beseler appointed Jeff Peterson to the Board of Adjustment. Other people were also appointed at the June meeting to other positions on various committees. The Board voted at the June meeting to confirm Peterson's appointment to the BOA. This month, part of Agenda item XIV, labeled "Appointments", was a "Motion for Reconsideration of June 2008 Appointments". No written motion signed by a supervisor accompanied the agenda, so it was unclear exactly which member of the Board of Supervisors was the one making the motion. In any event, when the item came before the Board of Supervisors for discussion, it quickly became obvious that the intent of the motion was to remove newly-appointed member of the Board of Adjustment Jeff Peterson.
Local builder Chris Nelson urged the Board of Supervisors to remove Peterson from the BOA. Randy Freer, who happens to be Supervisor Brown's brother-in-law, also spoke in favor of removing Peterson. Two other individuals, Messrs. Jensen and Hibbs, asked that Peterson be replaced. One of these gentleman commented that Peterson had been replaced on the County Board and was no longer his Supervisor, apparently reasoning that Peterson, having lost the election to Supervisor Brown, should no longer be involved in County business.
Mr. Nelson's opposition to Peterson's appointment appears to come from Mr. Nelson's perception that Peterson will be too strict in his interpretation of the ordinances the Board of Adjustment is charged to interpret and apply. As near as I could tell, the remaining speakers simply desired to have someone else appointed to the position without stating any reason why Peterson was unacceptable.
Land and Water director Tim Ritten told me in June that he had assured Mr. Nelson that Peterson would be reasonable to work with, and would apply the law properly and without favor or prejudice. Mr. Nelson was not convinced.
When it came time to vote, four Supervisors voted to reconsider the Peterson appointment to the BOA: Joan Peterson, Herschel Brown, James Edgell and Brian Masters. Nineteen Supervisors voted against reconsidering the appointment.
There are several reasons why motions to reconsider Board decisions should not be taken lightly. How much of the County's business can get done if Board time is consumed with re-thinking decisions made only thirty days earlier? When does a decision ever become final? On that grounds alone, the Board was wise to decline the motion to reconsider Peterson's appointment to the Board of Adjustment.
But there is a better, far more compelling, reason to leave Peterson on the BOA: Peterson will do a fine job in that position. Those of us who served with Jeff on the Polk County Board of Supervisors know that he is intelligent, committed to the environment, and fair-minded. He'll listen to applicants and apply the law evenly. The BOA has had some trouble in the past with claims that it failed to follow its own procedures and guidelines in making decisions. That's not likely to happen again with Peterson serving on the BOA.

The Envelope, Please....

Here are my answers to the questions posed at the Executive Committee Meeting:

My Ranking Question Committee Ranking

1 Maximize Operation Efficiencies                        1

2 Property Tax Exemptions                               2

4 Increase and/or New Fees and Charges              3

8 Delay Maintenance or Capital Projects               10

10      Borrowing                                          9

9       Sell Assets                                        11

7    New Taxes                                        7

5    Shift Costs to Others                               5

3    Use Fund Balance                                  8

6    Staff Lay-Offs                                     6

11    Reduction/Elimination of Programs/Services        4

One area of immediate concern is that several Supervisors apparently are determined to sell the Lime Quarry as part of their agenda.  Selling the quarry makes no sense to me, as the Lime Quarry is turning a profit and was created to provide a source of lime for agriculture in Polk County.  We do still have farms in Polk County, and I hope we will for the foreseeable future, so I think it's premature to consider selling the quarry.

Some people believe that the County should not be involved in any enterprise that private business can perform.  There are private nursing homes, of course, and there are private lime quarries.  Thus, according to this view, the County needs to divest itself from the business of running the Lime Quarry and turn it over to private interests.  This is the same philosophy that led to the sale of Golden Age Manor, which I opposed.  I think that the sale of the Lime Quarry, if it happens, should only occur after a full and open public discussion of competing viewpoints and an open bidding process so we don't get into another Golden Age Manor fiasco.    

