 Good evening and welcome to the candidate forum for County Board Supervisory Districts 3, 12, and 20. Sponsored by the Sherboygan Branch of the American Association of University Women. AAUW seeks to empower girls and women through equity, advocacy, education, and research. We are a nonpartisan organization. We do not endorse candidates, but we do take positions on issues and have been instrumental in legislation to improve opportunities for women and girls. Our moderator this evening is Christine Smith. She's an associate professor of psychology at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay. She's also the program chairman for the Sherboygan Chapter of AAUW. And our candidates this evening are Kathleen Donovan and Lisa Salgado for Supervisory District Number 3. Mr. Siegelbauer for District 12. His opponent declined to participate. And the candidate for District 20 is Brian Hoffman. His opponent also declined to participate. So I'll turn it over to Chris. Hello, everyone. And I'd just like to thank everyone for being here and for being engaged citizens. A little heads up from the previous moderator. When you're answering questions, keep in mind that you're on camera, so you might want to address it towards the front rather than towards the moderator. So we'll go in order right now. We'll start out with Lisa and then Robert and then Kathleen and Brian, but then we will mix up the order so that nobody goes first every time or last. So the first question is, well, it's actually not a first question. You have three minutes to basically introduce yourselves. So you might, what are your qualifications? What do you bring to the county board? So we will start with Lisa. Thanks. Hi, my name is Lisa Salgado. I'm running for Sheboygan County Board Supervisor for District 3. I've been a medical assistant for 30 years. I currently float to many different communities throughout Sheboygan County, and I've really gotten to enjoy the residents. I also get to listen to their needs, and I always try to assist them with different resources that will help them. As a frontline worker, I've learned that you need to be flexible and that you have to stay informed. And the needs are constantly changing, and so I'm able to do that. I noticed that a big majority of the county board is health-related. The county owns Rocky Knoll. They have VISTA care. There's residential facilities. There's food insecurity. There's foster care programs. So in the past, I've been an employee health nurse. I have written policies, trained employees, performed department audits, and helped make improvements. Also, I have been a supervisor of a department, so I'm used to working within budgets for health-related needs. When you are a member of the county board, you work on different committees. And one of the committees that I think is the best fit for me is Health and Human Services Committee. I think I have a lot to offer that department. Currently, I serve on my neighborhood board, and really community service is my joy. I've always been involved in my community. I've done volunteer work at the homeless shelter. And I have learned from that experience that for every person there, there's a different reason for homelessness. And it helped me to understand that there's not just one blanket solution to that. I've also volunteered in the county jail with women, and that was really inspiring to me because I could see the progress that they were making. And it wasn't just making a difference in their life, but it was making a difference in their children's lives, which ultimately affects the entire community. As a foster parent in the past, I've been able to feel what it's like to go through that process. And I think I would have a lot to offer to Sheboygan County, which is kind of redoing their child welfare system with an innovation project. So I would be interested in helping with that as well. Okay, next we have Robert. Thank you for having me. My name is Robert Zigglebauer. I'm a lifelong resident of Sheboygan County. Please excuse my voice today. I currently, I've been on the county board for eight years. The former incumbent asked me to run for his seat. I was on law and property. I am currently the vice chairman of Sheboygan County. And I'm very humbled by that. To be elected by your peers is quite something. It's an achievement that I will always cherish. I'm also on, I'm on executive, I'm on finance, and I'm on transportation. I have a 20 year background in transportation. I worked for the highway department for 20 years. I'm a stonemason, a father of two beautiful daughters and two beautiful grandchildren. I love my community and I'm very happy to be this involved in it. I'm also the vice chairman of the Sheboygan County Historical Society. It's something else I'm very proud of. We work in collaboration with the county. The county owns the property and the nonprofit runs the museum. It is something that is truly important to this community and it brings together both young and old. My participation level at the county board has grown over the years and in the relationships I've garnered are truly cherished. I'm involved in the worst force task force, one of the six task forces we've developed to find the needs of this community. And I tell you the truth, through that process, I'm finding the needs and wants of this community from the people who distribute it. And I'm very active in legislative breakfast and legislative processes that involve this county. My goal is to reduce the tax levy. I'm proud of the reduction in our tax rates for the last six years and our achievement of financial excellence over the last eight years that I've been a part of. It is something that is looked to by our peers and it's just we do good business here and I'm very proud to be a small part of it. I consider myself one of the employees and our employees stand out. And I don't know what else to say right now, but thank you for your time and energy. Kathleen. Thank you. Good evening. My name is Kathleen Donovan and I'd like to thank the AUW and the attendees for supporting this event this evening. I was appointed to the county board this past December in 2021 and I'd like to tell you a little bit about myself. I was born and raised in California and worked many years as a construction project assistant working with trades taught me the value of teamwork. I moved to Sheboygan with my husband in 2014 and immediately started looking for volunteer opportunities within my community. I currently am a member of First Congregational Church and I serve as a deacon. I started at Book Room Gardens as a volunteer and I am now a paid staff member in the education department. I'm a board member and a poll worker. I've also volunteered with Meals on Wheels, the lunch