Dane County Board to discuss public comment rules for the next two years tonight

Dear Honorable Colleagues of the Dane County Board:

(via bcc to county_board_recipients@countyofdane.com)

First, congratulations on your election!  I look forward to working with you in the coming term and meeting all of you in person.  For now, I will settle for seeing you online tonight as we take the oath and start our work together.

I appreciate the Executive Committee’s hard work on the proposal before us to amend Chapter 7: County Board Rules.  Tonight’s Organizational Meeting is unique because it only requires a simple majority to amend the rules.  Historically, this is where our chapter 7 rules get the most attention from the Board. Our Chief of Staff Karin made excellent recommendations to update the rules, which gave the Executive Committee a good foundation for their work. ​  I am in strong support of the changes before us and greatly appreciate Chair Eicher’s leadership to pilot audio recording committee meetings over the last several weeks and include audio recording of standing committee meetings into the proposed rules changes.  The recordings will increase transparency and enhance public, board, and staff understanding of committee work.  The proposal also doubles the time for public comment for persons testifying with an interpreter, an important equity objective.  While proposals for free child care at budget meetings and community engagement plans for standing committees did not make it into the proposal before us, I know we will continue to work on these strategies for inclusion and engagement because of the support of Chair Eicher and the ongoing work of our staff.  I write in support of the Executive Committee’s recommendation (Sub 1 to OA-1). I also write in support of two amendments I will move tonight which are posted with the agenda and explained below.

The first (at this link https://dane.legistar.com/View.ashx?M=F&ID=8259829&GUID=D8422811-D748-47D3-93E0-79BEF9D4221E) provides a public right to comment at the County Board budget meetings where the Board takes up the budget recommendations of the Personnel & Finance Committee.  Adopting the annual budget is one of the most (if not the most) important responsibilities as a board.  Under current law, the last public comment opportunity to the full county board takes place in mid-October before most of the standing committees have taken action, standing committee chairs have presented their committee recommendations to the Personnel & Finance Committee, and the Personnel & Finance Committee makes the difficult decisions on which amendments to include, reduce, and exclude from their budget recommendation.  In other words, there is a lot ​that changes in the last three weeks of the budget process.  These changes, set forth in the Personnel & Finance Committee recommendation, have a significant impact on our employees, community partners, services, and capital projects.   They impact the people of Dane County, whose taxes provide the revenue to support our expenditures.  This amendment ensures that the public has the right to comment on the Personnel & Finance Committee recommendation and any floor amendments before the County Board before we take action on the budget.

The second (at this link https://dane.legistar.com/View.ashx?M=F&ID=8259830&GUID=4A02ECAA-268B-4054-B40A-DD37B07A89E5) allows for public comment on issues which are not on the board agenda for up to two minutes.  The right to public comment on issues not on the agenda exists at the committee level, but it is not limited to two minutes.  I limited comment to two minutes and placed it at the end of the agenda (similar to its placement on committee agendas) to respond to concerns that this comment opportunity would interfere with the Board’s business of the day.  It’s become apparent during this COVID-19 public health emergency that we live in a rapidly evolving world and the public is interested in having an impact on how we respond to emergency issues and new information. This amendment would allow the public to provide brief comment on emergent issues not on our agenda.

Please call me today if you would like to discuss further.  I can be reached at 608-333-3676.  I have meetings sprinkled through the day, but will get back to you as soon as I can if I miss your call.

Thank you for your consideration.

Heidi

Tonight the 37 county board supervisors will get sworn in, with 11 new faces.

The only items on their agenda are election of new county board leadership (expected to be Analeise Eicher, Chuck Erickson and Kristin Audet), creating the rules for the next two years of the county board and picking the official newspaper for legally required announcements.

Here’s the info if you want to join in:

7:00 PM County Board Remote Meeting: Call 1-866-899-4679; Access Code: 379-091-781 **Organizational Meeting**

Remote Meeting: Call 1-866-899-4679; Access Code: 379-091-781 **Organizational Meeting**

The April 21st County Board Organizational meeting is being held remotely. The public can access the meeting by calling the number below. Once prompted, enter in the access code and you will be connected to the meeting.

NOTE: You will be placed on hold until the host joins. United States (Toll Free): 1-866-899-4679
Access Code: 379-091-781
The meeting will be livestreamed and can be viewed here:

https://media.cityofmadison.com/Mediasite/Play/0b4a9114ae684199bfa06c5c2c3f6c8b1d

If you would like to register to speak, please fill out a registration form by clicking on the following link: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/XMNVRTS

Registrations will be accepted until 30 minutes prior to the beginning of the meeting. Staff will then call you into the meeting when the item is before the committee.

• Administering the Oath of Office – Justice Valerie Bailey-Rihn
• Organization of the 2020-2022 Dane County Board of Supervisors
  • 2a. Election of Board Chair – 2 years
  • 2b. Election of First Vice-Chair – 2 years
  • 2c. Election of Second Vice-Chair – 2 years
  • 2d. Election of Sergeants-At-Arms – 2 years

  • AMENDING CHAPTER 7 OF THE DANE COUNTY CODE OF ORDINANCES, AMENDING BOARD RULES

• Motion Designating Official Newspaper for the 2020-2022 Board Years