New County Board of Supervisors is up and running

As it has for many years, a new Sheboygan County Board has begun the process of developing a budget, modifying ordinances, and running the different committees they were assigned. It will be the last time this elected board of 34 will meet; the next election will see the number decreased to 28 supervisors. Statewide redistricting, required every 10 years, will take place and, with the decrease in county supervisors, Sheboygan County may see some dramatic district changes.

The new Board began its first meeting on Tuesday, April 20. It was an official ceremonial day with the Sheboygan County Sheriff’s Department’s Honor Guard presenting the colors and then the pledge to the flag. That was followed by an invocation by Rev. Rich Cawthon. Judge Edward Stengel administered the oath – we all were officially in office for the next two years.

Board members were then introduced to the Sheboygan County department heads. We needed to elect a chairperson for Sheboygan County – Michael Vandersteen; a vice-chairperson – Jerald Holub; and three additional members to the executive committee – Devin LeMahieu, William Goehring, and Michael Ogea.

Lastly, we had to adopt rules we would follow for the next two years, but – as is often the case – there was some discussion and a number of changes made. It was mainly a day of ceremony, family, and friendship, with a few items needing specific action. But one rural county supervisor couldn’t control himself without making an inappropriate partisan remark. Perfect, we are not!

The following Tuesday, April 27, the Sheboygan County Board was required to meet again. The executive committee had made appointments to the different committees and the committees needed to meet to elect a chairperson, vice-chairperson and secretary. The committees and their members, with some last minute changes, are as follows:

Finance Committee: Abler, Anic, Goehring, Te Stroete and Ziegelbauer. Health Care Center Committee: Cary, Conrardy, Medina, Otten and Schultz. Health and Human Services Committee: Feider, Koch, Otten, Van Der Male, VanDixhorn and Wheeler. Human Resources Committee: Damp, Dunton, LeMahieu, Schultz and Te Stroete.

Law Committee: Epping, Hoffmann, Winkel, Marthenze and Wegner.

Planning, resources, Agriculture and Extension Committee: Baumgart, Bosman, Ogea, Adrian VanDixhorn and Jacob VanDixhorn.

Property Committee: Epping, Glavan, Oppeneer, Procek and Raml.

Transportation Committee: Bemis, Conrady, Holub, Wegner and Winkel.

With the last of the committee assignments completed, the full Sheboygan County Board has fully been activated. While the Board will now meet at 6 p.m. on the third Tuesday of each month, until budget time, each committee has its own schedule. The Planning, Resources, Agriculture, and Extension Committee, to which I am assigned, will normally meet at 5 p.m. on the first and third Thursday of the month, at the University of Wisconsin-Extension Office. These meetings are open and the public is encouraged to attend.

Each committee has a different schedule and you can get that information by going to the Sheboygan County Web site at www.co.sheboygan.wi.us.

It is important that the public occasionally visit committee meetings in areas in which they have an interest – such as human resources, transportation, health care centers, natural resources – to voice their opinion when appropriate. Let the elected officials know where you stand. You don’t want some supervisors deciding an issue you feel important without your input – that’s not a good idea.