Today, the Herald-Independent asked those running for Village Trustee to answer, Why Me. Here is my answer: Two years ago, there weren’t any hot button issues happening. No one stepped up to run for Village Board except one incumbent. On the ballot, we had three open spots and one candidate. I felt it was public duty for someone to step forward and when Diane asked, I said yes. I have worked very hard to make informed decisions with a great deal of research and a measure of common sense. The decisions are not always easy, especially when it has an effect on taxes. When I was the newbie on the board, I didn’t know much about the police department. As I took in what was going on at meetings the first few months, I couldn’t believe it. The township, and by the township, I mean a few personalities, were causing the Village thousands and thousands of dollars on legal fees and staff time just working out minutiae like bills. There were clearly areas in the police department that could be improved; the village board’s hands were tied because of the 50/50 set-up of the joint Law Enforcement Cmt. Anyone who has taken a government or history class can remember taxation without representation; our Village lack of regulation over our police department and the money put toward it ended up being a set-up for difficulty. We paid 62% of the budget plus all the ridiculous fees spent on legal matters that were more about personality conflicts than actual concerns. Geographically, we have 2.3 sq. miles verses 33.4 sq. miles in the township. Obviously, it would be easy to spend more time patrolling outside of the Village limits, especially on the stretch of 12/18. When there was a call in the township on a school morning, the police had to leave the school zones that we all know are chaotic at drop-off time. When I took this all in on the board, the first thing I asked was “what are we doing?” The Moffet Study, done by two consultants with 60 years of combined policing experience confirmed what we suspected: our police department needed improving and change would be extremely unlikely in the current joint set-up. Our crime solvency rate is very low—much below the state and national average. Additionally, statistically, we are big enough for our own department and Cottage Grove will continue to grow. It was time to do the difficult but right thing. A strong community police department requires robust local control. The police facilities were frighteningly inadequate. While the architect was way off on his initial price estimate, the many, many bids that came in were all very close to one another. I experienced firsthand how our hands were tied when my house and two other homes were shot. No charges were filed though police walked up on the shooters, the DA couldn’t file charges because of lack of information, and a complaint to the joint police commission went unaddressed when the Police Commission town representative chairing it refused to meet for eleven months. Democracy was derailed and we had no recourse. Going forward, there is an expectation of responsiveness and accountability and the Village Board will be able to ensure that. It is important to note that our current Village Board has a broad spectrum of political belief—liberal, conservative, libertarian, etc. And yet, every vote regarding moving forward with a Village-only Police Department was unanimous. Cottage Grove had the second-lowest mill rate of any Dane County village or municipality; even with this change, we are still one of the lowest. But I would rather have a strong, accountable Police Department with slightly higher tax rate than a department that is a liability in an unsecure, unsafe police facility. I’ve worked hard to help make Cottage Grove a welcoming place for new business. There’s no magic wand, but I voted to create the Economic Development Authority toward this end. I initiated having the board go paperless, saving thousands in copying costs. I’m a fiscally responsible person in all things, accustomed to working on tight budgets professionally. Anyone who knows me knows that I work hard, have little tolerance for baloney, and am a straight talker. When I’m making decisions, I research what I don’t know and ask a lot of questions. I am proud of the decision I made on behalf of the Village regarding the Police Department and I appreciate the chance to follow-through with the development of the new Village-only PD.
Posted on: Thu, 15 Jan 2015 18:38:51 +0000
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