buddy program at my local elementary school, the library and the Sheboygan A's. I currently am appointed by Mayor Sorenson, appointed me to the city board of review, which hears property tax assessment appeals. So I understand the value of increased, I understand the impact of increased property taxes. In my current work as a supervisor, I serve on two committees on the Health and Human Services Committee and the HR Committee. And one of my first votes was to raise wages for the essential workers at Rocky Knoll and our county correctional facilities. I've also participated in votes for staffing requests and wage adjustments to keep our county workers competitive with the private sector. I've also recently participated with the executive committee of the county board to hear from the six task forces on the ARPA funds and how those monies should best be allocated. I will be an advocate for the city. I know there are 25 supervisors, 10 of those represent city districts. And I understand what the county role does, but I also know that I represent city citizens. Why should you vote for me? I'm socially liberal and I'm fiscally conservative. I understand consensus building and partnership. I will represent all constituents, not just those with the same political views. I don't want Sheboygan to turn into a Madison or a DC and I'm opposed to the tactics that are being used in our other races. I believe I'm the best choice for Sheboygan because of my experience, my credentials, and I was selected by the chair and the vice chair of the county board and appointed by the board. Thank you. Brian. Thank you very much. I want to thank the AAUW for this forum, this opportunity, and I want to thank all those in attendance and those listening online. My name is Brian Hoffman and I've been a resident of Sheboygan County since 1968. I came here only to stay a little bit and I'm still here. I'm a retired history and political science teacher from North High and I taught there over 35 years part-time and 35 years full-time and 15 years part-time. I have a bachelor of science from the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh in history and government, a master of science from the University of Wisconsin Platteville in history and government, and I have post-grad courses at the University of New York, Stony Brook, Long Island in government. Well, I have been a city alderman from 73 to 79. I have also served on the town of Wilson Board for the last 20 years and I'm currently on the Sheboygan County Board. I'm a supervisor, 20 years on the county board. I serve on the law committee. A few years ago, I was chair. I'm on the Health and Human Services Committee and I'm the current chair. And I've been on several other committees and subcommittees such as EMS and the Aging and Disability Centers Committee, the Human Resources Committee I've been on, the Health Care Center Committee I've been on, and I'm past chair of the Criminal Justice Advisory Committee. I'm asking the voters of District 20 for their vote and their support. Based on a record of service and leadership, I am part of a board and I'm proud of this that has actually lowered your tax burden. And we've done that again and we've done it in the past. It's almost unheard of in the state of Wisconsin. Well, I also want to continue to be part of that team. And I say we. I use we more than I. It's a we thing, the county board. It's a team thing. And that's what I like about the county board. We get a lot done and very little controversy. I mean, it's great. So the most glaring event we've had recently is a pandemic. And I think we've done pretty well in handling that if I get that question that I'd welcome that question. And I want to stay on the board to see the pandemic to its demise. I want to see it dead. In my spare time, I'm a licensed commercial pilot and a flight instructor. So I'm married. And I have a wife and two girls and a boy. And my most recent accomplishment was to go to my granddaughter's graduation from West Point. So I'm very proud. Thank you very much for listening. Thank you everyone. So for the next questions, you all have only two minutes for your answers. So we will start with, let's see, we'll start with Robert. What are the three biggest challenges facing Sheboygan County? And what is the greatest challenge as a county board supervisor? Three biggest challenge. Well, that's being developed with these tax force. The three biggest challenges is broadband for the rural areas and the funding of it. And how that funding is coming towards us and from which different avenues. And that's all being realized now. Another challenge would be our financial situation as far as labor. We use some ARPA money to fund the congressional officers in the Rocky Null staff. That's going to create a hole in three years' time that we need to fill. That's a big challenge. And another challenge is keeping our workforce together. And that's a challenge countywide for all industry. And we're doing a good job of that. These challenges are constantly moving and they're just not three. Our finance is a challenge too sometimes to get funding for all these things. But we have done a good job and our record shows that. I don't know how else to answer that. It's a complicated question because it's a moving target. It's a constantly moving target. And our staff and employees and department heads have done a fantastic job in keeping us abreast to their needs and how to apply it. And that's where I'm going to go with that for now. It's a tough question. Sorry. So next we'll go to Kathleen. Thank you. I agree with Robert that our challenges in the county are moving targets. But I believe that our workforce development and hiring issues, affordable housing for those folks, and also our mental health challenges, especially as we're coming out of the pandemic. With regards to mental health, I support the county's work of the ARPA behavioral health care task force to increase a partnership between law enforcement and mental health professionals, particularly during crisis events when the joint mobile response is required. And I also would like to see some additional areas of emphasis, including assigning social workers to specific neighborhoods, as well as additional assistance to those in need that need help to navigate an often complex system. With regards to affordable housing, 75% of the available jobs right now in the county pay between $12 and $20 an hour. And while I applaud the efforts of developers to build new apartments that will attract people to our area, those are for residents for the 25% of the jobs that pay more. Those new apartments are too expensive for entry level. And I believe that the county can support infrastructure subsidies for developers as they partner