Please post your opinions!

Gulf Coast Triathlon 2008

For my 60th birthday, I wanted to achieve a new athletic goal:   A half-ironman triathlon.   So, last November, I signed up for the Gulf Coast Triathlon.  The GCT consists of a 1.2 mile swim in the Gulf of Mexico, followed by a 56-mile bike ride and topped off with a half-marathon (13.1 mile) run.

After I signed up, it occurred to me that perhaps I should start training.  I had very little experience swimming in open water (lake swimming, but not much) and no experience at all swimming in the ocean.   I used the pool at the New Richmond YMCA, practicing a mile swim.  When I realized I could easily swim that far in the pool, I was encouraged.  It remained to be seen, though, whether the pool experience would translate to open water swimming in the Gulf of Mexico surrounded by hundreds of thrashing competitors. 

Training for the bike ride was also tough because of the winter weather.  Most of the other competitors were from southern states, and they could ride outdoors twelve months of the year.  Riding indoors on a trainer is not a lot of fun, nor is it really very good practice for the reality of headwinds, balance, getting proper fluids, and all the other factors that come into play in a "real" bike race.  I was beginning to think that I gotten in over my head when I realized that there would be 1800 competitors in this race.  

Training for the run has been part of my life for the past 30 years.  I had plenty of experience, and the confidence that goes with it, for the run.  Besides, running all winter in Wisconsin, though difficult, is something that I was used to doing.

Training was tough, but when race day arrived, I felt as ready as I could be.  It was overcast and warm at the start, but it got a lot hotter as the day progressed.  By the time the run started for me, the temperature was 82 degrees with 72 percent humidity.  When the half-marathon was over, the temperature had climbed to 87 and the humidity hovered near 71 percent.

I was careful, though, to take fluids and not go "all-out" in this, my first half-ironman triathlon.

The swim was not as difficult as I thought it might be.  Actually, I enjoyed the swim once I figured out how to relax.  The bike ride took longer than it should have, but I was trying to be sure to leave enough energy for that half-marathon I faced following the 56 miles on the bike.  The run was very tough, with the heat and humidity, combined with the fact that my energy level was depleted by the preceding events.  I wasn't used to seeing so many young, fit athletes walking in a half-marathon.  I was determined to at least shuffle between water stops until the final stretch, where I had to walk for awhile because I felt I was developing a heat problem.

My conservative approach paid off.  After the race,  I was shocked to learn that I had placed second in my age group.  All things considered, the Gulf Coast Triathlon was a positive experience.  The race was extremely well-organized.  I'm inspired to do more of these races in the future. 

So, what are YOUR priorities?

At the Executive Committee meeting on May 22, members were presented with a handout entitled "Ranking of Deficit Reduction Options Budget 2009". Without elaborate discussion or debate, we were instructed to rank our personal choices among 11 options, in order of preference, to give the Finance Department direction in deciding how to balance the budget. The options were:
____ Maximize Operation Efficiencies
____ Property Tax Exemptions
____ Increase and/or New Fees and Charges for Services
____ Delay Maintenance or Capital Projects
____ Borrowing
____ Sell Assets
____ New Taxes
____ Shift Costs to Others
____ Use of Fund Balance
____ Staff Lay-Offs
____ Reduction or Elimination of Programs/Services
Before I disclose how I ranked the choices (and how the Executive Committee average vote tallied), I'd like you to make your choices. Let's see how close we are to agreement.

Guest Post: Jeff Peterson on Board Size

This is an older comment (from April 18) from former Supervisor Jeff Peterson on the size of the County Board. I wanted to bring this to the "front page" to stimulate discussion:

Fred Grimm's letter to the editor suggested that reducing the board size to nine would not only save enough money to hire a professional administrator, but would also "reduce the temptation of the supervisors to micromanage". The first point might have some merit, assuming there is some major consolidation of committees so that the nine remaining supervisors don't have to be at meetings every day of the week. But I'm not sure that having fewer supervisors does anything to fix the micromanaging thing -- which I agree is a problem.

