Good government requires citizen involvement

It is true, not all Sheboygan County Board members are the same! While all 34 members of the board have an equal vote in their respective committees and at the monthly meeting of the board, they are indeed very different from one another.

That is one of the great benefits of our representative type of government. Those elected come from all walks of life, have experienced a wide variety of work, have different educational levels, some have served in the military and others have not. Sheboygan County Board includes farmers and factory workers; a couple are active state and town employees; some are business people and union workers, present and former village, town, city and state elected officials – and the board certainly has its share of retirees.

Members of the Sheboygan County Board are assigned or reassigned to a committee at the start of a new two-year term; most serve on one committee, with the exception of those who serve on the Executive Committee and Finance Committee. The other county committees include: Health and Human Services, Health Care Center, Human Resources, Law, Planning, Resources, Agriculture and Extension, Property and Transportation.

The strength of this system is that board members become very involved and aware of the responsibilities in their respective committees.

On the other hand, they tend to have limited contact and perhaps limited understanding of what is taking place in other committees – until an issue comes before the full county board. It could be said that this may be one of the weaknesses of our system.

Each Sheboygan County Board member has access to a broad variety of services. They receive the monthly Wisconsin Counties magazine, National Counties publication, The Wisconsin Taxpayer magazine, among other publications.

Attorney Carl Buesing is Sheboygan County corporation counsel who provides legal direction, drafts legislation, and will represent a committee in court if necessary (seldom is this required). The county’s division managers, directors, highway commissioner, county clerk and other such elected officials, and other county staff provide a great deal of technical help when needed or requested by members of the Sheboygan County Board or their committees. The ability to be kept informed of the different committees and issues is certainly available for the most active members of the board.

But more citizen participation would be an enormous asset. A limited number of citizens in Sheboygan County – far too few – regularly come to committee or the monthly board meetings.

Admittedly, the citizens of Sheboygan County do shine when they are asked to serve on a committee or board. About 35 quality people accepted the role and responsibility of developing a Smart Growth plan for Sheboygan County. They did an excellent job and completed their work in December of last year. A large citizen committee has worked on, and continues to work on, the $25 million non-motorized alternate mode of transportation federal program. The committee came up with rules and procedures for funding projects throughout Sheboygan County; those results were of the highest quality.

There are non-elected citizens who are asked to serve on county committees that require specialized experience; they, too, do a wonderful job. A good example of a citizen representative is Mike Rammer, an experienced and skilled farmer, who is on the Planning, Resource, Agriculture and Extension Committee representing farming interests.

However, as I said, too few people in Sheboygan County take it upon themselves to regularly attend Sheboygan County Board and committee meetings. It is unfortunate. Citizens miss out on how and why things become law; and they end up not providing input until the process is well along. You can stay in touch with what is happening from the quiet of your home, simply by going to the Sheboygan County Board’s Web site and viewing the actions recorded by Sheboygan Cable Community TV.