with local municipalities to increase affordable housing. With workforce and development hiring issues, there's an imbalance right now between labor supply and available jobs and affordable housing, as I mentioned, for those entry level workers. Access to tools and community resources designed to help new residents settle and be comfortable in their new community. And I believe to address these issues, the county can support advertising campaigns to attract job seekers to relocate to Sheboygan and hiring a transition concierge as recommended by the ARPA task force and subsidize affordable housing. Thank you. Thank you. I agree with Robert and with Kathleen. And you've taken a lot of my thunder. It's okay. That's all right. The affordable housing needs to be addressed. We do have housing, but unfortunately, some of it is out of the price range of the workers that are coming to Sheboygan and the workers we're trying to attract. And as Kathleen mentioned, we are planning to use ARPA dollars to increase housing units in Sheboygan. It's going to be a partnership of government and the private sector. So stay tuned. There's more to be said on this one. I would also indicate we are working on equity and inclusion. It means equal playing field for all people regardless of age, race, education, sex, or background. And I think if we really ramp that up a little bit, we'll attract more people to Sheboygan. Okay, let's see what else can I come up with here? There's a bunch. Trust me. Tourism. Since you guys didn't cover tourism, I'll hit that one. We have to work with private industry to bring tourism, more tourism to Sheboygan. Most people don't know. It's the second largest sector in our county's economy. So I think we should work more with the Economic Development Commission and with the Sheboygan Area Chamber of Commerce. So in mental health, Kathleen covered that pretty well. But one thing I think we should do is perhaps we could get some housing in some of the neighborhoods that have some severe problems and embed social workers that would live there. So that is, I think that's a pretty good idea. Pretty cool idea. Besides having maybe social workers right around with police in certain areas of our city. And rather than just grab somebody and throw them in jail, at least we'd have a social worker that could work with them and avoid jail. Thank you. Lisa. I think the three top challenges are recruiting and retaining workers. During the COVID pandemic, many women left the workforce. They went home. They took care of their children. They're trying to keep them in online schooling. And a lot of these women have not returned to work. And one of the reasons is because of childcare and Sheboygan is really lacking in childcare. We have a lot of manufacturing here and we need childcare 24-7. We need people that can work shift work and have a safe place for their children to go. There's over 3,000 jobs open in Sheboygan County. And in order to get people back to work, we need the childcare for that to support them. Also, housing is very important. We need more housing near manufacturing and farms. A lot of times transportation is an issue when you're trying to get across the county for work. If there was housing near some of the manufacturing places, it might make things easier. Also, we have a lot of aging residents that in the future may not be able to keep up a home. And if we had more available apartments and housing for our aging residents, it would open up the homes in our communities for families to raise a family. There's also a program called University Alliance and it's college students that can solve community problems. And I think we could take advantage of something like that. The other challenge is mental health. I work in behavioral care. I see the shortages of providers. We have waiting lists that are very long, so we need to recruit more mental health specialists. Thank you. So the next question is, what are the three biggest assets of Sheboygan County? And we'll start with Kathleen. Thank you. I would say some of the biggest assets are our access to the lake, our public parks, the community involvement. And I would say one of our greatest assets is the library. Our Meade library is like a community resource center. It is so much more than a library. And I would like to see that continue to be a strong influence in our community. And I think the amount of social groups that we have, the amount of opportunities we have to get to know people and get to be with people are also very helpful. I have found through my church, now through my church have been so involved in the community. I have connections to Bookworm and to many other places. And so I think we have a lot of wonderful programs, a lot of wonderful folks that live here. And my entire family has moved here from California. So I extolled the greatness of Sheboygan. So I think it is just a wonderful place to live. Thank you. Brian, you're up next. Well, I'll keep it short. I think our assets, we've got four big assets. One is our people. These are great people there. Like I said, I came here just as a short stopover. And I'm still here. Can't get rid of me. The second big asset are our schools. We have some of the greatest schools anywhere. I know I taught in one. And I also taught in the other high schools south for a while. Even though I live on the south side, I taught at North most of my career. Manufacturing is another big plus for Sheboygan. We have some excellent manufacturers. And I could name them off. I mean, one after the other, Kohler, Bemis, VPI. I mean, you know, goes on and on and on. I would also say farming is a big asset to us. We have a large amount of farming nearby us. And that has affected our culture. And of course, it doesn't like cheese. I mean, I'd be amiss if I didn't mention, we are the cheese capital of the world. Or at least Plymouth is, but I think Sheboygan is. But anyway, so those are our greatest assets. Our people, our schools, our manufacturing, our farming, and our attitude. I forgot that one and our attitude. I think we have a great attitude. I'm proud to be from Sheboygan. When I go anywhere, they say, where are you from? I'm from Sheboygan, Wisconsin. And I'm waiting for them to say, where's that? So I can tell them, oh, by the way, there is a Sheboygan, Michigan. I've been there. It's very small. Thank you. Thank you. Lisa. I love living in Sheboygan. Anybody that knows me knows. I think it's one of the most beautiful places that I've ever lived. We have so, there's so much to offer in our area as far as parks and the lakefront. And I love the diversity of Sheboygan. I meet people from all over the world here, and it's very surprising how diverse our community is. And I'm really proud of that. And I enjoy meeting