Community division relative to many issues & what has been taking place nationally. We now see this happening locally.
I have tremendous concern for what the quality of life will be like for our children & grandchildren.
Issues relative to crime, education, immigration, civil rights, ethics, crime, etc.
How positions, opinions communicated or responded to
impact everyones quality of life. I am open to listen to as long as communication is presented in & returned in a positive & respectful way.
It is important that we all live
by example and in voice & action to advance diversity & inclusion so that all feel safe & welcome to our County. I will continue to advocate for quality and cost effective public programs & services that provide protection, healing & support.
Economic Development
There is a tremendous housing shortage impacting all. For new industry & new businesses to move into our community, the employees need a place to live. This issue impacts our tax base and the amounts that can be budgeted to support those services that are available to our community.
Wealso need to look at those issues effecting or rural community and the family farm. Additionally good paying jobs are crucial for the success of our community.
I will work hard to ensure the County does its part to bring in new business and industry to grow the tax base & help ease the burden on us all.
Environmental sustainability
As passionate lover of nature, I will vote to ensure that our natural resources & recreation areas are cared for, protected and saved for generations to come. We will encourage tourism as the income they bring into our townships and communities benefit all.
It is a goal moving forward by the County Board to work toward becoming energy independent via renewable energy resources. Solar power is good for the environment and good for the bottom line. I will work to get solar installed at the County's main facilities. We will also investigate the possibilites and possible benefits to geothermal heat pump heating.
More than 2! All top priority.
Not enough $ to match each department's staff salaries/benefits, capital improvements & resource needs. Top priority is to be fiscally responsible to ensure tax dollars are spent wisely in order to provide the services that address D C residents quality of life.
I like the way our County addresses this. Budget process begins after the last budget has been passed.
1. Supervisors assigned to meet with various depts. each month to hear their staffing, capital improvement & resource needs included in the budgets submitted.
2. Once receive, Business Manager provides us with anticipated income vs dept. requests & what needed to balance budget.
3. Work many meetings to assure tax dollars spent wisely & effectively; to provide service making quality of life better.
The most important issue facing Dunn County is overall financial stability. The county has a good mix of agriculture-, manufacturing-, education- and service- industries. But the national economy is unpredictable and inflation has been high. We need to ensure that the county has a stable budget, protecting our infrastructure and assets, but not by borrowing too much. I think Dunn County can attract more new businesses, especially from Illinois and Minnesota, which both have higher taxes than we do. I have managed large budgets in the past for two different public universities. I will work to limit borrowing, to retain our existing businesses, and to attract new ones. I think Dunn County would be a great place to attract more robotic warehousing centers, like Wal Mart Distribution.
The number of health providers and available health care services in the county have been declining, even before the HSHS/ Prevea pull-back. We need Mayo, Marshfield and ReformMedicine to renew and maintain their commitment to Dunn County. I would support our county staff to hire health professionals from the HSHS/Prevea closures in Chippewa and Eau Claire, to bolster the Neighbors of Dunn County... which is a great facility, but which is chronically short-staffed. I would also work to attract health professionals from out of the region to come here. Dunn county is blessed with great natural resources in a unique mix of farms, forests, waters and towns. We have good schools. We can attract medical professionals to come live here. This is God’s country.
The third biggest issue is maintaining our roads and facilities. Dunn is a large county by acreage, with a large road network serving our towns, farms and businesses. The highway network is vital for our law enforcement and EMS agencies to be able to patrol and serve the county. 1/3 of our residents commute to neighboring counties to work. I will fight to protect and maintain the highway department budget, yet still balance overall finances. I am not sure that plow trucks should cost $315,000 as our newest one did. But the quality and condition of over-the-road vehicles in the US is declining, and we must ensure that potholes don’t make this worse by damaging our vehicles. I would also be an advocate for the Rec Park, our Government Center, and the regional highway shops.
1. The overall financial health of the county. We have higher property taxes than many of our neighboring counties… including Chippewa and Eau Claire. We need to be careful with taxes and borrowing so we do not lose business to other regions. 2: The large departments (Highways; Human Services; the Neighbors; Sheriff; Health: and Transit) all provide vital services. But all need to be efficient. I would support these units, but also ask hard questions. I question the rush to electric buses. I think they are too unproven for us to buy just yet. Was that decision a team effort between the Board, the department managers and the employees? I support incentivized budgeting and finance systems where management and employees are all partners in making our already-good services even better.
