As a supervisor in manufacturing and working with a volunteer marketing team, I’ve developed skills in project management, team development, identifying individuals’ strengths and collaborating with individuals with more experience than myself.
I’ve raised my family here in Neenah. I’ve been active in teaching youth in our church, and volunteer my time to help the local Lion’s Club. As a veteran of the US Air Force and a member of the American Legion in Neenah, I once help the positions of Adjutant and Second Vice Commander. Today I continue to assist my wife in her work with the American Legion Auxiliary.
It would be good to review the regulatory environment in the county to make sure there are no obstructions preventing individuals from choosing to partake in wind, solar or geothermal options for their buildings to reduce stress on the current grid. I do not think it would be wise to offer financial incentives, particularly given our current budgetary stress in the county.
I do believe it would be wise to explore these on-site options for municipal buildings if we are able to calculate a return on investment through the cost savings within 5 years of installation. The opportunity for this is interestingly timed given that there are so many municipal buildings that are going to need major repairs or replacement.
1. This summer members of the board put forth a proposed budget of things they would like to spend on to justify implementing a sales tax on a community that is still recovering from COVID lockdowns followed by years of massive inflation. In the last few board meetings I attended, I heard board member justify spending because the items “all ready passed through committees twice”. This hurts me, whether I supported the item or not. We must be willing to say no to items that are not going to support the prosperity of our citizens (which then naturally increases our tax base).
2. As alluded to in the previous question, there is an estimated $350 million in building repairs and replacements to municipal buildings to include a new courthouse to come into regulatory requirements for prisoner transfers. In conjunction with this we must create a municipal repair fund dedicated to maintaining and replacing our buildings so we don’t fall behind again.
The Spirit Fund was set up to be used to fund existing initiatives. There has been quite a bit of debate over whether it can be used for the Rolling Investment loan as some members of the board have been pushing for. Provided that the fund is deemed unusable for that initiative, we might be able to use it to jumpstart a Municipal Building Repair fund or use it with the Sheriff’s Department in an effort to choke of the Highway 41 Drug and Human Trafficking Corridor.
Winnebago County is considered one of the 3 most difficult counties for home builders to work in and receive a rapid return on investment. To counter this, the county has proposed and approved a Rolling Loan program to incentivize investors and builders to build in our county. To fund this, some board members have proposed to use the Spirit Funds mentioned in the previous question.
While I am not opposed to the idea of the Rolling Loan, I would like to see a review of the bureaucratic environment to see if we can stream line the paperwork necessary to reduce time for approval and review the regulatory environment to see if there are unnecessary obstacles preventing them from even looking into building in Winnebago in the first place.
I would have preferred these be done before talk about the Rolling Loan, but at least we can do it in conjunction with its funding approval.
I have spent nearly 25 years in the Fox Valley raising my family, practicing medicine, building a business, and representing my community at multiple levels of government. I am married to Adria ,and we raised our sons, Solon and Gage, right here in Neenah. Our business, Mom and Pop Place, was proud to call downtown Neenah home for over 13 years. I spent 21 years caring for veterans as a Family Doctor at the Appleton VA Clinic including over a decade of leadership as an Associate Chief of Staff for the region. My passion for local government is well-established. I served as County Board Supervisor for this district for 16 years, including 4 years serving as County Board Chairman. At the municipal level, I served on the Neenah City Council for 6 years after spending several years representing my previous district in Appleton. I have additional experience as a prior board member for YouthGo, UW-Fox Valley Foundation, Bergstrom-Mahler Museum, and the Fox Valley Literacy Coalition.
Energy efficiency must be a consideration any time we are repairing, expanding or replacing one of our government buildings. Maintenance and repair of our existing infrastructure should be a priority. A cost/benefit analysis must be carefully considered by the board and its committees to be true stewards of our natural resources as well as our financial resources. A careful analysis will reveal the potential advantages as well as risks of promising technologies such as solar energy. In my view, if you don't do the analysis, you cannot know the potential benefits. A myriad of funding sources could include state funding, federal funding, county capital improvement budget appropriations, and eligible ARPA funding.
1. BUDGETARY CHALLENGES AND TAX CONTROL:
The county budget continues to get tighter with a continued need to fund postponed building maintenance, as well as infrastructure maintenance, expansion, and repairs. I believe this will only continue going forward. Therefore, it is important to prioritize these infrastructure and building projects based on their overall need and potential for long-term cost savings/benefits while working as much as possible to control taxes. The former UW-Fox Valley campus and facilities is a particularly important project, and the county will need to work to balance the best use of the facilities with the costs of maintaining/improving them.
2. AFFORDALITY CHALLENGES FOR RESIDENTS:
Costs of living have continued to rise overall and in particular related to housing, transportation, and household basic needs. Therefore, I believe it is important for the county to prioritize affordability in the areas of housing, basic needs, and social services.
The final decisions in terms of Spirit Fund allocations should be at the County Board level. In my view recommendations as to which projects or initiatives should be funded can come from anyone or any organization and then funneled through the committee process. The committee can then vet the projects and make ultimate recommendations to the County Board.
In terms of the approximate $9.4 million dollars that remains in the Spirit Fund, there are many potential uses at the county level or within the various local jurisdictions. Ideally, any approved funding would be spread across the county so that all local units of government get their fair share of the funding. Projects to be considered are infrastructure repairs, affordable housing initiatives, support to social services organizations, as well as direct allocations to local units of government for them to determine how best to use the funding. Setting aside some funds for the UW-Fox Valley campus would also be beneficial.
The county plays an important leadership and advocacy role in promoting affordable housing initiatives in all of our towns, villages, and cities. This includes advocating for and collaborating with other local jurisdictions as they collectively seek state and federal funding, as well as working with local communities on planning and zoning for affordable housing. Setting aside additional funds from the Spirit Fund for affordable housing initiatives across our county would also be of benefit.