people from different cultures. And I think one of my favorite things is the community and the people. I know all my neighbors. I know that I can count on them for anything. When I first moved here, my neighbor across the street, she said, Lisa, if you need anything, you can knock on any one of these doors, and they will help you. And I've really found that to be true. And that is my favorite thing about Sheboygan. Robert. It's hard to be last in a question like this. A lot of our assets are well-spoken here. Our biggest asset is our citizens and their input in their community and our collaborative effort that we ask for and that we get from our community. It's these task forces, for example. To me, that's the heartbeat of our community. The people involved and the number of people involved in these is remarkable. Another asset of Sheboygan is Amsterdam Dunes. It's a self-sustaining project that's second to none. That is something we should all be proud of, and it doesn't get enough attention. It's just our citizens, our employees, our assets, and our department heads. I've never, and all the time I've been involved in county government, and I've been involved at some level for 30 years. I have never seen a stronger team that we have in place right now and that went through the toughest time that we have ever experienced in the last two years. They are remarkable, and we are a reflection of them. And that is our greatest asset. Thank you. Washington County has been consolidating services with neighboring counties to operate more efficiently. Are you in favor of this for Sheboygan County? And if so, what services would you consider sharing with our neighboring counties? So we'll start with Brian. What services would we share with other counties? I think we already share a lot of services with other counties. So we do a lot of back-and-forth concerning health items, and what other services could we share with other counties? With other counties. Boy, that is a tough one. I don't know. We meet with other counties at county convention, and we get all kinds of ideas from them. And some of the ideas that we've taken from them, we've instituted here that have made a difference in policing and in social work and a few other fields. And I think that the fact that we are a leader in what's going on, for example, one of the things that we have shared is the idea that how about using part of your tax money, put it aside for transportation, and share it with other communities like various towns, cities, and villages in Sheboygan County. And we have done that. And other counties are starting to do that now also. So I think we're a leader, and that's probably one of our big accomplishments, is the roads are getting better. I don't know if you have noticed that, but it is definitely an accomplishment. So we're always looking for ideas, but right now I just can't come up with anything else. Being honest. Lisa. Sharing with other counties maybe power. In the future, right now we have coal, and it's a finite resource. If we did maybe more wind turbines and things, it's more of an infinite power source, and it helps us be more self-sufficient and not counting on outside sources like bringing in coal and things. Maybe we can sell power to other counties. I mean, it's just an idea. And maybe even tourism, bringing people to Wisconsin in general, and maybe for marketing and things like that, we could share some of those things. All right, Robert. Thank you. There's a lot of things we share with other counties. We did some parts of our black-topping industry. We share things with other counties, patch material and such things like that. And I think that's very important because other counties don't have the resources we do, or though they have the black-top plans for patch material and things like that. I think broadband is something that we will be able to share with other counties. It's a real possibility, especially in your rural areas, in your boundary people. That's something that needs to be explored. We just share our thoughts even with the Wisconsin County Associations. We come up with ideas, and we are looked to as a leader for a lot of these things. Legislative stuff we can share with other counties' ideas about advancement in those areas. A lot of counties are so different. It's hard to share things with them. But it's always an open door to make things more efficient or to see what works in one place compared to another. I would always be open to sharing opportunities with other counties. It generates a relationship that you can work off of, and it's always proven to be successful. Kathleen. Thank you. I absolutely agree with what everyone up here has said. I think sharing our resources with other counties and working in cooperation with other counties is extremely helpful. It benefits us, and it benefits those other counties as well. I think being able to attend these county conventions and hearing ideas from other counties and sharing what our successes are, seeing what their successes are, what's worked and what hasn't, and I think open communication and being open to new ideas and new ways of sharing, whether it be energy, broadband communication, or paving materials to help folks. Some counties are not as lucky as we are, so if we can share our resources, so much the better. Great. Thank you. How should the county allocate the funds from the American Rescue Plan? Let's start with Lisa. From my understanding, there are task forces in place already working on a lot of issues for the American Rescue Plan Act funds. Some of the task forces are affordable housing. They're looking at building 600 housing units. The behavioral care crisis is a big one here in Sheboygan County. The broadband internet, childcare, and transportation. I think it's hard to live in Sheboygan County if you don't have a car. So if we want to get workers to work locations, we need to be creative as far as transportation. And workforce development, there are resources out there such as the Department of Workforce Development, and they'll help businesses with social media marketing, electronic resume intake, job fairs. There's also a division of vocational rehabilitation which assists people with disabilities to find work. And the Job Center of Wisconsin. I think employers need to remember that for recruiting, some of the things that are important to workers are a flexible home and work life. They want to be able to work from home. Another idea is retaining the PTO that they've already accumulated and letting them keep that and having flexible hours. And so I think we just need to be creative and try to recruit people to Sheboygan County in just having a good quality of life here which we do have. So I think that's a big recruiting factor. Thank