August Update: County Newsletter
Happy August everyone. I hope that folks are enjoying the last bit of summer as the heat wears off and things get crisp (my favorite time of year in Wisconsin).
This month has been interesting on the county board. The Supervisor vacancy in District 5 (previously held by Brian Thomas) has been filled by Julia Robinson. Chair Monica Yuhas did her due diligence and interviewed all applicants, finding Supervisor Robinson to be the most qualified. Opposition on the floor consisted mostly of arguments about the political leanings of Supervisor Thomas vis a vis the person who replaced him. Since the County Board is a nonpartisan governing body and most of the feedback I got from folks who worked with Supervisor Robinson stated that she would work with anyone of any political leaning, I felt these criticisms were unconvincing. I received dozens of e-mails in support, and it was really encouraging to see all the positive support come in by folks inside and outside her district for her appointment. Her extensive experience on the Kenosha Common Council as well as her position on the Kenosha County Board of Health make her an excellent candidate and I am thrilled to work with her as a colleague.
In the same meeting, the board was set to vote to approve Kenosha County’s participation in a feasibility study for the Kenosha-Racine-Milwaukee (KRM) rail line. This approval was unfortunately sidelined by Supervisor Decker’s proposed amendment to the resolution, that would require a referendum to appear on the November ballot, asking residents of Kenosha County about whether they would approve such a rail line, with some suggestive language about how it will affect taxes. I want to be clear that I am absolutely interested in hearing from the community about the rail line once the feasibility study has been complete, and I would support such a referendum once the rail line approval itself is on the table. However, I believe asking the public to vote about our participation in a feasibility study (that is already paid for by a $5 million grant issued to the City of Racine) is premature. I believe that in order for the public to vote about their support of such a rail line, they would need to have the information that would be provided by the feasibility study. Ultimately, the resolution, amendments and all went back to the legislative committee, where we discussed it further. The committee voted down the amended resolution 5-2, and the unamended resolution went to the board floor, where the board voted to pass it.
I should note that Supervisor Decker made a statement on the board floor that she would be petitioning for Executive Kerkman to veto the resolution, so we should probably expect another veto around the bend and that the fate of our participation in the feasibility study is likely not promising. Although, she did tell the Kenosha News that she hadn’t decided yet about the veto. The good news is the feasibility study does not depend on county involvement, the City of Kenosha is already involved, and we have ways of keeping abreast of the project through those channels.
Thank you all for your time and engagement. I appreciate hearing from all of you! We will be heading into budget season in the next few months, and the updates are sure to be thrilling. Make sure to get anyone who wants to be signed up for the newsletter. Take care, and have a great September.
Recordings:
August 6th County Board Meeting: https://www.youtube.com/live/rHgPOH-1hTE?si=T0PO96EiV84ji_Hq
August 20th Legislative Committee Meeting: https://www.youtube.com/live/tk794Wu4boY?si=0W6ox-IKscZNTuvg
August 20th County Board Meeting: https://youtu.be/5tCnMhOr7bU?si=IW7N7mxAA8Ipoupu