The County Board and City Council both pass the department budget, and from time to time you see ordinances changes, but who is in charge the rest of the year? Looks like no one.So, the policy oversight Board is the Board of Health for Madison and Dane County. Problem is . . . they don’t seem to meet. In the past 5 years they have had 31 meetings, but cancelled 41 meetings. I’m embarrassed that I didn’t notice this before now, but its not a committee I pay a lot of attention to – and now I think I know why.
WHAT SHOULD THE BOARD BE DOING
Madison General Ordinance Section 7.01 – The Board of Health for Madison and Dane County shall govern the Madison Department of Public Health, the Dane County Division of Public Health and the Madison and Dane County Health Department and shall assure the enforcement of state and local public health laws and regulations. The Board shall adopt rules implementing policies adopted by the Common Council and the County Board.
The Board of Health for Madison and Dane County shall:
a) provide supervision to the Director;
b) assess public health needs and advocate for the provision of reasonable and necessary public health service;
c) develop policy and provide leadership that fosters local involvement and commitment that emphasizes public health needs and that advocates for equitable distribution of public health resources and complimentary private activities commensurate with public health needs;
d) assure that measures are taken to provide an environment in which individuals can be healthy;
e) determine program services priorities and assign the funding levels related to those priorities, subject to approval of the City and County;
f) use the State’s Health Plan, Healthiest Wisconsin 2010, as the focus for the Department;
g) assure the enforcement of state public health statutes, public health rules and City and County public health ordinances;
h) otherwise carry out obligations of a Board of Health under Wisconsin law;
i) when entering into contracts, the Board may do so in its own name, for the benefit of the City and the County.
The Board of Heath for Madison and Dane County may delegate responsibility for redesign, planning, implementation, coordination, and evaluation of Program Services to the Director and his or her management team;
The Board of Heath for Madison and Dane County shall have the authority to act on behalf of the Madison and Dane County Health Department, the City Department of Public Health and the County Division of Public Health and enter into contracts for the purchase of services to the Madison and Dane County Health Department, the City and the County. The Board may delegate that authority to the Director.
The Board shall have the authority to retain outside counsel, subject to approval of the City and County.
After confirmation of the Board and until amended by a subsequent agreement between the City and the County, contracts in excess of $50,000 and regulations established by the Board shall be brought to the Common Council and the Board of Supervisors for approval. During this time period the Board may approve contracts under $50,000 to provide public health services. The Board may apply for combined grants or program operations on behalf of the City and the County or for individual grants on behalf of the City and County where appropriate. The Board shall have the duties and obligations set forth in the intergovernmental agreement between the City of Madison and Dane County.
WHAT ARE THEY DOING?
4 Meetings in 2019
The last time they met was October 23. Their meetings were cancelled in November and December. And prior to that they cancelled their meetings on:
- 12/4/19
- 11/6/19
- 8/7/19 – no agenda set
- 7/19 – no meeting scheduled
- 6/26/19 – no agenda set
- 6/12/19 – no agenda set
- 5/1/19 – no agenda set
- 3/13/19
- 1/19 no meeting scheduled
This means that in 2019 the Board of Public Health met 4 times (10/23, 9/4, 4/3 and 2/6) and cancelled 9 meetings.
6 Meetings in 2018
In 2018 Legistar shows cancelled meetings as follows:
- 11/19/18 – No agenda posted
- 11/8/18
- 10/11/18
- 9/13/18
- 8/9/18
- 7/12/18
- 6/6/18 – No agenda posted
- 5/10/18
- 4/20/28 – No agenda posted
- 3/8/18
In 2018 they held 6 meetings (12/6, 10/17, 6/14, 4/12, 2/8, 1/11), but cancelled 10 meetings.
6 meetings in 2017
In 2017 they cancelled the following meetings
- 12/7/17
- 10/19/17
- 8/10/17
- 7/14/17 – No agenda posted
- 6/8/17
- 5/19/17 – No agenda posted
- 5/11/17
- March – No meeting scheduled
- January – No meeting scheduled
They did manage to have 6 meetings (11/9, 9/14, 8/29, 7/13, 4/13, 2/9) but cancelled 9 meeting.
8 meetings in 2016
In 2016 they cancelled the following meetings:
- November 2016 meeting
- 9/28/16
- 9/13/16
- July 2016 meeitng
- March 2016 meeting
This was the best year for having meetings, they managed to meet 75% of the time.
7 meetings in 2015
In 2015 they cancelled the following meetings:
- 11/9/15
- 11/5/15
- 9/2/15
- 7/9/15
- 6/11/15
- 5/14/15
- 3/12/15
- 1/8/15
WHY DOES KONKEL CARE?
Two reasons.
First, I chair the Public Safety Review Committee and there is an ongoing discussion about what the mission of that group is. Some people say that “Public Safety” is broad ranging and goes beyond the Police and Fire Department and should include the Health Department. Others say that the Board of Public Health should be doing the work. I agree with the “others”, not the “some people” – but the information above completely deflates my argument!
Second PFAS. The city and county have gone round and round privately about how to form a joint committee. It seemed most recently that the idea of creating a new joint city and county committee got scrapped because they were going to just use an existing committee – the Public Health Board. But if they never meet? Then what? Doesn’t seem like an effective strategy.
WHY SHOULD YOU CARE?
First of all, its your tax dollars.
Second of all, what is going on? I’m partially curious and partially wondering what broke down. Personally I think its a systemic problem of the Mayoral and County Executive appointments, lack of training for committee members and lack of respect for residents that step up to serve on committees. Seems like many (not all) staff feel like committees are just a time suck.
Third, I’m sure you can think of issues the committee should be working on – he’s a start:
- PFAS
- Opioid Epidemic
- Bridging the city and county discussions in mental heath gaps in our community
- They oversee the AirBnB program – but the ordinance isn’t being referred to them by the council
- They should play some role in the health of our homeless people in the community
- They could be promoting harm reduction strategies for nonprofits serving our most vulnerable in the community
- Add you favorite issue here.
These are big topics they could be working on – but instead . . . they don’t even meet.
And that leads me back to my original question. I think the City and County officials have very little oversight and that authority has been delegated to this board, if the board is not meeting, who is setting the priorities? When oversight is lacking, the public loses their voice.