you. Robert. Well, we've already used $7 million of our ARPA money to fill in the gaps that the pandemic created and to retain our employees and to make sure that we have the corrections and Rocky Noel. The six task forces are probably the most valuable information on our community's needs that we have and we are currently scoring those to present to the board as a whole to see where they will be best spent. But we have to keep in focus that the county's needs are paramount first. We've got to realize what possibilities we need to have and we're up to again that we need to use that money to take care of the county and its business. The task force is this is a work in progress and we've made great strides in trying to realize where we can best apply this for some lasting positive actions. But always in my mind of where we need to take care of the county's needs to keep it in a financially stable environment. Kathleen. Thank you. Yes, I was pleased to be able to attend the executive county board meeting that all six task forces presented their proposals to. There are many, many wonderful people that have worked very hard on all these task forces with wonderful options. And I am looking forward to seeing how those task force options will be used. But I understand too that this ARPA funds are only for a finite amount of time. And so putting the county's interests at the forefront, but also remembering how are we going to continue with our own budgets once our ARPA funds have expired? How are we going to continue to maintain these important competitive salaries for our county workers and affordable housing? And so working with the private sector as well and getting some of our larger companies involved to kind of help continue what our ARPA funds are allowing us to start. Thank you. Okay. Brian. Thank you. I think it's worthy of note that the task force had people from all walks of life basically. Industry, you name it. Medical field, education, and so on and so forth. And they came up with some great, great ideas. And they looked at the issues that are facing the county, housing, and they looked at the pandemic, what it has done to the county. And they talked about diversity and inclusion and equity. And they looked at the mental health crisis that we're currently experiencing in Sheboygan County. And they also talked about doing more for tourism. So it is going to be discussed at the full county board coming up, all of the recommendations. And then we're going to take the best of the recommendations and implement them. Now, Robert said we've already used $7 million of our ARPA funds. And we were given 22.5 million, I believe, was of ARPA funds. But where to go with these funds? That's a real thorny thing and an important thing. And so that's what we're going to be discussing coming up at the next couple of county board meetings. So I have a couple of favorite ones. Mental health issues is one. And diversity and inclusion is another because I think we can attract more people to Sheboygan to work here. I mean, if you go somewhere, they say, I don't want to go to Sheboygan. And then they start issuing reasons why. And, well, some of us know what they are. Some of us don't. But I want to bring good quality workers and good quality people there. And hopefully this ARPA task force will come up with enough juice and money on various areas that we can make some changes and differences. Thank you. What public transportation services are available in the county for persons without their own transportation? Ozaki and Washington counties operate a rideshare taxi service for such residents. Would you support such a service for Sheboygan County? And we'll start with Robert. I would support such a service. And that's one of our task forces. And there's a lot of recommendations from that task force. I remember years ago, we had a stage coach that went from communities. It's what is called the stage coach. And I'd like to know what the volume of use was then. And I'd apply it to the request from the Transportation Task Force now and see where our real needs are. We need to get people to be available to get to these different work locations. We have a great diverse workforce, our work availability in our county, countywide from your cheese factories down the line that need employees and they need them to get there. So yes, we are looking at this and I do support something like that. Kathleen. I too support that and understand that that was part of the Transportation Task Force proposal. And I would be very interested to see how that would work because people need to get to work. And a robust public transportation is a wonderful way for people who can't necessarily afford to buy a car or just don't want to have a car because of environmental reasons. So I would certainly be in favor of a rideshare program which is part of the Arpa Task Force for transportation. Thank you. Brian. Well, I'm writing here. We need to get people, and I sit on the Aging and Disability Committee and we need to get people to their doctor's appointments. We need to get people to work, so on and so forth. It's especially tough on our elderly. We need to expand service to random lake hours, grove and places like that and maybe use of ARPA dollars would help that. We are going to work with the city bus system to expand routes. That is one of the things we're going to do. And volunteers, we're always looking for volunteers to help out whether it's taking people to various doctor's appointments or to the hospital or down to the VA in Milwaukee or whatever. So I would put out there that we are always looking for volunteers and if you want a list of where you can get volunteers call the Aging and Disability Resource Center or call any member of the Sheboygan County Board and give them a little heads up. And I'm sure he can come up with some various places where he thinks or she thinks that we can help with getting volunteers and getting more people to get people where they belong. Not everybody has a car anymore. Thank you. Lisa. I definitely support ride shares. I've also seen companies bus people. When I go to work, there is a bus that drops workers off in the morning near my home. And I think that's one option. Also, like I spoke of before, shorter commutes to work. If their workplace or their community is close to their work, we can build maybe even more bike lanes. There's so many smart cities around the world where it's a lot cleaner. It's healthier for people if they can bike and walk more. So I think we could develop more systems in that, in our community. And I think that's, I think that's it. Thank you. Thank you. Do you feel the county's policies on COVID have been appropriate? We'll start with Kathleen. Yes. Despite the fluid nature of COVID, the