County Board - Regular Meeting

very good we are going to call this meeting to order on may 26 of government services and i am going to ask and i did not prepare the youth in governance i'm just curious do either of you have your youth and governance statement handy no no okay would you happen to have it handy okay that's okay very good i put you on the spot but what we'll do at the beginning of our government services meeting and we'll have each of you alternate and take turns reading the youth and governance statement okay so just be prepared for that All right, very good. So, um, I have no comments and we have no public here with us this evening. So we are gonna just move along on the agenda. And the item that we are gonna have presented this evening is, um. New business item a, and this authorized acceptance of a grant modification for the fiscal year 2025 community policing development, Michael grant program and here to speak is is a captain Evans and Emily too. Okay. Very good.

You have the mic.

Before I get too far in this, I just want to at least say this so I don't forget. I don't write these. I find grants sometimes or Emily finds grants and she goes, hey, do you think you could spend this? Do you think you could use this? Emily is the brains behind what we've done with the grants between the boats or a lot of the stuff that we've done has all come from her work and the work with data analytics and Travis's division. So I've got to give credit where credit's due. We work together a lot, but they do the heavy lift of getting these secured for us. And then with this one, as you'll see, a lot of the modifications that went into it. So, what we got was 169,000 dollars to the no match grant. We go to slide number 2, the purpose of this grant was to strengthen our ability to investigate and suppress violent crimes. This aligns with our, our mission through that we did over the past couple of years. 1 of the things that we've seen is that technology is very integral and you'll see it on the next slide. It's very go back 1 for me for a 2nd, very integral in our enforcement of crimes. The software and service, our current budget, so I want to make sure it's clear as we go deeper into this. Our current budget does support adequate baseline tools for us to do digital evidence management. Um, we, we do have adequate tools, but as you can imagine, and I spoke to the last committee about this. There is a litany of things that are offered out there. If we brought everything to the board, that's being offered to us on a daily basis. You guys would laugh me out of the room, right? So we have to be very strategic. And what is it that we need to get the job done? What is nice to have? So, what happened when we wrote this grant originally is we were pitched something and you see in the last 1 here, uh, celebrate guardian. After we received the grant, we realized the celebrate guardian was going to materially change our workflow. It was going to change our workflow so significantly that backing out of it in the future wasn't really an option. So, once we were into this, we were going to be stuck with it, which was going to create a residual effect to the county budget. which I didn't want to bring forward, not at this time. So we pivoted. And you'll see the pivot here on the next coming slide. So if we go to the next slide, digital evidence is now estimated to play a role in approximately 90% of criminal investigations. You can see the source cited down there is a National Institute of Justice, pretty reliable source. 90% of criminal investigations have a digital device nexus. If we go to the next slide, how do we get that data? The only way we're getting evidence from a digital device is 1 of 2 ways either. We write a search warrant. So we write paperwork. We bring it to a judge and we say, your honor, we'd like to go look at this person's phone, their computer, whatever that might be. They review it, they see all of our probable cause, and they sign off on it and go, James, you and your guys, you have authority, go ahead and do this, right? Or we walk up to whoever the person is and we say, hey, we want to take a look at this to either prove you innocent or guilty. And they say, sure, go ahead. And they give us consent and they sign a consent form. That's the only way we get it. This is not set it up in an area and collect data. It's not that type of tool. It's evidence that we collect through search warrants or through consent. Next slide. Where does digital evidence come from? Any one of these places. It's really hard to comprehend the amount of digital evidence that's out there, but it comes from everything from video game systems, where we have chats that are enabled, and internet browsers, to computers, to storage devices, to cell phones. Go to the next slide. Just so we can comprehend a little bit of what our analysts are sorting through. That on the right is a free cell phone. That's from T-Mobile right now. I took that picture today. That's 256 gigabytes. 256 gigabytes downloaded in 4K is the entirety of the Marvel movie collection. So if you guys are Marvel movie fans at all, I kind of am, that is a lot of movies. Now think about looking through there for maybe a 10 second clip of something. and you have to sort through all of that data. But let's put it another way. Let's go to the next slide. This morning, I talked to a former County Board Supervisor. Nick Demski was kind enough to share the number total of all of the books that they have at the Racine Public Library. It's 156,676 books. Yes, I cheated. I used AI. An average count for pages on an average density in a library like ours, formatted for e-book format, could fit on that one terabyte little micro SD card, something the size of your fingernail. Next slide. This is from a case in 2025. This was on the news. You guys would have all seen it. I won't say who it was. This was one of our ICAT cases, Internet Crimes Against Children. He's spending four years in prison right now. That server has 42 terabytes on it. That's enough data to hold the entire Library of Congress. That's 42 times the size of our public library. And I have to have people sort through that to try to figure out where is the one thing that links the one person to the one crime in the one place that victimized somebody in our community. When you're that investigator, if we can go to the next slide, you feel a lot like this. You're sorting for a needle in a haystack. So what's the solution? We can do this and we've done it for years. We have ways to be able to manage it and there's ways to make it easier, but are there way better ways? Next slide. We bring a magnet to the party, right? And that's Pathfinder. So if we go to the next slide, Pathfinder analyzes, investigates and connects. It uses onsite analytical software to identify, investigate leads and relationships within large volumes of digital evidence on site server. that we buy this server in our software or in our package we keep it forever but it's our server to own and then they were on the software on it for us the ufdr extraction file that's what comes off these digital evidence it's a universal federal data something or other i can't remember the the acronym but that's how the data comes out this tool does the comparison what we did with this grant so when i backed out of guardian like i told you guys i said we can't use that because it changes everything too much it left me a large chunk of money Because we started our negotiations in 2025, I leveraged 2025 pricing to get them to do that for the three-year term. We went and talked with our grant administrator with a lot of help from Emily. The grant administrator gave us an immediate extension. She liked the idea of what we were doing, was very excited about it, gave us a written immediate extension for two years on the grant with a verbal. It's not written yet, but a verbal for a third year. That wasn't good enough for me. So I went back to the vendor and I said, hey, make it a third year option, but keep the 2025 pricing. We talked for a while. They liked the idea. They kept the third year as an option for us. So if we get the extension on the third year, if we do, we can buy this with the grant money that's already been approved on year three at 2025 pricing. If we don't, we sunset it at that time. When that sun sets, we keep the server tower. And then the last thing on here, the Insights Online Limited Access, that's software that helps run the main system. So we walk away from this for two years with a giant magnet to help us find the needle and then a tower that we keep forever. Any questions?

Captain Evans, you sure have a gift to provide this illustration in our heads and to help this comprehension of something. It's a, it's a lot bigger than just 1520 minutes to understand. But so thank you for that committee. Do you have any questions? Supervisor Osterman.

Thank you, Madam Chair. First of all, thank you for including in your explanation how you handled the negotiation. That's insightful. I appreciate that. The digital evidence that you referenced, what was the date that that statistic came forward? How long ago was that? Was that in 2020?

I think that was a 24 number. It's out of an NIJ, and I can get you a copy of where that came from.

Well, I asked that. It sets up my second question about how is that potentially affected by AI? Do you see that statistic increasing by percentage or not?

I think the complexity, I think that what we're going to see is it becomes more complex. And so if you've listened to what the sheriff has talked about for several years at board meetings, a lot of the stuff I brought forward, we speak a lot to the complexity of law enforcement. When I started, I can't believe I'm going to say this, almost 20 years ago, it would be 20 years this winter, there was flip phones. And now there's cell phones with cameras everywhere. I wear a camera on my chest. Tasers didn't exist. The complexity of law enforcement has gone so exceptionally far, but the complexity of crime is keeping up with it at that same pace. So as we're seeing AI work for us in multiple different ways in our technology, we're going to start finding those same things, I think, within the criminal element.

Thank you. So the last... The last question I have requires your crystal ball to please tell us that investing this money is going to help at least mitigate maybe a little bit the overtime that could be associated with some of these long investigations.

I don't know. I mean, I would love to tell you that. I would absolutely love to tell you that. But I also am not much for... That kind of speech, right? I can't lie to you. I don't know how that's going to work. Um, I don't think that this type of investing well. Okay, so let me put it this way. I talked to an investigator out of Boston. Boston PD uses this. They had a large RICO case, so an organized crime case. They did the entire case, were able to make multiple arrests, and then they utilized this in case prep for their trial. And what took them, she said, dozens of hours, she said probably upwards close to 100, what took them 100 hours to process through previously, Took them four to six hours in case prep once they had this software. Is it possible that this does save us a lot of money? Yes. Is it going to be documentable? I don't know. I can't promise that I'm going to be able to come back and say, hey, look at this one right here. This would have taken this much and now it only took that much. I don't want to promise that when I'm not sure I can deliver it.

Very fair.

Thank you.

Thank you so much. Supervisor Trottier.

Thank you, Madam Chair. And thank you, Supervisor Osterman. You did get it led into my question. I wasn't necessarily worried about the overtime and how much we're going to save. I was curious as to the success with your fellow counties that may have it in the state, as well as other states that might have this system. And you just answered that question. My second question, though, I have is, How refined is the department's access to this system? meaning who has access to this system?

Absolutely. So there's a procedure that is being developed right now to overlay on top of this that goes with all of our digital forensic software technology procedures, but it's limited to the analyst that does the actual extraction and the investigator that's investigating it, and it's overseen by a lieutenant and ultimately a captain. So it is a restrictive system. its access than you're saying right now to approximately four people uh depending on the case right there's there's several investigators right okay but it would be the investigator that has that case they're going to have the primary access to the data that's extracted but that's that's been a long practice for us back when i was investigator and it was prior to even this company being around but they we had the same practice in place at the time it wasn't something where it's you know just they take everybody's influence it it doesn't work that way thank you very much

Thank you. Supervisor is there any other questions from the committee? Supervisor Hopkins.

Yeah, just quickly as any subscription monthly subscription associated with this software or program.

Oh, this pays for it for the entirety of the 2 years. And then we'll, we'll re, approach. The grant administratively doing that next year to get that final extension and then this, this would take us this money. Would cover the entirety of the 3 years with no additional costs and then my goal and we'll see how it works out. My goal is to try to rewrite a different grant a similar grant and see if we can try to stretch this out further. If we see the success that I think we're going to see with it.

Thank you supervisor Hopkins supervisor.

Um, at this point, Madam chair, I would make a motion to authorize acceptance of this grant for the community policing development. Grants the micro grants program with 1st and 2nd reading at tonight's May 26 county board meeting.

We have a motion do we have a 2nd? Very good. Is there a discussion on the motion? I'm going to ask the good just spend from the rules a 2nd, because I do need the youth to vote on this this evening and we did find the statement and just to make it clear for the record. Um, uh, what the vote for the youth vote is a committee. Okay with me allowing you think governance to read the statement. All right. Very good. So, I'm going to ask Andrew, please push the right button. You can read the statement.

Hello, we are the members of the Racine County youth and governments program, and we will be participating in tonight's meeting. This program serves to empower youth in Racine County by encouraging us to participate in local government. We have agreed to abide by the applicable standards of conduct that would have governed any elected county board member. While we are encouraged to participate and are allowed to have a non-binding advisory vote on matters before the committee, all formal action taken by this committee will be based solidly on the binding votes made by the county board supervisors.

Thank you Andrew. Okay. And with that, we do have a motion in a 2nd, on the floor. I'm 1st, going to ask the youth and governance. How do you wish to vote?

All right, thank you so much.

All those on the committee all those in favor please say aye aye. Is there any opposed. It passes. Thank you so much. Great job, Emily. Good job. Captain Evans. Okay. Um, I'm just going to ask to bounce back up. We do now that we've read that statement, we do have approval of the minutes from the previous meeting. That's an actionable item. So I do need a motion. Okay, it's been motioned and seconded any discussion. You think governance, how do you wish to vote? Uh. Okay, a committee all those in favor please say, aye. Any opposed passes. Very good. All right. The next 1 is the report. This is a county executive making reappointments and appointments to the local emergency planning committee. If you do see on our agenda, we have supervisor Bob Miller. We have Chad Samson and we have the battalion chief Dustin Ellis. Uh, there's a vacancy that currently exists on it to fill the vacancy. They, uh, they also point to term to expire May 31st, 2028, uh, Sadie Schultz. Uh, how does this committee wish to vote? Oh, motion.

Sorry. Okay.

That is a motion. Do we have a second? It has been properly seconded. Is there any discussion? Hearing none youth and governance, how do you wish to vote? Thank you committee all those in favor please say, aye. Is there any opposed? All right it passes. I'm going to ask for this 3rd item just due to time that we defer it. Can I have a motion to defer?

For the 3rd item of this agenda.

Thank you. We have a motion to defer and what it is, it's a chairman updates on the youth and governance handbook. Um, is there any discussion on that? Youth and governance? How do you wish to vote? Thank you all those in favor on the committee, uh, say, aye. Any opposed? All right. Uh, that has passed. We have exhausted our agenda and this concludes government services. Thank you. Thank you.

We are adjourned. Are we ready?

