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05/17/10 - Beyond Milwaukee County: Challenges Facing Wisconsin’s Other Counties

Wed, 05/19/2010 - 3:46pm — Executive Director

A public policy forum "Beyond Milwaukee County: Challenges Facing Wisconsin’s Other Counties" was held at the Italian Conference Center in Milwaukee on May 17, 2010. Moderated by Charles Law Director, UW-Extension Local Government Center.  The presentation is available for watching or listening from Wisconsin Eye.  Follow this link  to the Forums page of Wisconsin Eye.  Forums are organized by date – scroll down to May 17, 2010 to find this discussion.
 
 
Panelists for this forum included:
 
 David Bretl, Walworth County Administrator
 
Doug Johnson, Washington County Administrative Coordinator
 
William Reynolds, Racine County Executive
 
Thomas Meaux, Ozaukee County Administrator
 
Daniel Vrakas, Waukesha County Executive
 
The recording is a little over 1 hour in length.   Following is an index to the program.  The time marks are indicated as 00:00:00 which indicates the number of minutes into the recording.
 
·         Bill Haberman – former trustee Public Policy Institute – opening remarks - 0:15 – 5:00
 
·         Rob Henken – President, Public Policy Institute  - 5:30 - 8:30: Introductory remarks, introduce Chuck Law
 
·         Chuck Law, Director, Local Government Center, UW-Extension  –  introduce panelists:  8:31 – 15:45
 
·         First question: why you think county government is needed and the role it plays – 16:00 – 27:00
 
·         Please give your perspective on State/County relationships – 27:30 – 37:15
 
·         Please comment on the changes that have taken place in recent years in the field of human services – 37:45 – 42:00
 
·         Please talk about your relationships with towns and municipalities regarding intergovernmental cooperation, collaboration and consolidation – 42:00 – 49:15
 
Walworth County as a model for intergovernmental cooperation, still work to do on sharing of services.
Waukesha County sharing services with other counties.
 
·         Tell us how each of your County Boards are structured and how they work with the executive/management team.  49:30 – 56:30
 
·         What are your views as to whether an elected or appointed county executive/manager works better – 57:00 – 1:01:30
 
·         What are your thoughts regarding the responsibilities of Milwaukee County government – all the normal functions of County government plus major transit system, comprehensive park s system and a major airport.  1:01:45 – 1:05:45
 
·         Questions from audience:
What services should be handled by the County? 1:06:00 – 1:08:00
 
·         Conclusion – 1:08:30