COVID-19 pandemic with new virus variants, revised CDC guidance, vaccines and boosters, et cetera. I believe our county has set an outstanding example of providing accurate and timely information to our citizens. And I personally followed the Health and Human Services Public Health Department on my Facebook page. Timely information so that we can understand where we can go get vaccinated, where testing sites are, the availability of being able to order tests and have them sent to your house. And I think we must continue to partner with state and federal agencies as we come out of this to ensure that Sheboygan County residents take advantage of new programs such as the testing kits and access to FDA approved antiviral treatment. So I think our department has done an outstanding job. Brian. I think we've done a great job. I'm very proud that I am the current chairman of the Health and Human Services Committee. And we have been involved greatly. I'm very proud of the fact that we were right up front to get the National Guard for testing right away when this thing really was in its early stages. Our Health and Human Services Department has issued guidelines for people to follow. And we didn't order anybody to wear a mask, but we sure suggested it. And we have worked, our director, one of our directors has received many awards for the work that she has done. So the, I don't know, I just could go on and on and on, but we've just done a whole lot. And could we have done more? Yeah, maybe there's always more we can do. But I think we did a great job. I agree with Kathleen. Lisa. Well, as someone who has worked the testing sites, I have given vaccines. I think the county did a great job coordinating everything. Like Brian had mentioned, having the National Guard come in, also raising the wages of the CNAs and the correction officers. They're working overtime, they're working short. And we are required to have certain staffing levels. So I praise these people for all of the hard work that they did through the pandemic. But Sheboygan did a lot of other great things too. They had Zoom meetings with the public health director and the public health inspector. And they helped businesses and churches figure out ways to make it safe for their customers. They were willing to work with them one-on-one, if needed, and come into their place and see what measures could be taken so that safety was first for our residents. We have full-time contact tracers in place. And just the task forces being involved as well in community. So, yes, Sheboygan did a great job with the COVID pandemic. Robert. I think we did an outstanding job. We are state mandated to give information to people so they can make a choice on their own. And we did a stellar job in doing that, especially with the new people that were just hired to perform these duties just before this pandemic hit. They did stellar work. Like Brian said, I can't say enough good things about our employees again. They're the ones that get it done. They're the ones that we hired to do the job right. And their state mandates we have to follow. And we have in shining form. Thank you. Currently, the county holds a hazardous waste collection twice a year. The infrequency of this probably results in residents disposing of hazardous materials with their regular garbage rather than keeping such items around for six months. Would you support holding such collections every three or four months rather than every six months? And we'll start with Brian. I would support that. I have used those services myself. And, you know, sometimes you got to drive to the other end of the county. So I would like to see more stations available where people can take their hazardous waste and so on and so forth. So, but I would support it. I'll just make it short and yes. Lisa. I too support it. I've worked the disposal days for my neighborhood and it's amazing what people can find in their homes and around their areas. But I'm just, I'm very environmentally conscious. And I think it is important to maybe have these services more so that people, you know, if they don't take the time to find out where to dispose of something, they're just going to throw it away in the garbage. And it's not good for our environment and it's not good for our health and our community. And so I definitely would support more of these services. Okay, Robert. I too would support them and use them myself and encourage others to use them when they ask where they can go with things. Another important factor, this is the funding of them. There's grant money out there that could be used for this too. It needs to be pursued. It's a funding issue. It always comes down to the money. I do support these wholeheartedly. Kathleen. I too support these wholeheartedly. And I agree with Brian that we need more sites than just maybe one or two because I think the more sites you have, the more accessible it is and the more likely people are to use it if it's in their neighborhood. And I feel it's a positive for the environment. It's a positive for our neighborhood. It's a positive for our closets and our basement. So yes, I would definitely like to see more. Okay. Thank you. How should the county address the issue of mental health and public safety? And we'll start with Lisa. Mental health and public safety is very important these days, especially after the pandemic and in our schools and all that the community has endured and all of our children have endured. We do have some funds from the opioid lawsuit that can be used. We're in definite need of more receiving homes in our foster care programs because of the opioid epidemic. We need more treatment centers, really. Like I said before, the behavioral care services, my work in behavioral care as well, there's just not enough providers and they're booked out for months sometimes and we need more critical resources for people. They can't wait for months. The neighborhood counselors is a great idea that some of the task forces have been working on. Also having mental health professionals in the police department and on dispatch I think is really important. The officers are dealing with a lot of things and to have them add that to their plate as well when they're not mental health professionals is a lot for them and I think it would be really beneficial for not only the community but everyone involved working in these situations. We need to expand on the programs the county just hired two new full-time RNs that are fluent in Hmong and Spanish and I think we could expand those programs. There's also a youth development specialist at the UW extension that coordinates youth services and I think we can expand and utilize that program as well. Thank you. Thank you. Robert. This is something coming up in the