Okay, I'd like to call the community of the whole meeting together Tuesday, May 26, 2026. Tonight, we're going to have a presentation by WCA, Wisconsin County's Association Outside General Counsel, Andy Phillips from Atollis Law Firm, on understanding the nature and the roles within county government. Andy, it's all yours.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. So, as your chair mentioned, I'm outside general counsel for the county's association. It's a position position I've held for about 25 years now. And so in that process, I've got I've been able to counties doing things really well. Counties doing things not so well. And so I want to tell you that right now, this is. A discussion about my observations of what I've seen work. I've never sat in your chair. I've never been a county board supervisor. So when the WCA conducts training for county board supervisors, and I do this with a lot of different counties have this discussion. I hate the word training. I can't train you to be a supervisor. I've never been elected to sit in your seats. So again, I'm offering observations based on my own experiences in various counties around the state again as to what works and what doesn't work. And so, as you might imagine, this isn't the only county board that I've had discussions with in the past couple of months. We had this election in early April where we had all sorts of new supervisors that took their seats all around the state. And so we've had discussions with all different counties, and we're going to continue to have discussions with all different counties over the coming weeks and months. So what I like to say at the beginning is that if you have a question, ask it. If you want to debate me on a point, debate me. If you want to say you're full of it, say you're full of it. and honest discussion about county government. This isn't easy. I am the first to tell you that you've got a really, really challenging, difficult job as a county board supervisor. And I know that firsthand, given how long I've been doing this with county governments all across the state. We don't have a how-to manual. You don't open Chapter 59 of the Wisconsin Statutes and find instructions on exactly what you have to do to be a county board supervisor. that said i'm a lawyer and so i know that there are some legal principles that are baked into chapter 59 and other statutes and i also know that if you read chapter 59 enough a lot of the things that we're going to discuss tonight become self-evident and so again i'm offering you that type of experience and observation that will hopefully assist you in becoming a really really effective county board because that's ultimately what we want for the next two years Our citizens demand and deserve the efficient delivery of services. And if we can organize ourselves in a way that is going to deliver on that promise to the electorate, then we're all better off. So, why don't we move to the next slide? Please. So, just a bit of a history of county government, Wisconsin, if you look here, there were actually 5 counties that existed prior to 1848. What happened in 1848? We became a state. So county government existed before state government. Then we saw in 1836 to 1901, the number grew from 6 to 71, and then the final county was created in 1961. All of this historical context is cool. You're going to win the next round of Wisconsin County Trivial Pursuit, but that's not why I'm telling you this information. I'm telling you this information because understanding the foundational nature of county government is really important in understanding what it is that we do as counties. County government existed before state government. What were we a county of if we weren't a county of a state? We were a county of a territory, the Northwest Territory. So if we're a county of territorial government, what were we doing? We were delivering territorial services at the local level. We were the local presence of the territory in that particular geographic location. So then 1848 comes along, we establish state government. We continue with county government. But as counties, were we our own unique political subdivision at that point? No, we were the local presence of the state of Wisconsin in a particular geographic area. So if we think about it, why do counties exist? Because in 1848, it took an email forever to get from Dane County to Douglas County. All right. the local presence of the state in a particular geographic location. So keep that in mind as we go through and talk about the nature of county government and the roles and responsibilities within county government. Next slide. All right. So in thinking about, again, the historical context associated with county government, there was a debate that occurred when we first became a state. The debate was, what's our county government going to look like? And the reason I bring this up is because if you look all across the country, counties are different creatures in different states. In Wisconsin, we settled on the legislative form of county board governance. The legislative form meaning that county board is a legislative body. In states that settled on that legislative form, we typically have larger county boards. Other states, they settled on what's called the commissioner form, where you have individual commissioners that have specific operational authority or control over a specific aspect of county government. And so, for example, in Los Angeles County, I think they have three commissioners. Maybe it's more. But each one of them has a budget and is responsible for a particular aspect of L.A. County operations. So can you imagine in a county with, what is it, 12 million people, how big those budgets must be? It's a much different job than what you have as a job as a Racine County Board Supervisor. So again, And we think about foundationally, what does it mean to be a Wisconsin county and be on a Wisconsin county board? We're looking at the legislative form of county board governance in Wisconsin counties. Next, so some basic information. Our authority derives from chapter 59 of the statutes. The constitutional provision that speaks to counties. Simply says, I think it's article 4 section 22 that counties are a creature of the legislature, meaning the legislature can dictate what it is. The counties to contrast this with municipal city or village authority that comes directly from the Constitution. So cities and villages enjoy what's called constitutional home rule authority, whereas counties enjoy statutory home rule authority. And the way I like to think of it, and this is oversimplifying, and I'm sure your corporation council is well-versed in a lot of stuff, is going to tell everybody that I was wrong on this at some point in time. But the way I like to think about it is this. If I'm a city or village and I want to do something at the local level, it's incumbent upon somebody else to tell me why I can't. If I'm a county and I want to do something at the local level, I've got to find state statutory authority to tell me I can. In other words, we've got to follow the rules that the legislature establishes. And people, it drives them crazy when I say this, but when the legislature says jump, our response as counties is, how high? That's what we do. All right now, that's not to detract from the really important services that we deliver each and every day to the citizens overseeing county. But in large part, we are carrying out the state mandate as to the services that we are going to deliver. All right. We are a body corporate that can sue and be sued. What does that mean? That means even though the state tells us what we have to do, we enjoy a legal existence separate and apart from that of state government. So we are our own political subdivision form of county board government governance for Wisconsin when we establish statehood. That means all counties in Wisconsin, all 72 are governed by a board of supervisors. Now we have some freedom as to size. And so that's why you see board size ranges from seven all the way up to 38. Marathon County has 38 board supervisors. So anytime you think that things are getting ugly and we're seeing kind of just think of your friends in Marathon County. Not only is it the biggest board in the state, but they picked an even number. Brilliant. Anyways, next slide. We have administrative home rule authority, all right? Remember, cities, villages have constitutional home rule authority. We have statutory home rule authority. That's in 5903 sub 1 and 59.51 sub 1. And what that says basically is that when it comes to matters that are of local concern here in Racine County, we are free to organize ourselves and regulate and do things as we see fit. But if the legislature adopt something that is considered a matter of statewide concern. That eliminates our authority to enact legislation. Or regulate within that particular area, and as you might imagine. When we get into disputes with our friends in state government, this is the statute that we always pull out to say, no, see, we get to do it the way we want in Racine County or whatever county where the dispute arises. But then it just becomes a grand debate about who has the authority to do this, whether it be the state or the county. And the people who really love that debate are lawyers because we get paid by the hour and it's not easily answered all of these questions. All right. Next slide. So one of the areas where the state has stepped in and said you have to do it one way or the other is they've said you got a choice, but you have to choose from these three different forms. County executive form, administrator form, or administrative coordinator form. Next slide. And if we look at the way that the state has evolved over time, you see an awful lot of red up there. And all of that red, those are county administrator counties. If I were to take that map back to say 1995, 2000, you'd see a lot less county administrators, a lot more administrative coordinators. And so the evolution of county government in Wisconsin has seen more and more professional management at the county level. Now Racine County has an executive, one of 12 counties to have a county executive. The county executive counties are in yellow and those are usually the most populous counties that have a county executive. The lone exception being Portage County, that's the least populous county to have a county executive. So what does that all mean for Racine County? That means that you are governed under 59.17 of the statutes. Next slide. That's the executive form of government. And so when we think about the organizational model, the county executive form is most like the state government gubernatorial form, where the executive is elected at large by the citizens of Racine County and has independent authority to veto resolutions, veto ordinances, submits an annual budget, appoints and supervises department head subject to board confirmation and so on. But the county executive is the most like the governor at the state level as it relates to county government. Next slide. There is a unique circumstance for corporation council in county executive counties. And this is where I get to Michael's horn a little bit, even though he didn't ask me to. I'm going to say this is that he has a really difficult job as corporation council in Racine County because there's a county executive and a county board who is in charge of that relationship. Both. What's the one thing that we're taught and grounded into us on day one of law school? Identify who your client is and you have to do what your client says. Well, what happens when the board says to do one thing and the executive says the other? That's where Michael starts crying and it's not pretty. He's called me several times when that's happened. So please don't make him feel bad. Try to get along with the executive. and make Corporation Council's job a little bit easier. But I say this in jest, but it is a reality where we have challenges with Corporation Council. Why do I bring this up? Because I've been involved in situations not here, but in other counties with a county executive where you have a board distrusting Corporation Council because they think Corporation Council is serving merely the executive and vice versa. And I'm telling you that that not only doesn't happen, but it can't happen under the rules of ethics that we abide by as lawyers. And so again, have faith in your corporation council who's looking out for the best interests of the entire county. Next slide. So, the county board of supervisors, we settled on the legislative form. The county board serves in a legislative. Capacity no individual authority vests with any single county board supervisor. You exercise your authority collectively as a whole. Next. So what about your committees? Your committees have no independent authority. Your committees assist in policy development. But what I like to say is that in the counties where I've seen success, the committees do a ton of policy heavy lifting. They roll up their sleeves. They have public comments. They interact with stakeholders. They learn and understand issues so that when they make a recommendation, whether it be a resolution ordinance or otherwise back to this board, the board has full confidence that a measure has been fully vetted at the committee level. This board and the individual supervisors on the board should not be forced into learning everything that the committee learned. We ought to have faith that the committee is doing their job. So, again, the committees play an incredibly important role in the entire process of policy development next. So, I think of the county board is having 2 roles. Adopt policy that's legislation obviously, but then also. hold staff accountable for implementation of that policy. If we do those two things really well as a county board, we're gonna be called a visionary. How many of you have been called a visionary by somebody other than your spouse in the last six months? Right? You have been, congratulations. You're the first one that I have met that gave me that answer in the last couple of months. So congratulations, that's awesome. This is aspirational. We ought to be considered visionaries. Visionaries are proactive. They set policy. They establish legislation. They set the parameters under which we're going to determine whether that legislation or policy is being carried out in the appropriate manner. Next slide. This is a much different job than our administration, than our county executive, than our department heads, than our staff. They are not visionaries unless we ask them to be visionaries. They are required to focus on the details. It's important that they understand the minutia. It's important that they get involved in the day-to-day operations. It's important that they have the background experience and qualifications to take care of the operations in a manner that the board believes is advisable. So again, their job is much different than that of the board. Next slide. And so I think of the staff, administration, executive is having two roles as well. Remember, board's role is to legislate and hold staff accountable. Staff's role is to carry out, implement the policy that this board establishes, but then also make you all look good. What do I mean by that? Give you the information and advice necessary for you to make an informed policy decision. That's really important. So again, both sides have two roles. Next slide. And this is borne out in my estimation when we look at the qualifications on both sides, the qualifications to be a member of staff and then the qualifications to be a member of the board. So if we think about the help wanted to add that were taken out for a new highway commissioner, It's going to be a pretty extensive Help Wanted ad. It's going to talk about experience dealing with county state highway systems. It's going to talk about education. We want somebody probably to be an engineer, a civil engineer, or something of that sort. We're going to check their background. We're going to ask them to be members of professional associations. We're going to put them through an interview process. In other words, we want to make sure that we've got the best and the brightest serving as Racine County Highway Commissioner. Now contrast that with the help wanted to add to be a Racine County Board Supervisor. What are the qualifications to be a Racine County Board Supervisor? What are they? You can shout them out.

18. 18? Resident.

Resident of your district. What else? Get the most votes. Can't be a felon. What was the biggest one, Mr. Chair?

Get the most votes.

