Watching these meetings are kinda a joke, they often spend more time congratulating people than doing anything of substance. It’s kinda why I stopped blogging them, but I am resolved to try again. Enjoy.
Roll Call
Absent: Dye, Miles, O’Loughlin, Schmidt. O’Loughlin and Schmidt.
Pomp and Circumstance – 45 minutes
Chenowith does the “inpirational” with a quote from Albert Einsteinn “in the middle of difficulty lies opportunity”. He talks about how this applies to the board.
They do the pledge of allegiance.
They honor the employees that have been with the county for 25 years. They announce people can come on the floor to take pictures if they want.
– They honor Joel Highman? Hyman? a land records specialist in planning & development, apparently an avid biker.
– Board of Health has 3 employees, Laura Berger (TB and breast feeding program and speaks spanish), Nancy Odell (TB and communicable diseases) and Cheryl Robinson (supervisor in for STI, HIV and immunization programs, will be retiring in June), 3 public health nurses.
– DA’s office honors two women who’s names I didn’t get completely. Sue, a paralegal, handles misdemeanor complaints to get people to court on time. Another woman, Jeanne, works in the victim-witness unit.
– Sheriff’s Department honors 4 people, others declined to be recognized. James Gray worked in juvenile court, has been a Huber counselor and now works in jail diversion. Eric Bates worked in security services, policy development and helped transition to the new jail. He worked in the electronic monitoring program when it was new and helped set that up as well. Dave Nazinski?, a deputy sheriff, worked in jail, patrol in northeast precinct and crash reconstruction, now works on contract in Windsor and does training. Jeff Nelson was a booking deputy, patrol division, works in marine and trail unit and on the dive team. The chief deputy doing the presentations was also a 25 year honoree.
Commending the UW Women’s Volleyball team. Kyle Richmond reads the resolution. No members attend, but coaches are there. One of them speak about how they have such great attendance. They pause for a photo.
County Conservationist Pat Sutter Retirement Patrick Downing reads the resolution. Sutter worked for the county for 30 years. He talks about the the Land Conservation Committee people he has worked with along with the staff. He didn’t want the retirement, but it was best for him and his family.
Business of the Body – 2 minutes
Payment of bills over $10,000, passes voice vote unanimously.
Approval of minutes – passes on voice vote unanimously.
Announcements – 5 more minutes
They skipped this in the pomp and circumstance part and go back to it.
John Hendrick announces 150 years of the 13th amendment, abolishing slavery, except as punishment for a crime. He says that loophole should be closed and he says that due to the embarrassing disparities over half the residents of the jail are people of color and the further embarrassment is that some of them (about 25) work a 8.5 hour shift each day for little or no pay. They heard during the budget that they would rather watch tv than take a job, he says instead of fining them, they should make work more attractive and pay them a living wage. It will cost over $800,000 but he has ideas on how to do that. He invites his fellow supervisors to sign on and fulfill the promise of the 13th amendment.
Bob Salov invites them to dinner, to celebrate 29 lives saved in Dane County, by EMS and Fire and Police staff, the banquet will be Feb 21st at Turner Hall, its $12. 5:30 cocktails, 6:00 dinner. This is the largest number of saves in Dane County.
Carousel Bayrd announces meeting on Saturday to support referendum to support Madison Public Schools. Its 1 – 2:30 at Goodman Library on Park St. She says if the state government will not fund education, than the community will.
Finishing Business – 1 minute
Zoning Petitions – pass unanimously on a voice vote without discussion.
Ordinance Amendment – a substitute is at their desks, allows them to pay more for positions when there are exceptional qualifications. Passes on voice vote.
Adjournment.