task forces again and I'm a big fan of these ideas and the collaboration between the city and county and the dispatch center and we've already have a collaboration there and how to send people to these calls maybe to reduce the level of anxiety or whatever that these calls produce or keep it to a level where it needs to be addressed. The recommendations from the task forces are being looked at and scored and I'm a big supporter of these things. Anything to keep people out of jail that don't belong there is so important and to maybe have an avenue to reclaim themselves in a quicker manner. Kathleen. Thank you. I also agree and I was very pleased to hear the behavioral healthcare task force proposal because it did include things like having a mental health professional both in dispatch as well as riding along with the police officers and having someone in the dispatch helps them to identify those incidences where you will need a mental health professional along with the police officer to de-escalate situations that can sometimes easily get out of control if you don't have the right background and the professional training to deal with those issues. So I'm very excited to see these and other aspects of the behavioral healthcare task force in regards to mental health because with everything that we've all gone through in the last two years, mental health is extremely important and needs to be addressed. Thank you. Brian. I believe we're doing a lot but we could be doing more. Some of the things we could do in order of importance, one, implement a city of Sheboygan police and Sheboygan County crisis response pilot project to enhance trauma informed and behavioral health expertise of agency services. Now that's quite a mouthful but cooperation, coordination, embed social workers in the city of Sheboygan neighborhoods with significant challenges. Initiate a partnership of healthcare, government and social service agencies to make community resources more accessible to people that need help. And lastly, expand the mindful educator initiative training to all of our schools in Sheboygan County. So those are right from the task force that a lot of us have been talking about here. So I'm kind of glad the task force came up with a lot of these ideas. Thank you. All right, thank you. We hear about the labor shortages and the need for affordable housing in the county. How can the county help in recruiting the necessary workers and providing necessary housing? And we'll start with Robert. I'm going back to the task force that's in the heartbeat of our community, the people involved in them. They're coming up with these ideas for this. We're in competition with any work or worker out there right now with everybody else in surrounding counties. We need to promote ourselves to have a welcoming feeling here, to help people along to get started and acclimated. I work with a lot of young people at the Kohler Waste Lab. And their needs don't fit what we have right now. And you need to understand that. And we've got to create a welcoming environment and to retain them. Not just to get them here, but to keep them here. It's the task force thing again that we're working on. And those are very valuable. I hope we can fund all of it, but if we can't. And we need to pick out the things that will work for this community and service its needs. All right. Thank you, Kathleen. Thank you. Yes, the workforce development task force has come up with some really wonderful ideas. Two that really stuck out to me, especially for our entry level workers, were a concierge that welcomes you into the community, helps you get settled, and continues to engage with you so that you start to feel welcome in the community and helps you get access to services that you may not know about because you're new to the community. The other thing that I really liked about the task force recommendations was utilizing some of the older Lakeland University dormitories as well as the Heritage Club downtown as temporary housing. When you come into a new entry level job, you don't automatically have first and last month's rent. You know, there's many things you need when you move to a new community. And so providing that safety net so that they have time to select those first few paychecks to have that first and last month's rent so that they can get on their way and really build strength and strong ties in the community. So thank you. Brian. Thank you. I believe housing really needs to be addressed. There's a lack of housing, especially affordable housing. Solution. The county is creating a joint government business partnership to address this. The plan is called the Workforce and Affordable Housing Program, or WAH, W-A-H. The plan is that it will use $3 million ARPA dollars to increase housing units in Sheboygan. Also, $1.5 million is proposed to be used to spur existing home repair programs. A proposed $600,000 is to be used for a down payment assistance program to people coming here. We will increase efforts with the Sheboygan County Economic Development Corporation to attract workers. And lastly, we have to make sure that we are providing top-tier salary and benefit packages in government and in private businesses to attract workers to Sheboygan County. Because that's the lifeblood of our community, workers. Thank you. Lisa. I think in addition to some of the things that I already covered on housing would be revitalization of the neighborhoods. There's a lot of neighborhoods that could be fixed up and they could be more affordable than some of the big apartment buildings that are going up. You know, it's helping people just revitalize those neighborhoods. We also need more transitional housing for people experiencing homelessness. Or I know when I moved here, you had to meet certain income requirements to even apply for some of the housing. And it was really tough. I was down here for two full days shopping for a place to live. And it was very difficult. And I think also another idea is to change the building code so we can have more tiny houses. There's a lot of, the majority of Americans, or a good half of Americans, are single. And they don't need a big home or, you know, they might just want a tiny home or for young people starting out. Also, being part of the neighborhood board, I think it's really important. I love our neighborhood boards because it's such a great way to meet your neighbors and know what's going on in your community. And a lot of the neighbors have done welcome kits for people moving into their neighborhood. And I know that's something that our neighborhood board is working on currently. So thank you. Thank you. A few years ago, the county adopted a sales tax for the purpose of improving county highways. The city of Sheboygan received some of