That's it. That's it. That to me is the most important qualification because the people within your district have faith that you are going to represent them when you get to this room. And so there are all sorts of awesome experiences that people bring to county boards. They come from all different backgrounds. They have all different levels of education. That's all awesome. I love that. But to me, that doesn't mean a thing unless you are elected to sit in that seat by the people who put you there. That's the most important qualification. So I don't want to see ever anybody putting other qualifications on your job as a board supervisor, because it doesn't matter what your background is. If you can represent the folks that put you here, that's the most important qualification. So how does this speak to the two roles that we have between board and administration? Well, remember board, you legislate, you enact policy and you hold staff accountable. Well, then how are you going to enact policy if you don't have any requirement that you have a background in the policy that you're debating? Well, you rely on staff to give you the information necessary to make that decision. They're the ones that you have already demanded have all of the expertise necessary to get you that information. then staff is also going to implement the policy that you pass that you adopt and then you're going to hold staff accountable to make sure they're implementing consistent with what this board establishes now i will tell you that in the executive form of government where we have a county executive that is elected at large by the people the accountability feature can be a bit more challenging it can be no doubt about it because in the other forms of county government administrator administrative coordinator that's one employee that the board can turn to and say you need to do your job otherwise you're going to be looking for a different job you don't get to say that to the county executive that's conflict within the statute that's not resolved all right and that's okay if Because in my mind, I like to think that the legislature was like Nostradamus thinking about this stuff in advance and predicting these problems and coming up with a really cool way to make sure we all got along. But I'm not going to give them that much credit. I'm not going to. I'm not. There's baked-in conflict in the statutes that they didn't think about, and it forces us into a room to discuss with our county executive, to discuss with our department heads, to discuss with our constitutional officers how we are going to move forward. That's what's most important. Because I can tell you from the perspective of a citizen, do I care whose job it is? Do I care? I don't care at all. What do I want? I want the efficient delivery of services. I want to make sure that my tax funds are being taken care of. So I don't care whose job it is. So again, it forces us into a room to discuss what it looks like to implement policy and have staff accountability. Next slide. Now, there's been one case that's made its way through the court system that illustrates the distinction between the policymaking branch in Wisconsin County government and the administrative branch. And this is the Schuette versus Van de Hey decision, Court of Appeals case from 1996. The dispute in that case dealt with the lease of agricultural land surrounding the county airport up and out of gaming county. The county board said, we are going to lease that land for agricultural purposes. The county executive said, oh, no, we're not going to it's it's a safety issue. Now, mind you. It was okay under FAA regulation and state regulation that the land be leased. This was purely on the county executive's part, a decision to say we're not going to lease this land. It's a safety issue. They couldn't figure out a way to resolve that dispute, so they went to court. The county board actually sued the county executive for declaratory ruling as to who gets to make this decision. Now, in reaching its conclusion, the court of appeals went through attorney general opinions, went through the Webster's dictionary, and then cited to the leading treatise on municipal corporations in the entire country to come up with what I think is a really good paragraph illustrating the distinction between legislating and administering. And I think the last sentence there says it all. The crucial test for determining what is legislative And what is administrative has been said to be whether the ordinance or policy is one making a new law or policy or one executing a law or policy already in existence. So even though you're not going to open Chapter 59 and find that how-to manual that tells you exactly what your job is as a board supervisor or what your job is as a county executive and so on, it's there. You just have to search for it. All right, so you've heard of this dispute between the county executive and the county board. How many people think the executive won this case? 1, 2, Ralph, you're not even gonna raise your hand abstaining. How many people think the board 1? How many people have no idea? All right. Fair enough. The county board 1, that dispute. The question on whether to lease land around the airport is a policy question reserved for the county board. But here's the kicker. Who negotiates the lease? The county executive. So it's another example of that baked in conflict within the law that forces people to get in a room and hash it out. All right. Next slide. We have attorney general opinions that discuss the role of the county executive as compared to the role of the county board in those counties with a county executive. Again, if we think historically about the nature of county government in Wisconsin, it shines light on some of the reasons why we have some of the disputes we have. In the history of our state, the office of county executive is a relatively recent development. It wasn't until the 70s that it was authorized. I think it was the early 70s or late 60s that it was even authorized. And there's only one county in the state that's required to have a county executive. That's Milwaukee County. The other 11, it's voluntary. All right. So historically, we had county boards doing all sorts of different things. But do you think that as counties, we deliver the same type of services that we operate very similarly to the way we did in 1848? No, not even close. I don't even think it's even close to what it was 20 years ago when I had a lot less gray in my beard, but I can remember those days. We always complained about not enough money from the state, but in terms of the complexities and the programs that we deliver, So much different, so much more complex nowadays. It really is. And so with those complexities, I think there's a recognition that we need somebody with background experience qualifications to kind of run the ship day to day so that we as a county board can step back and figure out policy wise, where do we wanna go? We'll set the destination for the ship, but the person who's gonna run the crew is gonna guide that ship. We need somebody in charge for that. And I think we've seen that over time More counties shifting to county executive and county administrator models. And so again, the Attorney General has recognized the distinction between the policymaking branch within county government and the executive or administrative branch. Next slide. So what happens if we start blurring the lines between policy and administration? This is a list of things that I have seen over time happen in various counties, but the bolded one right in the middle is the most important to me. Remember, I said that as visionaries, we were going to be proactive as a county board. Well, if we blur the distinction between policy and administration on either side, frankly, and we start having the types of issues that percolate as a result of that blurring, we're going to start to be reactive. We're going to start solving problems after they occur, as opposed to establishing policy to resolve these problems before they ever arise. So again, If we aspire to be visionaries, then we are going to aspire to be proactive, and that's where we're going to understand roles and responsibilities within Racine County government. Next slide. So a few questions here that I have, and I like asking these questions because this is an opportunity for me to stop talking at some point and actually listen to what's really concerning to you. But here's the first question. Can the board adopt a policy relating to department heads and staff reporting to the board or individual supervisors? Can the county executive adopt such a policy? In other words, can the board adopt a policy that says, if you want information from your zoning office, then you've got to go through our zoning committee and I forgive me. I don't know what your committee is called, but says zoning. Can we force you to go through the zoning committee to get information from our zoning office? Or as a county board supervisor, do you have inherent authority to show up in the zoning office whenever you see fit and demand information because of your representation of the citizens that put you in this seat? What do we think we're all friends here? We can, we can be honest. We can be open to no policy. No policy.

Yeah, I know that there's probably a policy, but. When you gave that example, I hope we would do it. I walk in here and be like, just because we can, we can, we can ask for it. We can ask for it to be provided, so sure. But I hope we can do it that way.

That's fair. So that's the difference between can I under the law and should I do that as a board member? That's a good point. So what if the board establishes a policy that says you can't do that as a board member? You can't. Is that policy enforceable? Can we have a rule like that on the books? And when I say that, nobody's going to put anybody in jail if they do that. But there might be some consequences.

It sounds crazy that you would. But if you have a policy that says that, then you need to abide by the policy or you're changing it. Or you can change it. The policy exists. And the county executive adopts such a policy. The policy needs to be set by the board.

Okay, so here's, I want to explore that a little bit further. So remember I said under 59.17, the county executive appoints and supervises all department heads. All right. Part of the supervision is you don't talk to anybody else, including a county board member, unless you're delivering service to that particular person. County boards, the county executive supervises that department. Can a county executive have a policy like this? I'm playing devil's advocate a bit if it's not obvious. Why not kind of executives in charge of that relationship? Yes, he or she can have a rule on the books. What if the county board vehemently disagrees? What's the county board says? I understand Mr executive or madam executive where you're coming from, but. I would like every department had to be at the standing committee meetings every other month to provide a report on how we're doing on budgets and the policy initiatives that this board has adopted. Can the board demand that? That's a good point. Work it out. I think that's the entire point of this exercise.

I'm using lawyer terminology.

I speak in absolutes, but I think it illustrates the point of working it out. Well, there was a point in time when a particular county with a particular county executive didn't work it out. And that was a particular point of contention as to whether the board could order something like that. That was in Milwaukee county. All right. And I never liked to use Milwaukee county as the example. Those are bad examples, but the board said. You got to come to our meetings. And Mr. Executive, I don't care what you say. You got to be at our meeting. And this is the report you're going to deliver. And the executive said, wait a second. Hold on. The statute says I'm in charge of this relationship. How is it that this other entity, the county board, can order my people into a meeting to deliver a report? And the board said, we're just carrying out our prerogative as the policymakers for Milwaukee County. And there's no way that we can do this unless we're informed. The only way we're going to get informed is if we have staff there.

Yes. I think there's a part missing there. What's the part missing? Can it rise to the level of ordinance? That's a good question.

Can I answer those questions? Ordinance just makes something a permanent feature of the county code. It can provide a penalty for violation of that ordinance. I think there might be some constitutional limitations on ordinance like that. In addition to some statutory limitations. I haven't really thought about whether it could be an ordinance. I don't know if your corporation council wants to weigh in feel free to weigh in. I'm struggling here. You know. they do here's my point what i would like to see in a perfect world and i've been accused of living in utopia and i'm fine with that accusation all right that's fine but i would like to see the county executive get together with the board and say what's reasonable you all need information i get that as county executive you need information to make your decisions i need people to do work because you haven't budgeted for 15 extra staff members to do all the work of this particular staff member who's constantly tied up in discussions with the board answering the same question 13 different times. So how do we establish a policy that works for everybody? What information do you need and when do you need it? And let's talk about the process for getting that information to you. That's what I would love to see. Then we write it down. Why do we write it down? Because if it isn't writing, it didn't happen. All right? There's a reason they carved the Ten Commandments in that stone tablet so we had a record of it. So we want to write it down, establish the policy, and then every two years when we have turnover on the county board, we have a discussion as a board and say, back in 2026, we had this guy show up on an 85-degree day with a tie-on. I was impressed as heck with the way he was dressed, but he made some good points about policy. And then it becomes a permanent feature of everything that we do every two years. And it becomes normal. The other thing it does is it allows us to police ourselves. So if we have a particular board member, for example, who is constantly visiting the zoning office, asking all of these questions, and we have a county executive that's ready to rip his or her hair out saying, I don't know how to deal with this. then we can self-police. We can say, look, that's not the way we do things here in Racine County. We have a policy on this. We went through this debate. We had a long discussion about the information that we need and how it is that we need to allow staff to do their job, all right? So this is a compromise getting us to where we need to be so we can self-police that entire process. So second bullet point. What's the difference between a county board supervisor's request for information and a public person's public records request.

What's the difference?

The difference is that a public record is already a created record. And sometimes we need something different.

We don't have the public information law. We have the public records law. That's a very good point. Now, we'll tell you another thing that drives me nuts again, working with counties all across the state is that from time to time I will have an interaction with a board supervisor who says, I'll just get that information. I'm going to submit a public records request to our finance department. what are you doing submitting a public records request to your own finance department? That makes no sense to me. What does that tell me? There's a huge breakdown in communication, a huge misunderstanding of roles and responsibilities within that county. Because if we had an understanding in the finance department that board supervisor needed information to make a policy decision, and we have board supervisor understand that finance is going to work their tail off to get that information to supervisor, we wouldn't have the need for a public records request. And so again, this speaks to The foundational understanding that we have as a county and how we interact with each other and that begins with the relationship between this board and the county executive. I think that's an honest discussion that we can have if we have a desire or a need to improve upon that particular system. Next slide. I want to shift gears just a bit and I want to talk about this concept of decorum. Because I see this happen all the time. in county boards as well, is I see people complain about a lack of decorum. Well, what does that really mean decorum? What are we talking about? Are we talking about putting on the powdered wig and a black robe and addressing everybody as so madam and speaking in a different tone of, no, that's not decorum. To me, it's not. Does that promote a solid working atmosphere with the county board, with staff, with others? No, I don't think it does. Yet, Robert's Rules has an entire section that addresses this whole concept of decorum. Why is that? Well, I tend to think that the more formal, and I'm not talking about dress, but the more formal we make the proceedings, the more likely it is that we are going to be successful in taking care of the business that we need to take care of. And the more that we can say that we follow typical Robert's Rules convention, the more likely it is that we're going to do good work at that meeting. Because if we don't follow convention, if we start shouting at one another, if we're out of order, how is it that we're going to have an effective meeting? If we are in a process of constantly interrupting staff, talking to the county executive out of turn, and doing all sorts of things in a disjointed way, how are we going to be effective in our relationship with our executive and our staff? It's not going to happen. All right? So how do we elevate this and create this atmosphere of decorum? And what does decorum mean?

Decor.

I don't have the answer. Maintain order. Absolutely. But what does that mean to maintain order? He's got the gavel.

But what if his in order is your out of order?

What's right by you may not be right to Supervisor Spencer. We don't know. Here's my point.

Here's my point.