We also need to consider that reducing the size of the board to nine or fifteen or whatever would necessitate a costly and likely controversial redistricting plan. Since we'll be getting new population figures in three years anyway, I'm not sure that redistricting makes a lot of sense at this point in time. If we had an even number of districts now, it would be a relatively simple job to simply divide each in two, but if we want to go from 23 to 15, we're going to end up eating up any savings in supervisors' wages with payments to the mapping and consulting firms we'll have to hire to figure out new districts. (Someone should ask Land Information Department head Sara McCurdy whether her employees have the skills and technical expertise to devise a redistricting plan in-house.)

I'm starting to think that all this talk about reducing the size of the county board is more a distraction than an effort at meaningful reform. Yes, we should consider such changes once the 2010 census figures are in, but for now we've got more serious issues to discuss.

April 18, 2008 8:54 PM

Guest Post: Bob Blake Weighs In on Board Size

I've "promoted" the following comment from former supervisor Bob Blake in the interest of airing his views on the issue of reducing the size of the Board.

Since I am now able to get "on" I'm going to attempt a little "blog-posting history". I'll try to catch up on two or three postings in one..... I should have known that I hadn't been blocked out. I mean if you let Rick weigh in, you'll clearly let anyone.....
In your "bozos and clowns" posting, I must admit that I was somewhat put off by that characterization, but having re-read it and discussed with a few other people it appears you were suggesting that if one doesn't like the 23 people who are on the board they may not like the 10 or 12 members of a smaller board either. If that is what you intended, I agree. People have to be of voting age and a resident of the district they represent -- (accept for Gerry Newville----)to serve on the county board. Reducing the size of the board has no direct bearing on the "qualifications" of the candidates running. Also -it is true that the smaller the board the more responsibilities fall to those who are on it. More committee assignments, more meetings etc. I don't think that is all bad. The broader the perspective of the members, the less likely they are to become paternalistic --oops-- maternalistic about the departments upon whose governing boards or committees they serve. In Minnesota, the state has decreed that county boards are made up of five or seven members. I checked on Washington County several years ago-- and their five board members were being paid salaries in the mid $40,000 range and a full load of benefits and were considered full time employees. There is a disturbing down side to that arrangement. It attracts people who aspire to be full time politicians and see the county board as a career choice, or are wealthy semi-retired business owners or professional people. Those kinds of salaries will dictate more expensive campaigns if the positions are contested. People will gladly part with $5,000 to $10,000 dollars campaigning for a job that is worth $60,000 per year if you count the benefits. I don't think it is healthy for the residents if the decision to seek local elected office is limited to those with available disposable income. Those who are struggling should be represented in government as well as those who have been successful.
I think a good size for the board would be 10 to 14 members, not being paid any more than they are now. Frankly, Polk County Board members are very well compensated when compared the board members in our neighboring counties. Had the salary for the county board chairman on the previous county baord been $20,000 per year instead of $5,000 per year the board would have still elected the same Chairman and he would have still been a disastrous choice. The only beneficiary would have been the person who was garnishing his county board chairman's salary. Elected officials don't perform any more responsibly because there being paid more money. We should guard against paying our board members to the extent that they see that job as a part-time career rather than the "service" that is is supposed to be. I think discussions should start regarding an appropriate size for the board and that decision should be incorporated into the required redistricting that must take place when the 2010 census date becomes available. Going through an expensive redistricting process now and then having to do it again in a couple of years is ill-advised. But the discussion on the size of the board could certainly start now.
You also suggest that you have concluded that we need a county administrator. Unfortunately your experience on the county board is limited to one two year term on a board that will likely be remembered as one of the most incompetent, ineffective, corrupt, disfunctional boards we have had in
in the last 30 years. Furthermore--this goes back to the "clowns and bozos" argument--why would one suggest that a board that would choose such obviously flawed leadership for the Chairman's role assume that it could choose a responsible person for the administrator's job? We have gone down that road with a full time administrative coordinator a few years ago and the experiment didn't work. A county executive elected by the people would have to persuade the electors of the entire county of their qualifications to get elected. One could easily argue that Polk County has done a far better job of electing it's constitutional officers than the county board has done in hiring administrative coordinators. I think the new board made a good choice in selecting Mr. Beseler for the Chairman's job and I believe that the need for a full time administrator will not be an issue as long as competent leadership is elected by the county board. I believe that we have excellent management staff in Polk County that --generally-- doesn't need a great deal of direct daily supervision. Since we now have a chairman that understand the job and is willing to do that job, things will go much smoother and the $100,000 per year that an administrator would cost could be better used to upgrade our roads.
When I read Supervisor Brown's letter to the editor, the message that I took from it was his suggestion that this is an important decision that people should weigh carefully. I agree.
Bob Blake