the funds were shared with local communities. The town of Wilson received 4.58% and the village of Kohler received 4.94%. Given that the city of Sheboygan has half the population of the county and county residents use city streets for business work and leisure, do you feel that the amount being shared is appropriate? And we'll start with Kathleen. That's a wonderful question. I would need to study it because I believe that our roads right now are in good shape and it's tax levy. Could you just repeat it one more time? Sure. The point of the question, I'm sorry. So basically we have a sales tax for the purpose of improving the highways and some of those are shared with local communities and Sheboygan receives about 28%. And so do you feel that the amount being shared is appropriate? I believe so, yes. Thank you. Brian. Well, a little history here. Several years ago when I was on the board, a proposal came up to add a half a percent sales tax for whatever. Well, there wasn't a lot of happiness with that on the board. Well, eventually we came up with a program that we would do is go to a 5.5%, that's a half percent increase and use the roads to use the money to improve our roads of a certain percent to the various villages, a certain percent to the various towns and a certain percent to the cities, Sheboygan Falls, Sheboygan and so on and so forth. The money was also to be used for tax relief. And so we struggled to get this through and we got it through and it's been in effect now about five or six years now. And it's been a tremendous success, tremendous. I serve on the town of Wilson board and I got to tell you that the money that's coming in has really helped us improve our roads. Now as for the city, not getting enough money, I think maybe we could revisit that. If it is a serious concern, we probably wouldn't be able to do that. I don't see why not. But I know people now support this. And we do use that money for roads and our roads are improving. Thank you. Lisa? Well, from my understanding, there is a plan to redo a lot of roads in Sheboygan. As far as the fairness of the percentage, I guess you'd have to look at that. And that's something that you have to evaluate and the board would have to decide where the needs are most where the money should be most allocated to. Thank you. And Robert? The formula was based on equalized value. And one million dollars of it goes to direct tax relief. I believe it is a very fair program and it is proving out over the years. It's roads are for commerce for all county citizens. Not where they're just concentrated. So the equalized value portion of this is very important. And getting people to and from is it's commerce. And I think it's a fair program. I don't think it needs to be revisited. I think it's a work, something that's really working out. I think it's a very fair program. I think the counties are looking towards to emulate I think it's very fair. Okay. Thank you. Final question of the evening. The issue of wind turbine farms has recently resurfaced. Towns can only reject wind project proposals on the basis of failure to comply with state regulations. I think it needs to be revised. I think it needs to be revised. Especially out in the town. Some towns would allow it. Some towns wouldn't. There's all kinds of excuses like it would upset duck migration or they'd be noisy or they really wouldn't give that much electricity to the grid and so on and so forth. I think it needs study and I think this is an issue of wind turbines in the city of Sheboygan. In the outlying areas, yeah, and maybe in some areas it's a good idea. This needs more study. I really like the idea of solar energy, wind energy, so on and so forth. Let's remember some people don't want it in their backyard. We have to figure out a way if we're going to use it to put it there and make everybody happy and that's going to be a tough one. Lisa. Wind turbines are some of the cleanest energy out there. When you're looking at coal and fossil fuels and the climate change and the earth heating up, I think we definitely need to look at what our options are. When you compare it to solar, I've driven past many big solar fields and it takes up a lot of land mass and then it's a lot like in the future what's going to happen to all of that equipment when it has to be replaced. I think the wind turbines are a good option in a way because farmers can farm around them. It's not taking up a lot of land mass. It's clean and like I said with coal you're relying on outside sources and we can see in today's world how that's going. The wind is more of an infinite power and you can be more self-sufficient. There are a lot of farmers that have started wind farms. They're lucrative to them as much as their crops sometimes and so I think it's an option that we need to evaluate. We need to educate people on and I think it's an opportunity for Sheboygan because we can sell power and it's something to evaluate and definitely look at. Thank you. Robert. This subject came up a decade ago and in that time the town of Sherman developed an ordinance to ensure that any developer would follow this code. There's not much the county can do about it but right now the FAA is doing a study on these proposed turbines but there's no developer for these yet. There's no developer announced it's a study to see how it would affect your airstrips and your air traffic. If it would go into wetlands the county would be involved. If it would go into wetlands the county would be involved. But right now the towns are enacting ordinances based on Sherman's and I've been working with the town of Mitchell and the town of Herman and the town of Sherman's chair and to make sure that these towns know that they need to institute this ordinance in order to make sure that any developer if there ever is one would follow the PSC codes. This is not something that's going to happen overnight and I would say to the landowner who rents this to maybe explore or rents the land to these developers if they decide to do this to maybe explore other counties and their land ownership and see where problems or advantages exist in this endeavor. Kathleen. Thank you. I'm a proponent of alternative forms of energy but I do agree that we can't just go out and do it. We need to do a study and we need to make sure that if people don't want it in their backyard we have to abide by each municipality within the county and we need to do it as a county with consensus. But I think studies need to be done and if the studies show that this is an effective program, an effective way of harnessing energy then by all means anything that can make us more self-sufficient is always a good thing. Thank you all for attending and let's give all the candidates a big round of applause. Thank you.