Is that we have a basic set of rules on decorum and Robert's rules. Can we all agree that we should follow the rules within Robert's rules period? Do we think that Robert's rules covers all bases when it comes to our concepts of decorum and Racine County? No, absolutely not. So then we have this concept called board rules. All right, we have the freedom of flexibility. Remember, I said that we have administrative home rule authority. 59.03 sub 159 51 sub 1 of the statutes allows us to adopt board rules to define what decorum means in Racine County. So, let's have that discussion. I'm not saying you have that problem, but if you have any concerns about that problem in Racine County, let's have that discussion. About our expectations on decorum, how we treat 1 another, how we treat staff. And then importantly, what happens if we get out of bounds in those certain situations? What are the consequences? So, again, if we think about decorum, we think about the way to most efficiently transact business as a county board. That's what decorum is intended to promote. All right next time. I want to talk briefly about personal electronic devices during meetings. I love this example. And this is funny only because I don't represent the Madison Common Council. All right. During a meeting back in 2012, a Common Council meeting, there was a particular issue being debated. Remember, the press is sitting in the audience. Remember, the press notices that Common Council members in there in this chuckling and then putting the phone away. and then looking over and then putting the phone away. Guess what immediately followed that meeting from that member of the press? A public records request. Send me all of the text messages between this time and this time between this council person, this council person, so on. And then they published the results of that public records request. The meeting is so peaceful with Bridget not speaking to me. You are a hoot. You really have no idea the difference her silence makes. Help. I can't always carry it all on my shoulders. I've really done nothing but help. Wow. Wow. So you're creating a public record with these text messages, and we know we have a duty under the public records law to maintain those records and then supply them to a requester upon request under the records law. We know that. That's all fine and good. Do we care at all about the records law when we see stuff like this in the paper? I don't care about the records law. I care about the reputational damage that it does to this board. All right. How much faith? Well, it's Madison, so I don't want to say too. How much faith would? Yeah, you can laugh at that. That was a joke. How much faith would the citizens of Racine County have in this board if stuff like this is published in the Racine Journal Times? It's the same journal times, right? Yeah. How much faith would they, right? How much faith would they have if they knew that you all were texting back and forth? It would embarrass you. What are the chances that you get elected in two years? I mean, honestly, Warren Buffett said it best. It takes 20 years to build a reputation, five minutes to ruin it. This is an example of a ruined reputation, five minutes. All right. So let's not go there. We don't want to go there again. This reinforces the need for all of us to collectively understand what the quorum means, what it means to be efficient and effective in our meetings and in our interactions. And if we need to address something, we're going to write it down. We're going to establish a policy because that's the way we do things here in Racine County. All right. Next slide. Walking quorums, same concept, different issue, but same concept. I love this definition. A walking quorum is a series of gatherings among separate groups of members of a governmental body, each less than quorum size, who agree tacitly or explicitly to act uniformly in sufficient number to reach a quorum. Now, I will challenge you. Somebody please tell me the difference in the definition of walking quorum as compared to the definition of politics. This is politics, isn't it? When something is important to you, you're going to talk to others about the importance of the issue and ask for their support. That's politics. And I'm telling you that at least as it relates to county government, politics is dangerous, highly dangerous. Because we might run into this concept of walking quorum that our courts and our attorney general have said you can't do. All right. So you have to be very, very careful about where you transact business. Now, I'm going to tell you something that's very easy for me to say and very difficult for you to do. Conduct all county business within the 4 walls of this building right here. Every single bit of it if a fellow board member calls you up and says, hey, I want to talk to you about that resolution that we discussed last night. It's up for vote in 2 weeks. You say, I'm sorry. I'm not going to talk to you about it. It's really easy for me to say. It's really tough for you to implement. But the reason that we're discussing this tonight is so that you have this in the back of your mind. I'll tell you this. At some point, somebody's going to figure it out. And usually it's the press. If the press was sitting in the audience and you had a particularly contentious issue that came before the county board, resolution is introduced. Somebody says move to adopt. Second, there's no debate. Resolution is adopted. Remember, the press is like, what the heck? This has been a contentious issue that they've been discussing for the last six months and there's zero debate on the board floor on this. I wonder if there's been discussion. All of a sudden you see records requests coming in for emails, text messages, phone logs, all this information put two and two together. Eventually, press figures out that you all got together group by group by group and figured out a way to support a particular measure. That's a problem. That's a huge problem because, again, you're going to damage your reputation and the reputation of Racine County government as a result of that particular walking form. All right. Yes.

Okay. So, Stan has said that we should keep it between the walls, but we can't see any walls for the kind of things that we have.

Put my mic on. So we can't, you know, if we're having the debates and discussions that we want to have, so what is the in-between? I'm going to get straight to it. What is the in-between? Because that is not reality and it's not practical.

And I understand that. That's why it was so easy for me to say and hard for you to do. Exactly.

And I just want to be the one to say that because in reality, you know, Other people got lives outside here and you know that that's not going to be practical. So what would be realistic for us?

The theory is that you can't have a quorum, whether in one conversation or a series of conversations, agree tacitly or implicitly to act in uniform. And what is the number?

What is the number that is considered a walking quorum?

Well, Think about quorum. How many county board supervisors do we have? 21. So what's a quorum of 21? 11. So I have a conversation with 11 to direct outcome of a particular measure. That was going to be my next point. Committee of five, right? Committee of five. How many are required to direct action on a committee of five? Two.

Negative four.

No, it's not even negative quorum. You have three supervisors show up in a meeting. Do you have a quorum? Can you conduct business as a committee?

No.

Yeah, you can. It's a quorum, isn't it? Three. Three show up. Three show up. Do we have any with five? Right. And how many of us does it take in a committee of three to adopt something? Two. Two. So what's your walk-in quorum? Two. All right. So you can talk to other supervisors that are on no other committee with you. That's fine. I will tell you this is that I think your corporation council is going to be particularly aware of the danger of walking quorums. So if you have questions about that, please consult your corporation council. I will tell you that whether it's open meetings law, public records law, ethics, conflicts of interest, that you have one best friend in the world and that's your corporation council. Go and talk with your corporation council about those things early and often whenever these issues arise, because they're going to provide legal guidance. And in many circumstances, if you follow that legal guidance, you're absolved from personal liability. In the event that somebody were to call you on it. All right, but more times than not corporation council is going to offer advice. And you have to follow that advice if you want that type of installation from legal liability. So, consultant corporation council. Next slide wait, I have a couple of questions.

Yes. 2 questions related to committees. How do we actually operate that? Because, you know, hypothetically, we had a bunch of rain recently. Let's say, you know, a bridge is out. You, we have a policy, I believe, where we want to notify the chair of the committee and then maybe you also want to let the supervisor whose district whatever's happening and. Knows about it, so then you've contacted 2 already, which could be. It could be a forum if you yourself are on the committee or 3 already.

So, here's the difference in that circumstance. 1 way communication is never a problem on the open maze law. Never a problem. So, if an email goes out to the entire board saying we had a flood in this particular community. That's fine. The problem is, is then 1 supervisor decides to reply to all and says. Well, don't we have to get together and talk about this? Another supervisor replies to all and says, yeah, I think we should. I think that they could probably use some flood relief. I'm thinking $50,000. Another supervisor replies to all and says, I'm thinking that $40,000 is about going to do the trick. Another supervisor replies to all and says, well, gee, we really ought to have a meeting to get together to talk about this. That's the point. All right, so 1 way communication is just fine. It's when the conversation starts happening by email or in person where we start having the problem.

All right, thanks. And then related we have. A different policy in my experience that there's no discussion on 1st readings. Um, it's the opposite of my experience before coming to the board. We usually had all of our discussion and. Committee of the whole or 1st readings and then when it came up for the vote, it was on a consent agenda and it was basically not discussed. So. I guess, how do we, how do we have a lot of discussion when the only time we can discuss things is at the time we vote.

And I don't know your particular rules on the way that works with 1st reading 2nd reading vote and so on. I also don't know how the committee process works. Remember early on. I said, a lot of that debate happens at the committee level. I would love to see board members attending committee meetings to listen, especially on important issues to listen. What the public has to say what committee members have to say what department heads and staff have to say about a particular measure and the debate that occurs there because that's going to inform then your decision at the county board level. I think if it's a concern about a policy that you may have about the way things are debated here on the board floor, revisit the policy. You have the ability as a legislative body to amend your policy if it's not working according to the way you want it to. So, take a look at that.

All right, and a lot of a lot of supervisors do attend committee meetings that they're not sure.

Thanks.

Yes, sir.

No, I'm glad somebody else for a tie. I'm just happy to talk to you.

Isn't that wonderful? Isn't that wonderful?

Yeah, and that's in large part why the County's Association exists is to lobby on behalf of county government to say you're not doing your job. And I can tell you I've been doing this for 31 years now. And I have represented the County's Association for all 31 of those years in some form or fashion. Not a single year has gone by where we have said to the state, we've got enough money as county government, don't worry about it. It's been an issue for 31 years. And I have a feeling it will continue to be an issue. So to me, if we are beating our heads against the wall, asking for more money, we got to change tactics. And I think you've seen that change for the county's association in the last five to 10 years where we've said, how do we redefine this discussion, this debate? And what resulted in Act 12 was a result of that discussion changing. It said, okay, we're tired of asking for more money, but tie our shared revenue to sales tax. Everybody participates so that when we attract more visitors to Wisconsin, everybody does better, including us. Now, Act 12 didn't go far enough. I'm not suggesting it did. But at least we reframed the debate to say, help us help you. And I think there has to be more discussion like that if we have a future. as Wisconsin County government. I think our tax system is broken. I think a lot of systems are broken. We, as counties, we do a lot of heavy lifting. I have never once been to a county where they've said, you know, we don't want to help our people. We're not going to follow that mandate. Every single county says we want to do that. So it's incumbent on us to engage in that discussion because here's the other thing that happens is that our county issues, the really sexy issues that are going to get people elected, no. Do most of our citizens understand what it is that we do? No. So can we have a conversation with our citizens about what counties do and the importance that counties have in our entire system of government? Absolutely. That's incumbent upon us as well. We just have to elevate the discussion and think about things a little differently. And that's not easy.

Forever. Forever. That's right. I agree. Thank you.

Mr Phillips. Yes. Yes. Um, just a question on something you said earlier. I'm. I'm happy to hear it that it has never happened once where the, uh. Corporation Council has wavered on his responsibilities and duties to represent both the executive and legislative branch. I'm being facetious. I'm sure that in some capacity that may have happened. Not saying in our situation here at all. I actually think our Corporation Council does a great job. But I just wanted to point out, you know, it's part of the checks and balances and I believe that for under 750,000 population counties, we do as a county board have the option of retaining. 3rd party council you do, and I just wanted to point that out because, you know, 1 of our roles and you said this already is that, you know, there's a checks and checks and balance system. So that's what this dual part. Government system is set up for so it's just something to be mindful of.

Well, and I can tell you, you know, this past legislative session, there was legislation introduced that would have created the office of county board counsel and said that as a county, you can keep that position vacant, but it allows you the opportunity to hire a lawyer that would represent solely the board. I testified opposed to that legislation. I said, it doesn't make any sense to me because corporation counsel already represents county interests, which includes the county board in under 59.40% 2, sub 3 of the statutes, you have the ability to hire independent counsel issue by issue if that's what you desire. And frankly, there will be times when your corporation council says, look, I have to bow out of this because we have irreconcilable differences between position a and position B, and I can't represent both. So you're going to have to hire independent counsel. There may be other times where corporation council says, look, I'm just giving you this advice and board says, well, we'd like a 2nd opinion and typically corporation council is going to work with you. To get that 2nd opinion, and that's all fine and good. Um, but I just wanted to make clear that under the rules of ethics that govern us as lawyers, we have a duty to our client. Corporation Council's client is the county, which includes the executive and the board. That's the point I was making, but you're right on checks and balances.

Thank you.

Um, so much so much of this informational thing for coming in. Did I hear you mentioned something effective, uh. Offering to help establish some protocol in terms of meetings or decisions. You were soliciting that, or you were this just informational.

WCA can assist with that. And in terms of the board rules piece, again, I said Robert's Rules provides the foundation for decorum. If we want to have specific rules for the Racine County Board, we can always create board rules that have those specific rules, and the county's association can help in that regard. So, yes.

Yeah, it just seemed that way you were also the way you were phrasing the executive. Um, you know, versus the, you know, the full board and certain decisions are being made. So it sounds like you're implying that you would. So, you're listening possibly for some sort of, uh, um, establishing a protocol or helping this is in that process.

I guess it could and that's up to you all as to whether you think that process would help. I think that's a conversation with your executive. And then, of course, if you need help with that process, the kind of association is happy to help. I'd like to think understanding who you all are and who your executive is that you could probably get a lot done if you devoted some meeting time to having that discussion. And I don't think you'd need a lot of outside help, frankly. But if we can provide ideas or support, I know WCA would be happy to help.

I don't have a question. I just want to make sure for the attendance, can we have the two youth and governance representatives, Andrew Schuller and also Remy Oskarsson? Oskarsson? Oskarsson? Sorry, thank you. Three times a charm. Just noted for attendance. Thank you.

I just wanted to say thanks for the presentation and if we can be so, uh, we need an email. We need that. We need a copy of that because this was beautiful. And, um, but I'm. I'm glad and proud to say that we can talk amongst our. Peers and we can always go to our county executive. So. Awesome, this was a great presentation.

Well, and here's a quick plug is that the hosting its annual conference in September start to your board chair and others about attending. It's awesome. Don's always there. He sits in the front row. We have a great time. Do you have discussions like this and other topics that impact county government? And I've never walked away from a conference, not learning a whole lot and hopefully other attendees feel the same way. So, yes, we'll have these we'll continue discussions like this at that conference.

Fantastic.

Fantastic. Thank you.

Thank you, sir.

Yes, yes, sir.

I'll see the apologies and I'm not setting up to say this. Good. Counsel.

Yes, you certainly do.

Yeah, all the years that any time I had issues. He's always been here. Chairman and also our county executive. So we get the job done.

Yeah, you do. I agree. I agree.

I totally agree.

Thanks. Otherwise, let me just say this real quick, too, before I am done. I've seen your paychecks. I know you're not doing this for the money. You're doing this because you love the people that you represent and you love the county. And so as a lawyer who works with counties all over the state, let me say thank you for doing what you do. I certainly appreciate it. And there are others out there that appreciate it as well, even though it may not seem evident at all times. So thanks.

Thank you.

Thank you.

You need to adjourn? Somebody? We're moved. We are adjourned. We're going to have a finance meeting real quick. Yeah, so you got five minutes. Go ahead.

Good evening. I'd like to quickly call the finance meeting for Tuesday, May 26th to order. And it's at 629. We have a quorum. Next item is chairman comments. I don't have any chairman comments. Is there any public comments wishing to address the finance committee? Any public comments? Any public comments? Public comment period will be closed. Item number four is the approval of the minutes from the May 20th, 2026 committee meeting.

Move to approve.