May 10, 2008 8:00 AM

Posting Your Comments

I just learned that I had to change a setting on my blog to allow visitors to post comments. Previously, visitors were required to have an account on blogspot.com in order to post comments. I've taken care of that now, so go ahead and post away!

Send in the Clowns!

My fellow Supervisor, Herschel Brown, has written a letter to the editor of the Inter-County Leader concerning my post relating to reducing the size of the County Board.  Rather than tackling the meaningful issues that were raised in the post, however, Mr. Brown's letter focuses on my "Bozo" comment, which, in context, was obviously not intended to insult anyone presently serving on the Board or anyone who has served on the Board in the past.  The sentence Mr. Brown finds so objectionable was included only to emphasize a point:  If citizens are upset with the Board of Supervisors because they believe the Supervisors are incompetent or unqualified, reducing the size of the Board will do nothing to correct that situation.  That's it. 

Mr. Brown appears to be rather thin-skinned.   Furthermore, lifting one sentence out of context to criticize in a letter to the editor (and not responding on the blog itself) suggests to me that he would rather mislead citizens of Polk County and incite ill-will than address the issues directly and on the merits.  

A "Sounding Board" is not an authority on anything, but a place to air views.  I fail to understand what makes Mr. Brown think that my having created this humble blog means that I consider myself an authority on anything. 

I will be sending my own letter to the editor to respond to Mr. Brown's letter.  

Ice Out Day?

In my limited (26 year) experience, the ice leaves our local lakes on or about April 15.  It's the 19th today, and Wapogasset is still pretty iced-up, though the ice is getting darker.  Maybe with a little rain and a warm day today, we could see the ice go within the next day or so.  I'm ready.  Our daughter Margaret called from Minneapolis on Friday to ask whether we were going to have  the boat in the lake this weekend, so she's ready, too.  It's been a long winter.

The Governor's Fishing Opener is coming to Wapogasset on May 3.  Let's hope Governor Doyle won't have to bring his ice auger.

Update:  Ice out day this year, at least on the southerly part of Lake Wapogasset, was April 24th.  Some of our neighbors to the north of our place said they still had ice on the 24th, but I think most, if not all, had disappeared by the morning of April 25.  Pretty late this year.  

