 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. 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. 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, I'm on executive, 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 stone mason, 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 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 AEUW 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 Sorensen, appointed me to the city board of review, which is 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 am 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. Yeah. 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. I've been on several other committees 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, 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, 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 will 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 challenges? 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 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 congressional officers and Rocky Noel staff. That's going to create a hole in three years time that we need to fill. That's a big challenge and our challenges 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. 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 with 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 applied 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 hiring a transition concierge is recommended by the ARPA task force and subsidize affordable housing thank you Brian thank you I agree with Robert and with Kathleen and you've taken a lot of my thunder it's okay that's alright the affordable housing needs to be addressed we do have housing but unfortunately some of it is out of the price range 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 industry to bring tourism more tourism to Sheboygan most people don't know it's the second largest sector in our county's economy I think we should work more with the Economic Development Commission and with the Sheboygan 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 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 besides having maybe social workers right around with police in certain areas of our city 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 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 child care and Sheboygan is really lacking in child care we have a lot of manufacturing here and we need child care 24-7 we need people that can work shift work and have a safe place for their children to go and there's over 3,000 jobs open in Sheboygan County and in order to get people back to work we need the child care 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 access to the lake our public parks the community involvement and I would say one of our greatest assets is the library our MEAD 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 I 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 like I said I came here just as a short stop over and I'm still here can't get rid of me the second big asset are our schools 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 goes on and on and on I would also say farming is a big asset to us we have a large amount of farming near bias and that has affected our culture and of course who 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 and I say 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 we have so there's so much to offer in our area as far as parks and the lake front 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 I can 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 that we ask for and that we 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 are our assets 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 hmm 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 I think 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 I mean 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 and 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 right Robert thank you there's a lot of things we share with other counties we some 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 and although they have the black top plants 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 counties 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 and how we can promote 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 how it 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 has always proven to be successful Kathleen thank you I absolutely agree with what everyone up here has said and 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 and 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 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 you know some counties are not as lucky as we are and 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 and let's start with Lisa 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 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 dollars of our ARPA money to fill in the gaps that the pandemic created and to retain our employees at the corrections and rock you know the six task forces that we have 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 or fires may erupt again that we need to use that money to take care of the county and its business and the task forces 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 is a caution of where we need to take care of the county's needs to keep it in a financially stable environment okay 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 to present us with wonderful options and I am looking forward to seeing how those task force options will be used and 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 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 dollars 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 in a 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 and some of us don't but I want to bring them together 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 in Washington County's operator 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'm applying it to the request from 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 work availability in our county, countywide from your cheese factories on up and down the line that need employees and they need them to get there 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 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 art to 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 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 and 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 called 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 and 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 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 the COVID-19 pandemic with new virus variants revised CDC guidance, vaccines and boosters etc 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 one of our directors has received many awards for the work that she has done so 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've 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 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 sometimes you have 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 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 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 more of these services 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 basements 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 and I 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 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 in Spanish they 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 on the collaboration between the city and county and how to 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 health care 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 I'm very excited to see these and other aspects of the behavioral health care 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 I believe we're doing a lot but we could be doing more some of the things we could do in order of importance implement a city of shabuagan 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 shabuagan neighborhoods with significant challenges initiate a partnership of health care government and social service agencies to make community resources more accessible to people that need health and lastly expand the mindful educator initiative training to all of our schools in shabuagan county so those are right from the task force that a lot of us have been talking about here I'm kind of glad the task force came up with a lot of these ideas 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 forces 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 worker out there right now with everybody else 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 color waste lab and their needs don't fit what we have right now and you need to understand that and we got to create a welcoming environment and to retain them not just to get them here but to keep them here it's a task force it's a 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 we need to pick out the things that will work for this community and service its needs thank you kathleen thank you the workforce development task force has come up with some really wonderful ideas two that really stuck out to me for our entry level workers were a concierge that welcomes you into the community helps you get settled and continues to engage with you and 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 diversity 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 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 collect 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 to 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 WAWAH the plan is that it will use 3 million arpa dollars to increase housing units in sheboygan also one and a half million dollars is proposed to be used to spur existing home repair programs a proposed 600,000 dollars 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 so 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 I 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 city of Sheboygan received 28.44% the town of Wilson received 4.58% and the village of Kohler received 4.94% 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 more but I believe that our roads right now are in good shape and it's lovely could you just repeat it one more time 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% but is half the population of the county and so do you feel that the amount being shared is appropriate I believe so yes 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 a certain percent to the various villages a certain percent to the various towns and first a certain percent to the cities Sheboygan falls Sheboygan so on and so forth the 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 what about five or six years now yeah and it's been 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 could revisit 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 for 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 the needs and that's something that you know you have to evaluate and the board would have to decide you know where the needs are most you know 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 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 and other 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 what is your position on wind farms in Sheboygan county and we'll start with Brian boy this is a hot one especially out in the town some towns would allow it some towns wouldn't there's all kinds of excuses 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 that we have to educate people about especially in towns cities and villages I don't think there'll be many wind turbines in the city of Sheboygan but in the outlying areas yeah and maybe in some areas it's a good idea this needs more study and I really like the idea of solar energy, wind energy and so on and so forth but let's remember some people don't want it in their backyard but 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 the cleanest energy out there I mean 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 there are 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 that'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 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 crop 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 the public service 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 affect the airport 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 town of Herman 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 we 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 all candidates a big round of applause thank you good night everyone