I would second. So we have a motion and seconded to approve the minutes from the May 20th meeting. Any additions or corrections to those minutes? Seeing none, hearing none. All those in favor signify by saying aye. Aye. Opposed? All right, the minutes are approved. Item number five is a transfer from County Board Tom Kramer authorized a project to the Waterford Waterway Management District that we spoke about at our meeting the other night, but it seems that there's one little shortcoming that we had from our meeting as far as moving the stuff to the County Board. So Corporate Council will weigh in here just a minute to give us a quick overview on it, and that would be basically the other item on our agenda for this evening.

Thank you, Mr chairman. So, at last week's meeting, there was a motion a 2nd, and a vote related to an amendment to item number 6 a, that was specific to authorizing a project with Waterford waterway management district for draw down dredging project and transfer of 750,000 dollars within the Monsanto settlement 2026 budget. The amended action sought to reduce the authorized amount and transfer from 750,000 to 600,000. I was not in attendance at that meeting, but the following day, I received a call from a board supervisor expressing concern that while the committee clearly amended the original motion from 750 to 600,000. A 2nd, and final vote did not occur that actually took action to advance that amended measure to the full board for 1st, reading this evening. This is admittedly a confusing and seemingly redundant process and parliamentary procedure. But what we generally advise is that when considering an amendment, we have this play out at the end of last board's term. Um, with the 2nd, reading related to a sheriff's office measure, the best practice dictates is that there should be 2 actions of the board. The 1st action is an action on the motion to amend and the 2nd action is action on the item as amended. And so. They're seemingly redundant in the sense that they sound very similar, but if you leave it at just that 1st step, all that's really transpired is that the initial motion has been amended. And so there's a different dollar amount, but that you haven't actually. Consummated that in a sense to advance that to the full board. So, upon receiving that call, I reviewed the video. I reviewed the transcript along with our finance director and concluded that. Well, I think the intent of that committee was very clearly to advance a resolution to the full board that authorized the project and authorized the modified funding from 750 to instead to 600,000. That out of an abundance of caution, we recommended placing it back on a special agenda this evening to have that action come from the committee, namely upon emotion and a 2nd, to authorize the project with the waterford waterway management district for the draw down dredging project and transfer of the amended amount 600,000 dollars within the settlement 2026 budget. If authorized at this meeting, then that item could be taken from the floor at the county board meeting to immediately follow for a 1st reading at that meeting and then later a 2nd reading at the next county board meeting. So, with that, I can happily address any questions, but it's really just a matter of procedure to ensure that we have a clear historical record and that the necessary authorizations have been obtained.

Comments or questions? Supervisor Miller?

No, Mr. Chairman, I just moved that we send the item on this agenda for $600,000 to the board for first reading tonight. Second.

So we have a motion and seconded to move forward the $600,000 amount for the Waterford Dredging District to the county board for first reading tonight. Any further discussion? Seeing none, we'll call the question. All those in favor signify by saying aye. Aye. Opposed? All right, we'll move that forward for first reading tonight of the county board. Item number six is the staff report. There's nothing that I have on my agenda for the staff report other than the next Finance and Human Resources Committee meeting will be June 3rd at five o'clock.

Supervisor Trout here. Mr. Chairman, could we identify the two youth and governance individuals present at the meeting, please?

On the attendance on the attendance. Okay. We can make sure that they're noted that they're at our finance meeting and county board meeting too. Thank you.

Supervisor Spencer, my understanding was the June 3rd meeting was canceled.

No, not that I'm aware of.

I read it somewhere. I'll find it.

Okay. We can supervise friends. I can double check on that and follow up, but I don't think that I think it's still on for the 3rd. Any other comments or anything else for the betterment of this committee? If not, we need a motion to adjourn.

The 2nd, all right we're adjourned. Thank you.

She's going to be.

Good evening, I'd like to call a meeting of the Racine County board for May 26th, 2026 to order and have the clerk call the role.

Supervisors Kelly Hoffman, McReynolds and wish are excused this evening. Everyone else is here in the chambers.

As it's customary for a supervisor to do the opening prayer, I thought it was more appropriate that I would do an opening prayer since it's National First Responders Month in May. And last week was EMS, National EMS Day for the EMS person. So if we could rise. Heavenly Father, We lift up the brave men and women who run towards danger when others run away. Grant them the strength in body, clarity in mind, and courage in spirit. Surround them with your protection in every call, every rescue, and every moment of uncertainty. Bless the family with peace and comfort while they serve. May their compassion never fade. their hope never dim, and their hearts remain steadfast in the face of hardship. Guide their hands to bring healing, their words to bring calm, and their presence to bring light in the darkest hours. Amen. And now the pledge. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Item number four is public comments. Pursuant to section 2 dash 71 of the Racine County order ordinances, each speaker will be a lot of the maximum of 3 minutes. If we have 1 request. Right, so we've got 1 request and that would be. Answer go ahead. Trisha name and address.

Good evening, Trisha Hansen, 6216 Briarwood Circle, Waterford, Wisconsin. I'm here tonight to speak to you briefly about the Waterford Dredging Project that's on the agenda for first reading tonight, only because there are some points I want to make that I'm hopeful that the supervisors in the interim period between first and second reading will take a look at my points that I'm making tonight and keep some of these considerations in mind as you go forward in deciding your vote. Um, back in 2024, um, this board, some of you who are new faces weren't here at that time. Others were, um, this board authorized a 1.1Million dollar. Um, transfer of funds to the browns lake water management district. Um, at that time, the county had received approximately 2Million dollars in funds from the round of settlement agreements. Um, and that water that, excuse me, that money has to go towards clean water. Um, now the built the water for management district is asking for the same for Lake and the Fox river that accompanies it in Racine county. Um, the Monsanto settlement was approved by the board on January 16th of 24. This board then voted to. Demolish and take out the Horlick dam because of the complications with the dam at no time. Can I see from the minutes or notes that the Monsanto money was considered for the Horlick Dam project? And then this board on July 23rd of 2024 voted to apportion significant capital bonding to do repairs at Reef Point Marina, some of which had to do with contamination of the water because of gas pumps that needed to be replaced and those sorts of things that go naturally along with a marina site. Again, the 2Million dollars in Monsanto money was here, but nobody included it as a part of the spending. So, now then shortly after that, in September 10th of 24, this board gave a 1Million dollars to Brown's Lake to dredge the water. I personally was not in favor of that at the time because we were in a budget crisis in Racine County. And I, because of my day job, am acutely aware of our budget constraints and the problems that we have each time we come together to talk about a budget. I thought it was a bad idea to give away money that we could use for our own projects. But we did. And this board, 17 to 0, three members weren't present, voted to give that money to Browns Lake. And this was Chairman Kramer's proposal. So now there's a proposal again, authored by Chairman Kramer that went to finance and human resources to give Waterford 750,000. Now Waterford is not just Tishigan Lake, which I would imagine, and we could ask Supervisor Horath, he probably knows a lot more about this than I do, is about the same size as Browns Lake. But attached to it are 22 miles of the Fox River in Racine County alone. that travels all the way from the Fox Valley, all the way to Illinois. And this dredging will benefit that entire waterway, not just the 400 homes that sit on Browns Lake and benefit from the lake. I appreciate that there are a lot of boaters and people who use the beach at Browns Lake, but we charge them for that. We charge them for that. On Tishigan, it's the one place where you can go where you can launch, it's free. We have two launches, they're free. There are lots of people who use these waters probably as many as they're on grounds like each day. But because ours are free, I can't give you a number today. Because no 1 tells us when they're launching their boat, they just do it. So, here we are tonight, I made 26 initially the proposal was 650,000 dollars. It's now been reduced by the finance committee to 600,000 dollars. And I'm troubled by that because of the precedent that's already been set and the importance of maintaining our waterways if we hope to have any development and recreation on the west end of Racine County. So more troubling to me tonight is when I look at your agenda that this board is going to consider just giving away $300,000 that's owed to us in birth expenses. That's the money that Tichigan needs to dredge the lake and the river. And yet you're being asked to just say, it's okay. You can have a baby out of wedlock. You don't have to pay your birth fees. We aren't going to charge you for that. so you can understand my frustration when i compare this on all of the levels and i will have more information for you i got to find out where the connection between old facebook recordings and today is because i missed the youtube thing 24 we weren't on youtube i want to hear some of the comments more specifically but i want you all to do the same homework between now and the second reading because i think it's really Only out of fairness, and it certainly shows a partiality to another part of the county. That's not being shown elsewhere. And so those differences are what I want to highlight tonight. I'll be back for the 2nd reading. I'll be back anytime this issue is presented to the county board or any committee for that matter. I'm not a part of the waterway management district. I have a very strong connection to the water in that area. I only moved there in April 30 seconds. Thank you, Assistant Chair, or Vice Chair, excuse me. So for all of these reasons, I just want to point some of these things out, and especially to those of you in the room, and I have the list if anybody needs to reference it, you can certainly just ask, of how many of you voted in favor of that $1.1 million? So far, the state hasn't offered to pay any of the Tishigans dredging, but they certainly did in Burlington, who got five times the help you offered them from another source. So keep those things in mind and I'll be back. Thank you.

Also tonight we have friends of the library here, or our friends from the library. Why don't you come up and tell us a little bit about the library here.

We were joking about tall person microphone problems, but this one is actually not so bad. Good evening, everyone. My name's Steve Ose. I'm the director of the Prairie Lakes Library System. And with me tonight are Joe Davies, the director of the Burlington Public Library. Nick Demski, the director, whom you may know, the director of the Racine Public Library. Jessica Kiesler, the director of the Waterford Public Library. and Sarah Swanson from the Graham Public Library in Union Grove. And so we'd just like to give you a little bit of background as to the public library services and each of the directors are going to have an opportunity to tell you just a little bit about their library. So, 1st of all, just wanted to thank the board and chair Kramer and vice chair Meyer for this opportunity. The reasons we're here are to introduce ourselves to you as partners in service to tell you a little bit about the public libraries that serve the county and share some statistics with you about the most recent year ended. And we would also like to invite each of you to visit any or all public libraries in the county for a tour. If you have any questions or interested in learning more, we welcome you. We welcome you there. My understanding is you've been provided with a copy of an infographic that we've put together for you. Excellent. Just to FYI, we do have color copies. If you would like a color copy, we've got you covered. I just wanted to run through a few of those high points. You'll note that there are five libraries throughout the county. One thing that we wanted to draw attention to is if you take a look at the square footage of those various buildings, there's quite a variance, right? There are very small libraries, there are very large libraries, and that's common throughout Wisconsin. In 2025 there were 431,000 confirmed library visits that those are as recorded by electronic door counters that that that are in place. generated a tremendous amount of value to county residents. One thing that I wanted to mention about the value to residence areas, that only includes physical checkouts. That doesn't include the cost of programs or any other types of overhead there. It's based on the average cost of a book that goes into a library's collection. So the real amount is probably higher. physical checkouts, there's still a place for the good old paperback or the hard, the hardcover book. People still like to read physical books. Um, But of course, with ebooks and audiobook checkouts, there's tremendous demand for that and it continues to rise pretty dramatically year over year. Wisconsin has one of the most active collections of ebooks and digital audiobooks in the entire country. Even so, demand continues to rise and it can be a pretty significant challenge to library budgets. Library programs and program attendance are also a couple of statistics on the handout. Public libraries have become what are called a third space. It's a place in the community where people can go not only to connect with services, but also to connect with each other. demand for library programs like story times, film clubs, how to DIY sessions, maker spaces, 3D printers, all sorts of different programs. That type of tax assistance, that type of interest has continued to increase with time. And many libraries are investing more and more staff time and budget in providing those programs for their communities. And the beauty of it is, that libraries can design the types of programs that they offer specifically to the communities that they serve. And with that kind of run through the infographic, I'd like to turn it over to my director colleagues to tell you a little bit about the libraries and in their communities. And first, Joe from Burlington.

I'm Joe from Burlington, so, as you can see on there, our library is about 16,000 square feet by size. We're about the right in the middle of the pack, but we tend to punch above our weight in terms of programming and program attendance. We have a very limited budget for public programs and it all starts in that. Sort of idea of a public story time that, you know, something to draw the kids in and do early literacy, but we, we've really, really focused on doing programs at at my library. And so we do nearly a 1000 programs a year. We're. just under 50% of the program attendance. So we do a lot of stuff because what we've learned over time is, yes, people want books. Yes, people want all of the materials that we can provide. But the big thing that people are looking for is alternatives to this. They're looking for ways to engage other people. And so if you do a program and you find the people in the community that are your people, then you find people you know, people to connect with, people to care about, and you get reengaged, and then those people come back and do volunteering. In the last year or so, we've started a small food pantry because we were finding that people weren't, you know, weren't able to access some of the available food resources, and we do a lot of connecting people to resources, and again, You know, I know that the county provides a lot of wonderful, you know, resources, you know, all across the county. But what we found is that, you know, if they don't know the person who's providing those resources, then they can feel that gap. And so we can, you know, we're that sort of trusted intermediary and we can say, hey, you know, I know about this thing. It's OK if you're, you know, especially if you're experiencing a difficult time in your life, we can help connect people to some of the resources that are available there. through the county. And so the other big thing for the Burlington Public Library is that right now we are working on a capital campaign. We're working on an expansion for our library to get a little closer to the size of our service population. Right now we're About half the size we should be so trying to to add to that space and I was on last week. So that was fun. You can look up my segment about the capital campaign and donate.