Reducing the Size of the County Board

This idea has been suggested before, but Fred Grimm's letter in the April 16 edition of the Inter-County Leader, along with Gary King's editorial response, raises the question again: Should we reduce the size of the Polk County Board of Supervisors?
I explored the idea of reducing the size of the Board with several of my constituents during my first election campaign, and received mostly positive comments. Supervisors, on the other hand, were cool toward the idea, pointing out that a supervisor on a smaller board would have to serve on more committees. Mr. King speculates that fewer County Board seats would create more competition for those seats. That may be true, but maybe not, if the workload increases and the pay remains constant at present levels, which is to say "not much". If it's hard to find volunteers to serve now, increasing the workload hardly makes it likely that more qualified candidates will be interested in service on a smaller Board. It may turn out that we will need to pay Supervisors a modest salary and expect competence in return. Mr. King states that U. S. Senators can find the time to meet with constituents in all 72 Counties. The Senate is a full-time job. Senators are paid a handsome salary. It's hard to make meaningful comparisons between the two positions.
Let's face it, if we reduce the County Board from 23 Bozos to 9 Bozos, you still have a roomful of clowns, and you haven't accomplished a thing.
Obviously, we need to do something about the headaches created for our unfortunate department heads who have to deal with Supervisors who have no clue whatsoever what is going on until they serve for a couple of years. Then, just when they become fairly well-acquainted with how the department operates, there is another election, at which time they are defeated (often, ironically, by someone who thinks the Board can cut costs if only they are elected), and process starts over again. The truth is that the Highway Department Facility controversy was caused, at least in part, by lack of continuity in leadership, which resulted in a failure to properly maintain the facility.
If the Board continues to "micro-manage" the departments, we are doomed to repeat our recent history, over and over, without learning anything from our past experience.
I've concluded that Polk County needs a full-time professional administrator along with fewer inexperienced, well-meaning but uninformed, cooks in the County kitchen spoiling the broth. Let's reduce the size of the Board of Supervisors, as suggested by Mr. Grimm. A necessary element of this plan, though, would be to hire a professional administrator to take care of the day-to-day decision-making and bring some measure of continuity to our County government.
Reducing the size of the Board would be a mistake unless the day-to-day administration is also taken over by a professional administrator.
Anyone interested in exploring what has happened in other Wisconsin counties, let me know. We'll set up a meeting to look into the idea more closely.

A puff of white smoke...

The Polk County Board organizational meeting began this morning at 9:00 a.m. and concluded at about 6:30 this evening.  

Bryan Beseler was elected Chair by a 15-7 vote over outgoing Chair Larry Jepsen.  First Vice-Chair will be Keith Radiske with a 14-8 tally over Pat Schmidt.  Second Vice-Chair will be Pat Schmidt, with 12 votes to Gerald Newville's 8 votes.

Turning to committee assignments, five elected positions were filled on the Highway Committee,  which will consist of the following Supervisors, Jay Luke, Arthur Gamache, Marvin Caspersen, Herschel Brown and Dean Johansen.  

Several rounds of balloting were needed to elect five members for the Finance Committee.  Three Supervisors were elected to join Chairman Beseler and one appointed member, Gary Bergstrom.  Elected were Katherine Kienholz, Mick Larsen, and Brian Masters.  

Personnel membership includes First Vice-Chair Radiske, two appointed members, Russ Arcand and Pat Schmidt, and two elected members, Jerry Newville and Herschel Brown.

Chairman Beseler will also serve on the Property, Forestry and Recreation Committee.  In previous Boards, the County Board Chair appointed two members of the Property, Forestry and Recreation Committee, and two more were elected by the Board.  Because the committee faces important work over the next two years, the Board decided that Beseler should have a position on that committee.  Joining Beseler will be the two appointed members, Joan Peterson and Larry Jepsen.  Two more Supervisors were elected to serve on this committee, Mick Larsen and Russ Arcand. 

Land & Water/Land Quarry/Extension membership consist of two appointed members, Dean Johansen, and Katherine Kienholz, along with two elected members, Larry Jepsen and myself.

Public Protection will be overseen by appointed members Jay Luke and Brian Masters, along with elected members Kim O'Connell, Neil Johnson, and Joan Peterson.

Land Information Committee appointments were Kim O'Connell, Pat Messicci and Arthur Gamache.  Ken Sample and Keith Radiske were elected to this committee.

