I think the most import issue is “health, "which is inclusive of affordable and healthy housing, food security, thriving communities, education, and access to health care so ALL families can reach their optimal level of health. The recent closure of HSHS hospitals in Chippewa and Eau Claire, and the Prevea clinics are negatively impacting the health of our families, including babies to seniors, and has disrupted many families jobs which has a spiraling effect. Health care is a complicated systems issue, but a county board could write resolution statements to bring awareness about this devastation for our families and communities. We can also invite county, state, and federal policy makers to public forums to discuss what the data and research shows as strategies to address this issue.

Transportation, specifically the infrastructure that is needed for rural communities to assure that bridges, highways and county roads are updated. The Lake Holcombe Township has a bridge that has been deemed unsafe for heavier vehicles (no more than 20 Tons) to travel across. This is affecting our local businesses in not only tourism, but also in economic issues when people have to drive an additional 20 or more miles because they can’t drive across the bridge. This is an additional barrier, takes more time, costs more and is inequitable when resources have not been allocated for our rural communities’ needs. This negatively impacts the public school district's very lean budget. There are not extra funds available to add extra miles on with the bridge being inaccessible for bussing kids

Housing, as we simply do not have sufficient safe, healthy affordable housing available for working families. The number of kids and families who are facing homelessness has increased given increasing costs of rent, combined with job losses (like the loss of good paying jobs with the HSHS Hospital and Prevea Clinic) can quickly cause family instability and the loss of their home. The Chippewa County Board can provide advisement for our county services to support stabilizing our working families by collaborating with non-profits who receive housing vouchers to support families, and also work with county, state, private agencies, lenders, community development financial institutions, builders, and developers to encourage investment in building affordable housing in Chippewa County.

I support looking upstream. We need to address health (e.g. the mental health crises affecting our youth and families) preventively, otherwise we will continue to expend exponential amounts of money with a lack of positive health outcomes when we wait until families are in crisis. This means we need to invest in resources (such as in housing, child and adult care, mental health) that a lot of people have not thought about as being contributors to our overall health outcomes. We need to include federal funds for BadgerCare Expansion. Funding for transportation is needed for the bridge in the Lake Holcombe area. I approach challenging topics with an open perspective, and value seeing the data from reliable resources to make recommendations and engaging in respectful dialogue on the budget.