Hello, I'm Jessica from the water for public library. Thank you for having us. We could talk about libraries all day. So, the beauty of Waterford is we are located our beautiful building is located on the corner of river and main street. We are the biggest and most beautiful building in Waterford, except for maybe the churches. We also overlook the banks of the Fox. So, as someone mentioned earlier, we really enjoy the Fox river as well. Our service population is 22,000. We have a building that's 25 years old. We're very lucky. Our building is in wonderful shape. We see on average 50,000 people a year come through our doors and I like the statistic. We check out an average of 99 items each hour. So, if you think about that, in terms of usage, we have a very high usage in Waterford. 1 of the things that's special about our library is we have a grand piano. I just received a grant from the artsy Racine Arts Council to be able to hire pianists. all year long to be able to get more use out of that and to bring art into Western Racine County, which I'm really excited about. I just wanted to mention that Waterford does not have a historical society, and so the library is the place to find it all. It's a blessing and a curse because we get things people find in their backyard and they come and they say, does this belong in the history room? And so anyway, but we also have the Waterford Post dating back to the 1800s and the Waterford Post doesn't even have that. So we're the repository for that. And my favorite story about it is that in the fall, we had a patron come in whose wife's grandmother was turning 100 and her family established the Waterford State Bank. And he came in and he pulled all the different articles from that time period and was able to show it during her 100th birthday celebration. So we're really happy to be able to provide our record keeping for that purpose. And we get those kinds of requests all the time. All right, well, thank you for your support and I'm going to hand it over to Sarah.

Hi, good evening everyone. I'm Sarah Swanson. I'm the director at Graham Public Library in Union Grove. I've been the director there for almost seven years. And I'm proud to say that I've lived in Racine County for 42 years. So the Union Grove has had a public library since 1922. In those 100 plus years, there have been 11 directors and they've all been women. We currently have eight people on staff, seven of whom live in Racine County. And we are open 52 hours a week and average 1800 visitors a month. Our library service population is approximately 12,600 and we serve residents all over the county Yorkville, Dover, Raymond, Mount Pleasant, Sturdivant and other communities. And currently 92% of our physical circulations are from Racine County residents. The remainder being Kenosha and Walworth County. So, we're a small town library with county wide appeal and usage. We provide certainly physical materials and we also have digital materials like ebooks and audio books, informational databases. So. Providing those items are is at the heart of our mission, but we also serve community members in so many other ways. We have great relationships with our schools, Union Grove, of course, Raymond, Kansasville, Yorkville, and North Cape. And we also offer a lot of different programming. I know Joe had spoken about his programming. And again, it's like the heart of our community is our library. One of the biggest ways we impact the residents is facilitating community connections through programming. We're a small town, and sometimes it's hard, though, for folks to still meet people and build connections. So we're proud that we can help forge those connections. For instance, through our book clubs, or we have a game program, we show movies. There's a whole level of different activities that we offer, and we're grateful for everyone to have come to them. And I'll just share a little anecdote. One of the parents recently told me that when they moved to Union Grove, they were grateful for the library's homeschool program since those families were some of the first families they met in the community. and they are now close friends. And then also we have our craft programs, book clubs, story times, where strangers meet each other and form relationships and friendships. So I just want to close with saying, thank you so much. We're grateful for our county and our municipal support. We work hard to meet the educational, informational and recreational needs of everyone. And we offer a positive and helpful experience to all who enter our building so please feel free to visit us in Union Grove. Thank you.

thank you mr chair vice chair and county board for your time tonight my name is nick demski i'm the executive director of the racine public library i also spent six years here on the county board and i just want to there are people in this room who were incredibly generous with me and were like my first phone call whenever i had a question i had many questions so thank you all for uh just helping me get where i am today The Racine Public Library is the biggest library in the county by quite a bit. We have about 60 to 65 staff members at any time. We have for 2026 just under a $5 million budget. But we serve... the county all the way, not just the city of Racine, but the county all the way up to I-94. So Sturdivant, Mount Pleasant, Caledonia, North Bay, Wind Point, everything in there, Elmwood Plaza. That's all, we are their primary library. that serves them. There are no other libraries east of I-94. That is a really big service area for a library that only has one building. So if you represent any of those communities, we are your constituents primary library, and I would love to work with any of those communities to maybe make it so that there isn't only one library that is very, very far on the edge of the world right before the water hits. we do internally at the Racine Public Library also actually generate a return on investment document just for our own library. So the one that Steve Ose has handed out is for all of us put together. This one is just for the Racine Public Library. I'll pass this out before the day is up, but I'll just note that the return on investment number that is on his document is lower than the return on investment number here that's just for our library. That's because the document that he has, they were just calculating book circulations, basically. We use a return on investment library calculator. Such a thing does exist. And we've also, for some things that are harder to calculate, made up some of our own methodologies for that. Uh, you know, the, the library does incredible work, just like the County. You all are doing very invisible work, but changing people's lives every day and making it easier for people to navigate difficulty throughout the County. The one story that I'll share, um, that we could all share stories all day long from our different libraries of these cases. The one story I will share, we have a service at our library that's a home delivery service. So we've got the big library building we have a bookmobile that goes around and people can come to that but we also have people for folks who maybe can't leave their home can't get to us can't get to the bookmobile we will come directly to their home so this is mainly elderly and disabled people using these services uh we have a google alert set up for Racine Public Library so we know you know when there's a press mention of us or something like that and we started noticing that a lot of the hits we were getting were for obituaries and sometimes it was someone saying um you know in lieu of flowers give to the Racine Public Library because it was such a lifeline to this person's life But sometimes it's just mentioning in the obituary, this was the most important place in the whole community to this person. In their very last words, summing up their life, they mentioned the Racine Public Library as being integral to it. um the last thing i'll say is we had we sometimes will get notes from family members who just lost a loved one who are part of this service and that that term that i used lifeline is the one that they constantly use but i got one recently it was handwritten um a man said you know i just lost my mother My mother was 95. She was the biggest library user of all your library users. She came down twice a week and got books from you all and then she couldn't leave her house anymore. so you all started coming to her house and bringing those items there and it was a lifeline to her and then she got macular degeneration and the person who had been working with her understood what she wanted from you so well that they started personally curating audiobooks and other things that could still keep her worldwide when it was getting smaller and smaller. And so it just really touches me that when someone is losing a loved one and they have all the funeral arrangements and everything else to figure out, they take the time to reach out to us because that's how much we meant to that person's life. That is what you all are helping make happen. Thank you so much for being a part of that.

Thank you.

Um, so we'll, we'll go ahead and wrap up. Um, but we wanted to thank you again for the opportunity to be here tonight. We do appreciate your your attention. Especially. It sounds like there were additional presentations tonight. So thanks again. We don't take your time for granted. And we invite you to stop by any of them, any of the libraries and racing county. We'd be happy to give you a tour. There are meeting rooms available. If you're looking to have any kind of a local listening session for your districts, that is something that that libraries offer and that is available to you. And by all means feel free to reach out to us at any point if you have any questions about about the libraries, you know, and just to. A quick a quick blurb about my background. I'm not a library director. I'm at the library system. We are a partner with the member libraries. There's not really any kind of a, like. Top down relationship, we're a part of the library service ecosystem. What we do is provide services in the background to help save the library's money to help them collaborate to help them communicate and to support them in other ways. So we're all part of part of an ecosystem in slightly different different ways. So that's who we are. We appreciate your time. Thanks very much. Thank you.

Steve, we can forward that colored version that you emailed me to the board. So they will have that as well.

Absolutely. Thank you. Mr. Chairman. Supervisor Miller.

Thank you. Mr. Chairman. It's been my privilege for a number of years to be. Connected with our libraries. To learn about and support what I consider our 5 amazing resources. I know it was incredible to get. 4 of you together out of the 5, but we also have a gem in Rochester, which I know they would all invite us to visit as well. But, uh, as Steve mentioned, he's part of a system. Wisconsin has systems of libraries. We are part of the Prairie Lakes library system, somewhat new. It used to be Lakeshore with just two counties, ourselves and Walworth, but now we have added ROC. But in addition, we have a wonderful relationship with Kenosha County. So, in the Prairie Lakes, there are 22 libraries in the 3 counties, and you can get delivered to you to your library material from any 1 of those through the system, which Prairie Lakes has helped to develop. So we are so fortunate and I'm really Uh, grateful that the directors and Steve were able to be here tonight. Because our libraries add so much to our culture and our. Our lifeline, so thank you all.

Thank you. All right, moving on to number 5. Reading of the minutes of the previous meeting, which is automatically waived unless requested by a majority of the members present. I remember 6 resolutions and ordinances referred to committees.

There are none item number 7, introduction of resolutions and ordinances 1st, reading and referral resolution number 2026 dash 11 by individual supervisors in support of the elimination of birth expense debts and we're seeing counting child support cases and authorizing the cessation of efforts by the office of child support services to collect birth cost recovery debts.

For that, the health and human services. Supervisor Miller. Excuse me.

Thank you. Thank you. Mr. Chairman, your finance and human resources committee about earlier this evening and past resolution 2026 dash 12. and if there is no objection, we'd like to bring that forward tonight for 1st reading only.

Seeing no objections.

Resolution number 2026 dash 12 by the finance and human resources committee, authorizing the project with water for waterway managed district for draw down dredging project and transfer of 600,000 dollars within the 1,000 settlement 2026 budget.

I'm number 8 communications and claims.

Number one, notice of timber cutting located south of Highway 142 on 312th Avenue in the town of Burlington from Bourne Logging.

Item number one is referred to the Economic Development and Land Use Planning Committee.

Items number two and three are claims against the county. Item number four is a petition to dismiss defendants. And items number five through 19 are notifications from the United States Bankruptcy Court.

So items number two through 19 are referred to the Finance and Human Resources Committee and Corporation Council.

Request for any of the communications. Supervisor Horst.

Yes, thank you, Mr. Chairman. I would request a copy of number one, please.

Supervisor Rossi.

Thank you, Chairman. Two and three.

Supervisor Coleman.

Thank you, Chairman. Two, three, and four, please.

Supervisor Trottier.

Thank you Mr. Chairman. Numbers 2 and 3, please.

Sure.

Items 1, 2 and 3, please.

And I'll take 2 and 3. Supervisor 1, please. Any other requests. Seeing none, we'll move on communications from the county executive.

Report number 2026 dash 1 by county executive making reappointments to the Racine Zoological Society board of directors was referred to the public works parks and facilities committee. Supervisor Rossi.

Thank you chairman. Um, 12 days ago and the. I counted real quick on the 14th, the committee met and took this item up. The committee recommended unanimously for approval, the approval to send us a county board for 1st, 3 here for. Man was lead to send us for approval tonight.

Is there a motion. Motion to approve motion has been made and seconded.

Any comments. All favor say aye aye opposed.

Report number 2026 dash 2 by county executive making a reappointment to the grand public library board of trustees. This is referred to the executive committee.

So, I'd like to call the executive committee to order. To take care of items number 2, uh, report number 2. 10 and 11 to 10 and 13. Item number 2 is for Gretchen Hansen of union growth to be to be on the Graham public library.

Move for confirmation.

Most has been made and seconded the executive committee members all in favor say aye aye. Opposed motion carried. And then report number 2026. 10 is the county executive making a report to the prairie lakes library system lawyer. Peter no of Burlington. Motion to approve 2nd, which has been made and seconded committee members all in favor say aye aye. And then report 202613. Is for reappointment to the Racine county ethics board. And that would be Beth heard and Tony done. Most of them made and seconded all in favor say aye. Opposed. Washington carried executive committee is.

Chairman in light of those 3, um. I'd like to make a motion to confirm. Report number 2, 10 and 13.

Motion seconded has been made and seconded to confirm reports number 2. Uh, 10 and 13. All in favor say, I posed.

Motion carried report number 2026 dash 3 by county executive making a reappointment to the management district board was referred to public works parks and facilities committee.

Supervisor Rossi Thank you chairman again. We've been on the 14th to take this item up. The committee recommended unanimously to send this to the board for confirmation that the appointment would be supervisor Troy. Nick Reynolds.

Any come motion motions were made and seconded. Any comments all in favor say aye.

Opposed motion carried report number 2026 dash forward by county executive, making a reappointment to the Western Racine county. Sewerage district commission was referred to the public works parks and facilities committee.

Supervisor Rossi.

Thank you chairman. Um, once again, this 1 item, this item was taken up on the 14th as well and the committee's ordered unanimously to. Send this to the county board for approval tonight and the appointment was Vincent.

Motion has been made and seconded. Any comments all in favor say, aye. Opposed motion carried.

Report number 2026 dash 9 by county executive, making a recommendation for an appointment to the Racine board of harbor commissioners was referred to the public works parks and facilities committee.

Supervisor.

Thank you chairman this item somehow did not make it. To our agenda, so for with your approval and consent of the body, I'd like to call a meeting of the public works person facilities committee.

Sure go ahead.

