I'm excited to return to the County Board and continue working hard for District 24. At the first Board meeting of the new session, I was elected to the leadership position of Second Vice-Chair, following Scott McDonell as Chair and John Hendrick as Vice Chair. I was also re-appointed to the Public Works and Transportation Committee, the Environmental Council and the Green Energy/Green Jobs Subcommittee.

Although I was also appointed to serve on the Lakes and Watershed Commission, an objection was raised to that appointment. The law that established the Commission states that Supervisors appointed to the Commission must represent a District that is either entirely inside the City of Madison, or entirely outside the City of Madison. District 24 includes all of the City of Monona plus 1 ward in the Town of Madison and the City of Madison. I'm optimistic that Senator Miller and Representative Parisi will be able to modify that law so that I may serve on the Commission in the future.

There's been some talk about a referendum asking voters if they want to increase sales tax by 1/2 of 1 percent to pay for commuter rail. I oppose that suggestion because it causes confusion with the upcoming RTA referendum which will outline a specific proposal for regional transit and an appropriate sales tax increase of up to 1/2 of 1 percent to pay for that system. We need enhanced bus transit in Monona and many other communities served by the RTA and the voters in those communities will have an opportunity to vote for their transit future.

As the summer winds down, the budget season quickly approaches and I will continue to post information about the budget. We will be looking at a lower cost interoperable radio system upgrade, recommendations from the Sheriff Staffing Report and other opportunities to keep our budget in check. Many of us have placed a high priority at increasing our reserve fund which was depleted when the economic downturn was at its worst.

As always, feel free to contact me if you have any questions or concerns about the county or any issue before the County Board.