The Golden Age Manor Board was re-constituted although the previous Board voted to sell the care facility.  That sale has not yet closed, so the county must continue to operate the facility.  Pat Schmidt,  (a vocal supporter of the sale) will serve on the Golden Age Manor Board because she is the Second Vice-Chair.  Joining her are appointed member Jerry Newville.  Bob Dueholm was elected to serve.

Human Services Committee will have appointed members Ken Sample, Marvin Caspersen and myself.  Elected to the committee were Jim Edgell and Pat Messicci.

Jim Edgell and Bob Dueholm were appointed to the Health & Aging Committee, while Neil Johnson and Gary Bergstrom were elected to positions.

We spent a great deal of time going through proposed amendments to the Rules of Order in an effort to avoid some of the problems we had during the last County Board.  We made some changes that I think will help the Board run more smoothly.

We voted to continue the Ad-Hoc Renewable Energy Committee.   After some debate over whether the size of the committee should be reduced because members are paid a $40 per diem to attend meetings, the citizen membership was increased by one to allow former Supervisor Jeff Peterson to continue serving on the committee.  Losing Peterson's contributions to this committee would have been a setback, so I'm glad he will be allowed to continue his service.  Two Supervisors will join Jeff Petersen:  Larry Jepsen and Arthur Gamache.  Six additional citizen members round out the committee.

One of the last items on the agenda was consideration of a Resolution to increase compensation for elected County officials, including the County Clerk, County Treasurer, Register of Deeds, by 3% in 2009 and 2.5% in 2010, 2011, and 2012.  Supervisor Edgell moved to table the Resolution and his motion was seconded by Herschel Brown.  The vote on the motion to table, however, was 7-16, so the motion failed.  Arthur Gamache proposed an amendment to reduce the annual raises to 1.5%.  That amendment passed 14-9.  

Polk County Board of Supervisors

With the April 1, 2008, election, we have some new Polk County Board of Supervisors.  There are nine new members of the board joining 14 returning incumbent supervisors. The nine new members are: Dean Johansen, a Spanish teacher; Herschel Brown, who moved to Polk County recently, having retired from Coors Brewery in Golden, Colorado; Katherine Kienholz, a Certified Public Accountant; Patricia Messicci, business consultant; Joan Peterson, a former Wisconsin State Trooper; Jim Edgell, retired businessman and truck driver; Ken Sample, retired from AT&T and a member of the Apple River Town Board; Brian Masters, accountant; and Bob Dueholm, an accountant and a former member of the Wisconsin Assembly.
Three new female Supervisors join Pat Schmidt and me on the Board, so now we have 21.39% female representation on the Polk County Board of Supervisors; but who's counting?
The Tuesday, April 15, Board meeting looks to be an interesting event. A new Board Chair will be selected. (In a break from prior tradition, I'm suggesting that a puff of white smoke from the County Administration Building announce that we have chosen a new leader.) A new Vice-Chair will also be chosen to serve on the Personnel Committee. The second Vice-Chair would serve on the Golden Age Manor Board. Since the County continues to operate the Golden Age Manor, that committee will also be created by the new Board.
We are wondering who will be appointed to serve on the Finance Committee. The new Board Chair will be a member of the Finance Committee, along with one member appointed by the new Chair. Three additional members will be elected by the Board of Supervisors. We have some talent available among the new members, with business people and a handful of accountants joining the Board. The new Finance Committee would be well-advised to break out the Wisconsin Open Meetings Law and read it for comprehension. The former Committee skipped apparently skipped that part of orientation.
Public Protection is a popular committee assignment. Two Supervisors will be appointed by the Chair and three more are elected by the Board.
The remaining committees are Highways; Land & Water/Lime Quarry/Extension; Property/Forestry/Recreation/Solid Waste/Recycling; Board of Health and Aging; Human Services Governing Board; and Land Information. Members of these committees are appointed by the Chair and the remainder are elected by the Board.