Uh, hereby call the public works parks and facility, uh, impromptu meeting to order and our only item that is report 2026 dash 9, which is a report by the county executive, making a recommendation for an appointment to the racing board of harbor commissioners. The appointment would be Monty Osterman. It was right here with us, so if any of you have questions, feel free to add motion to approve. We have a motion on the 2nd to, um, recommend to the board the, uh. Appointment of money, Osterman Osterman to the racing board of harbor commissioners discussion. All in favor say, aye aye aye aye no. You guys have it so past we're adjourned.

Mr chairman, in light of the committee's recommendation, I moved to confirm 2026, 9.

Motion has been made and seconded all in favor say, aye. Opposed motion carried.

And as we've already taken up 10, we will move to report number 2026-11 by county executive making reappointments to the Racine County Human Services Board. This was referred to the Health and Human Development Committee.

Supervisor Troutier.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The HHD Committee will be meeting on June 22, 2026. Therefore, Mr. Chairman, with your permission, I'd like to request this be addressed tonight. I have a majority of committee members present. Go ahead. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. calling the committee to order here. Concerning report number 2026 dash 11, the terms of 2 board members of the Racine county services board expired on April 30th, 2026. both members have expressed an interest in continuing to serve on the board. Therefore, the county executive requests, and we are in committee looking for approval tonight.

Mr. chairman, I would move to recommend confirmation to the county board.

I have a discussion all in favor. I.

Opposed it is approved. So, chairman of the light of that recommendation, I would move to confirm 202611.

Motion has been made and seconded any discussion. All in favor say, aye opposed. Motion carried.

Report number 2026 dash 12 by kind of executive making reappointments and an appointment to the local emergency planning committee. This was referred to the government services committee.

Supervisor.

Thank you so much this meeting or this evening government services met and they approved the reappointment of 3 members term, expiring May 31st, 2028 that supervisor Robert Miller, Chad Samson and battalion chief Dustin Ellis. And then there was also a filling of a vacancy and term ending May 31st, 2028 as well. And this is Sadie Schultz. And so with that, I moved to approve.

Motion has been made and seconded. Any comments or questions? All in favor say aye.

Aye.

Opposed? Motion carried.

Report number 13 was taken up. Next we have report number 2026-19. My county executive making reappointments and appointments to the UW Extension Education Committee. This was referred to the Economic Development and Land Use Planning Committee.

Supervisor Horst.

Thank you. Mr. Chairman. My apologies. I do not show that as a part of my packet and I do not recall if we actually called this 1. Do you have it? Thank you very much. On 2nd, thought I have it right in front of me right now. Uh, we'd like to recommend that the, um, move that this be moved, uh, for Thomas and my apologies. Supervisor Jody Spencer. Supervisor Melissa, Tom Roan house and supervisor Tom Kramer all be considered as a part of the extension education committee. Request this be moved forward.

So, I recommend that the committee make a.

Sure seconds, thank you all those all those in favor of excuse me. Is there any discussion? Very good all those in favor please say, aye aye. Any opposed the eyes have it.

Chairman in light of the committee recommendation, I would move confirmation for 202619.

Which is main seconded any comments or questions. All in favor say aye opposed motion carried.

And my apologies, Mr chairman for not having that 1st, but thank goodness. Mr Miller is there to cover me.

He helps out a lot.

Report number 2026 dash 21 by county executive, making a recommendation for an appointment to the scene board of harbor commissioners.

Refer that to public works.

And report number 2026 dash 23 by county executive, making an appointment to the receipt county traffic safety commission and report refer that to government services.

Item number 10, the standing committee reports containing recommendations and items referred. There are no items 2nd, reading of resolutions and ordinances.

Under majority vote, we have ordinance number 2026-6 by Economic Development and Land Use Planning Committee to rezone from A1 Farmland Preservation District to A2 General Farming and Residential District 2, Section 20, Town 3 North, Range 19 East, Town of Burlington. Owner, Carrie Brinkman. Second.

Motion has been made in the 2nd and supervisor horse.

Thank you. Mr. Chairman. I'm slightly better prepared for this 1. so, just so, you know, this was a item that was a movement in the zoning from a 1 to a 2. it was originally approved by the town of Burlington back on January the 8th. It was then approved by the county back on April the 20th. It is in compliance with the town's land use plan and I would request that this be moved forward for approval.

Motion has been made in a 2nd, and this is a voice majority vote. Any comments or questions. All the favor say aye aye opposed. Motion carried.

Next, under 2 thirds majority vote, we have resolution number 2026 dash 1 by finance and human resources committee, authorizing the transfer of funds within the human services department, public works and development services department, capital funds and various departments in the general fund to close the 2025 year. Resolution number 2026 dash 2 by finance and human resources committee, authorizing the purchase of 2 snowmobiles for the total of 15,000 dollars in a transfer funds within 2026 capital budget. Resolution number 2026 dash 3 by finance and human resources committee, authorizing a 3 year agreement from 2026 through 2029 with technology court for a total of 168,061 dollars and transfer within the sheriff's office 2026 budget. Resolution number 2026 dash 4 by finance and human resources committee authorizing the acceptance of a greater Wisconsin area agency on aging resources grant in the amount of 100,000 dollars in transfer funds within the human services department 2026 budget. Resolution number 2026-5 by Finance and Human Resources Committee authorizing the acceptance of the Wisconsin Department of Administration State Violence Prevention Grant in the amount of $131,600 in transfer funds within the Sheriff's Office 2026 budget. Resolution number 2026-8 by Public Works Parks and Facilities Committee authorizing the conveyance of county-owned land by permanent easement to Wisconsin Electric Power Company doing business as WeEnergies and Wisconsin Bell LLC Doing businesses at and T, Wisconsin to install underground utilities resolution number 2026 dash 9 by public works parks and facilities committee, authorizing and consenting as trail manager of the white river state trail to the above ground high voltage, electrical transmission line easement. Between the Wisconsin department of natural resources, and the American transmission company, LLC, and resolution number 2026, 10 by public works, parks and facilities committee, authorizing acquisition of right away for a highway improvement project and county truck highway. See, in the village of Mount pleasant.

The question has been made in the second. Supervisor.

Thank you chairman in regards to resolution 2026, 1, this is from the financing humor, financing, human resources committee, which is typically the year end budget cleanup that we've been doing. Um, as long as I've been on the county board, this resolution is part of the county standard year end budget, cleaner process required under received county ordinance. And the county ordinance requires a board approval when more than 2 transfers are needed within a budget account. After reviewing all the department lapsing balances, approximately $5.7 million is available to transfer to the contingent funds. And Director Zimmer was not able to be here tonight, but Obed is here tonight to answer any questions if we have any. And just a couple little overviews. The departments that had savings, the average savings was about 10% of their budget. And the ones that fell short was an average of about 3% of their budget. So, what is here if we have any questions on that particular resolution.

Surprise the horse.

Yes. Thank you. Mr. Chairman. I guess my question is with over 5Million dollars. What made up what were the large pieces of that? I mean, normally you're going to have the majority will be in a couple of areas. What were they?

Um, so I. The well, the primary driver was, um, part of it was from human services department. Um, we were able to see a positive variance of about 3.2Million. Um. And then in the general fund, um. There was about 3.9 for, um. Driven by non departmental sales tax revenue looks like, um, I had a few notes from the budget manager and, um, our finance director, Gwen Zimmer. Um, there were a couple of areas that we save as I mentioned, um, 1 of them being that the sales tax revenue was stronger than we had budgeted for and expected. Um, and that contributed to approximately 3.1Million above what we had budgeted. Um, and I'm from the human services department, so, um, I can speak a little bit about the human services department if you'd like, um, if you have any questions regarding the general fund, I can definitely take those back to our. Finance director, Gwen Zimmer, but I'll speak a little bit about human services just because I'm a little bit more versed in that area. Um. So, um, for human services department as. I'm just going to get my little notes here together. I don't know if everybody had a chance to read over the memo that our human services director, Hope Otto, drafted, but it highlights a little bit about what happened in human services in the year of 2025. We came in under budget about $3 million in the youth and family services division, which is our foster home, our out-of-home placement for kids who are in residential placements. helped a little bit with our overage in the juvenile detention center. Obviously, we had anticipated opening in the beginning of the year, but that didn't happen until about May 2025. so we had a little bit of a deficit to make up due to that. So, overall, in our juvenile detention center, we had an overage about 2.4Million. We did have a little bit of a savings in our aging and behavioral health division, about $700,000 under budget, largely due to having fewer institutional placements and residential placements. Also, we received higher than expected WMCA revenue, which is Wisconsin Medicaid cost reporting that we have to do on an annual basis. Based on our expenses in our behavioral health services and Medicaid eligible programs and I believe we had budgeted if I'm not mistaken about 600,000, but we. Received about 1.8Million back from the state for the services. We obviously try to plan and budget conservatively. Obviously, this is an area where we can't predict certain outcomes, certain placements, but we try to be as prepared as possible for some of those higher cost placements, like our inpatient state hospital stays. Do you have any questions about human services in general?

Thank you chairman. I got a couple other things I can just follow up to just for the for the board. Additional positive variances came from the operational efficiencies and public works and development services, increased service charges and campgrounds, beer gardens, permitting and parks and personnel savings in the district attorney's office, lower process serving fees and personnel costs of the contributing factor. Um. Also, how we see about 2% of their budget. So, overall, the year and clean up demonstrates continued active, financial, monetary and responsible management for the departments.

Just a follow up question and again, maybe this is just from a historical perspective, but for the last 3 years. What has each year looked like at the end of the year in relationship to what we're talking about right now? Was it all 3 years that we were under or was it mixed between the 3? I'm just curious out of the last 3 years.

Surprised to try to your supervisor Miller.

Yeah, we, we were in good shape each of those years, but I think. Be best to have the finance director send us a memo with those precise numbers.

Yeah, I mean, again, I'm just curious if the trend is showing us that annually we're doing better. Well, then that should be taken into consideration, obviously, at the budget time. And if not, well, then maybe it's just happens to be how the numbers fell, but I would just be curious to know that. Thank you.

I'm sure we get that information from.

Director Zimmer, I would like to make a comment though. Mr chairman again on human services. We have a culture and a mission and, uh. so much programming to reach out to our citizens early. And when you reach out to someone early in a crisis or a need, it is so much easier and so much less costly to take care of it. And that's just been our hallmark for so many years. And it's I mean, we're prepared for the worst, but because of our way of operating, we. We're very successful at preventing a lot of of more severe problems with all of our citizens.

Let's share resolution.

All right resolution. Thank you. You're welcome. Resolution 2026 dash 2 is a. It's a great opportunity for the county to purchase two snowmobiles at a greatly reduced price. Captain Evans will be here to just highlight a couple of the things for the significant savings as he's always looking for savings for the county and his department. This should save us about $20,000 retail. Captain Evans.

Yeah, so last year we were able to lease some snowmobiles. We had definitely end of life 2002 Polaris 500s that we had used for well over 20 years. As you guys know, the snowmobile culture around here is hit or miss, right? There's times that we have the trails open for a year and there's a lot going on and I've personally had to hike over a mile to get out to a snowmobile crash in the middle of winter and knee-deep snow, and that's not fun. Having our sleds available, having those resources are very important, even though they're a low-frequency use. This year, we were able to get that lease. Like I said, it was $1,000 to lease the sled. Really cheap and great opportunity for us. It was a 2024 Polaris 650 Indy for anybody that knows what that is, and I'm told that it's a GPS-worked sled as well. It has a big screen on it. It tells them where they are. I can imagine that's very helpful because a lot of times they're riding through cornfields and they end up having to call out for assistance from the patrol guys that are on the street. Those sleds, the MSRP on them was $17,599 when we leased them. Right now, the current value is $13,525 each. So that's a lot of money. They're offering them to us for $7,500 apiece. So we can buy both of them for $15,000 and have sleds that are going to last us likely another 20 years. We have really, really great fleet mechanics. If you haven't met Mark or Jim, we have incredible fleet mechanics. They do the majority of our work, costs about $400 to $500 a year for us to maintain them and keep them up and operational, just depending on the use they get that year. So if anybody's got any questions, I'm happy to attempt to answer them.

Any questions? Okay, let's go on to number 3. all right.

Resolution 2026 3 by financing human resources committee authorizing. The 3 year agreement with technology, and this has been something that's already been approved, but it's a continuation option. And Catherine Evans is here along with Emily, the grant writer, and they can bring us up to date on a couple of things.

So the most important part of this is, this is Emily. Emily is the magic behind the scenes. Emily does all of the work for us when we get to the grant portion of what we do. So last year we did over $400,000 to help buy our new boat. We did multiple other grants that I brought in front of you guys. Think a lot of times you think that I'm doing that work. I help negotiate with the vendors. I like doing that part. I am not the brains behind the operation. That is all Emily. She does a great job taking the mess that I give her, turning it into a really well articulated grant application. And getting us awarded, which is kind of a trick because there's a lot of applications that go in. There's very few awards and Emily is starting to show a really great track record of success getting us awarded. So no pressure. Let's get more. All right. So this 1, we originally got this grant late last year. I believe it was 169,000 dollars. When we brought it through to get it approved from the board, we brought it as one version. Once we got the grant approved and we started researching the technology, we found out it would materially change how we operate, which would then change our budget going forward in the future. I couldn't do that. I know that our budgets are tight. So we pivoted and I've spoke about this at length with all of you guys about what software we're looking at now. The new software will help us be able to solve complex crimes in a more efficient manner. I'm happy to take any questions on that. I think it's important to note that on this, you'll see that there is a two-year term and a one-year term. The first two years are covered through a grant extension that we were able to get from our grant administrator. We negotiated both with the administrator and the vendor to be able to lock in the 2025 pricing all the way out through 2029. So should we next year in 27 get the additional extension, this vote tonight will allow us then to absorb through the grant that's already paid for. It's a no match grant. It will allow us to absorb that software for another year funded through the grant at 2025 pricing. So, that's that's what this is if there's any questions, I'm happy to.

Try to answer them any questions. Surprise or thank you.

Mr. let me understand then. We approved to go with the program at the end of last year. but then we realized that the program was not going to be consistent or was gonna require you to change your operating model. And so now we are going with a different program.

So what we wrote the grant on was to, it was called Guardian and Pathfinder. We were gonna buy Pathfinder the whole time. When we realized that Guardian was going to so materially change how we operate, we took that off and said, well, what if we could just stretch Pathfinder out? This is a great opportunity for us. Earlier tonight when I met with government services, I compared it to using a magnet when trying to find a needle in a haystack. Right. So this is an awesome technology for us. This just what we did is we took and we negotiated with the vendor and the grant administrator to stretch this out further. So trying to get more bang for our buck, not giving up the grant money that was given to us.

So the dollar amount is staying the same.

The dollar amount that we were awarded stays the same.

We're just stretching it out. It's OK. Thank you very much, Captain.

Any further questions, Mr. Chairman?

Supervisor Preissker?

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. And Captain Evans, just to confirm, so this 4 year contract for the 168,000 plus is fully covered by the grant?

3 years. Yes. 3 years yes, fully covered by the grant. No match and at the end of it. I think the most important part for me was, as we started working through this, and when we were talking with the vendors was, we don't want to have anything that we get stuck in to residual costs, software costs, licensing costs. We want to build a walk away from it at the end. Now. I'll be honest. My goal is I want to try to get this refunded through another grant. If this is so incredible, like, they're telling me, and we're going to solve all this great crime with it. I want to come back with stories and we can talk about it in 3 years. But for right now, the way it's built. If if I'm, if I get to the end, and there's no more money, and we just can't do it, we can walk away from it. And there's no residual cost to the county.

Supervisor.

Thank you. I actually have no question. But I do want to make a statement because Emily, you were before government services this evening. Now you're here at the county board. And I know Captain Evans has given you much credit. And I think that I would like to give you some credit to thank you for being here. You have provided a service that is like you said, you know, pulling a needle from a haystack. And so your work writing this grant And again, no cost to the county, so kudos to you and thank you for being here and thank you for writing that grant.

Any further questions the chairman number 4. all right.

Um, resolution 2026 dash 4 is a great news for the county. It's, uh. We want to be able to authorize acceptance of a Greater Wisconsin Area Aging and Aging Resources Grant for the total of $100,000. And that will go right directly towards our Meals on Wheels program. And I'd like to thank Amy O'Brien from the ADRC for helping secure this grant. If there are any questions, I believe we have Amy here to talk about that as well.

Supervisor.

Thank you. Mr. Chairman. Yeah, I, I just wanted to share with all the supervisors that I had the, I'd say the opportunity, but it turned out to be the pleasure of actually going along on ride around a couple of times. And the impact that this program has to those that are truly in need is pretty darn special. and so all of your efforts to to try to secure this and to make sure we have it set going forward is to be applauded and and most appreciated by everyone in racine county but certainly those that are obviously taking advantage of this opportunity so really well done thank you thank you and then this this does eliminate the delay is that correct

Sorry, I'm Katie Hanson, the assistant manager from the Aging and Disability Resource Center. So to address the elimination of the waitlist, we're currently serving people at capacity right now.

Okay. Yes. Sorry, Mr. chairman yes, I apologize 1 more quick item. I would be remiss if I didn't also recognize that our county executive joined me on that drive around. And so it was, it felt good. I felt the arm being pressed behind my back a little bit, but then I truly appreciated it. So thank you very much.

Thank you.

Any further questions or comments supervisor?

Yeah, thank you. I too was able to do a volunteer bit and I think 1 thing that should be noted, you know, there's different models. I'm accustomed to the model in Kenosha as well. And for our county to take this on this grant is quite significant. to keep providing services to provide food for those who don't have the ability to access themselves. So thank you for that. But I also remember on the little stint that I did is that they're still in need of volunteers. So any opportunity we can get on the county floor as I have the mic, I just encourage for those to please seek the department to help them out to be able to get food to those in need.

Thank you.

Any further questions or comments?

Vice Chair, number five. All right. Resolution 2026-5. This is authorizing an acceptance of the Wisconsin Department of Administration State Violence Prevention Grant. This would help with digital forensic analyzation and technology and strengthen the investigation efficiency and support of the intelligence-led policing efforts for the county. And Captain Evans is here again with Emily, the grant writer, to Kind of just give us a quick overview. And again, this is a grant for $131,600 and it's no matching grant.

That's right.

Captain Evans.

So like I said, it's pretty awesome what you can come up with. I pitch a couple ideas and I turn around and she says, I got you more money. So this one, this one's interesting. It's a no match grants, $131,000. It expires December 31st of 2026 has to be completely spent. No residuals, nothing left over. It's got to be gone by then. So this is going to be a quick turnaround. You guys will see me back here shortly. This is going to be focused on some backlogs that we have of digital devices. We have one forensic analyst. We're working on getting some more people spun up on training for that. This will include some training dollars. It'll include a little bit of hardware that we need to be able to do this, some additional licensing, and then something called automate where we'll be able to use some digital systems that are going to help us speed up our extraction and analysis of the devices that we have.

Is there any questions comments so. We'll move on to item number resolution number 8. Supervisor Rossi.

Thank you chairman resolution 2026 dash 8 has to do with an easement for the future sheriff's station. Shannon is an expert on easements. We follow.

come to know that on the public works parks and facilities committee so shannon if you have anything to say on that if there are any questions this is the easement for the um public safety building to allow uh we energies and at t onto the premises pretty straightforward any comments or questions seeing none supervisor rossi item number nine resolution number nine

Thank you chairman resolution. Number 9 has to do with essentially we are the managers of a trail and then so we are not the actual property owners of it, but we have to give permission then for another easement. That's really what this 1 is about. So company, and I believe this is, is this overhead or is this buried? It's overhead overhead. Please do you have anything else to say?

It's the high power transmission lines for to. Go across the county.

they're having an upgrade and expansion are there any questions or comments on that supervisor rossi number 10. thank you chairman this item has to do with easements and this is a trifecta i believe it was of easements and this is where we really needed shannon to explain all what was happening on this a little slice of the side of highway c here that we have to implement three different types of easements oh two excuse me I thought it was either way if there's any questions on that Shannon, if you wanted to comment further, this is to allow sidewalks and.

Our ability to work on our traffic signals at spring valley on spring street.

For the hospital, are there any questions. Seeing none, this is a. Two-thirds majority vote. So why don't you cue us up for the voting? First, we have to log in.

Which is yes and confirm. It can hit confirm title. All right, so vote now.

Done batteries.

Oh, yeah, here we go.

That's good.

You can go forward.

All right.

Okay, there is no such thing.

Supervisors are Coleman. How do you vote? Okay, we will mark that as unanimous.

That's interesting. Yeah. Okay, I remember 12 resolutions and. Reconsiderational resolutions and ordinance from previous meetings and or action on vetoes. There are no items I remember 3. 13. Reconsideration of and or notice of intent to reconsider resolutions and ordinances.

There is nothing to reconsider.

Standards update council review the sale of tax to Lincoln real estate process.

Thank you. Mr chairman. So, in recent months, this body, along with its finance and human resources committee has had numerous discussions about, uh, longstanding processes for the disposition of lands that have been acquired by the county via in REM proceedings included in those recent discussions has been the suggestion that perhaps the county should revisit. It's policy, which is currently set forth at section 7 dash 57 overseeing county ordinances that specifically exempts from the sealed bid process conveyance or exchange of land from the county to a municipality or to the state that county ordinance. Is reflective of state statute specifically section 75.69 of Wisconsin state statutes, which provides a similar exemption from the sealed bidding process specifically stating that it shall not apply to the exchange of land or to the sale of land. Uh, 2, or between municipalities, or to the state. So, based a lot based on that, along with recent state legislation, namely act 216 and act 207 and litigation that's gone all the way up to the, to the, um. Supreme Court, the US Supreme Court, this office has undertaken a review and analysis to explore the feasibility and enforceability of any policy change via ordinance that may require sealed bidding in every instance. So we haven't reached a conclusion. We'll be back once we complete that process. It's just I know there's been an individual supervisor request that we work on or assist in the creation of that individual supervisor resolution or ordinance. It's complicated though. And so before, and certainly in lieu of rushing into that process, we want to conduct that legal review. We'll report back to the Finance and Human Resources Committee upon completion of that legal review with the findings. And it ties in nicely, interestingly enough, with Andy Phillips' presentation this evening where There was the discussion about no inherent authority being granted to counties rather. It needs to be granted by the state, or it needs to be implied. And so that's the question is that authority that's being suggested. Um, inherent has it been specifically granted, which is a complicated question, particularly in light of that ordinance, but more specifically with that state statute that I cited. So I just wanted to present it to the full board. I spoke with the county board chairman. He was supportive of having that update just to let you all know that that work is underway and we'll report back once we complete it.

Okay.

Thank you. Yeah, I spoke with supervisor Coleman. I had a good discussion as this afternoon and other supervisors along the way as well.

Number 15, informational reports report number 2026 dash 20 by county board chairman, making a reappointment to the Racine county ethics board. This actually needs to be referred to the executive committee will refer to the executive committee. And then report number 2026 dash 22 by finance and human resources committee, submitting the receiving county 2026 by monthly large capital projects report.

And number 16, miscellaneous business announcements and all reports.

Supervisor Miller often when we have guests, um. They do presentations before us and then understandably they, they leave. Uh, I just want to note that tonight, um, I think we know that they're in the information business because we still have 3 representatives from the library here at the end of our meeting. And until a short time ago, we had all 5 of them here. So I want to thank them for their presence.

Supervisor Spencer.

Thank you. I just want to publicly welcome our new granddaughter Sylvia. Sylvia Elizabeth Spencer. She's 1 month old now, but this is my 1st opportunity to get. To publicly welcome her and we get to see her this weekend.

Congratulations. I'd like to, I'd like to. I honor my wife. She and I are going to be celebrating next week on the second, our 19th wedding anniversary. Little did she know that what we'd be doing 19 years later, but I thank her for being very supportive and understanding. Supervisor Preissker.

I think it was chairman, I would just like to let the board know that the city of Burlington is undergoing a major road construction project in the downtown. So anything you can do to stop down and support those businesses, or encourage other people to do the same during the summer. That would be great. Thanks.

Supervisor.

Thank you so much. I just want to honor both the youth and governance reps that sat through all the meetings we had this evening. So we have Remy Oscarson and Andrew Schuller.

So we condone them for attendance.

So thank you both for being here. And then also on the note of celebrating our youth and governance reps are 2 time youth and governance rep. If you remember her, she was here, I think supervisor Miller, you, I think you were mentor 2 years in a row and she is. do something very extraordinary in the background she's really out in the community if you've been out in the community i've seen her quite a bit volunteering but behind the scenes she was working on a i think it's an indian tradition celebrating some classical dance tradition and she worked alongside a guru and she's now mastered it and she's having a recital And I would hope that we can get some county board reps, as much as she's dedicated her years to this county board, if we can support her in this huge milestone. And so it's going to take place in Union Grove High School Performance Center, and it is on June 27th at 3 o'clock. So if I get permission, maybe I could send that to Wendy to get it out to the county board supervisors. Go ahead. Can I do that?

Yeah, get that rotation out.

Perfect. I will do that. So thank you.

Supervisor heart Thank you. Mr. Chairman. I just thought I'd let the county board know, and certainly the public that, you know, the water for police department has certainly had some challenges over the past couple of years. But since we've hired the new chief, Tim O'Neill, I'm pleased to say that the department is really getting itself back on track and getting his footing and 2, and including it has been announced now officially that we now have a canine. That is going to be working as 1 of our police officers, although it's only 3 months old right now, but it in fact will be utilized for purposes of locating sent work in the high schools and not certainly as a guard to hug of sorts. But it's nice to see that the positive things are happening and some good momentum is being developed there. So I just wanted to share that with everyone. Thank you.

Mr. chairman. Thank you chairman just I would like to remind everybody at the union grove lions chicken barbecues coming up on Sunday, June 7th, along with the car show at our, we're seeing county fairgrounds. So hopefully you guys can make it out there. It's a great time.

Any further, we are adjourned. Thank you.