Whither MKE Cnty: OUR Milwaukee: The Plan

This morning I typed up the press release from the Milwaukee County Board of Supervisors about their OUR Milwaukee plan. Since then I have received the outline of the plan and present it here in its entirety:

OUR Milwaukee County Plan

Goal:

To discuss reform of Milwaukee County government comprehensively, inclusively and locally

Objectives:

To create dialogue and listening sessions involving affected parties throughout Milwaukee County

To discuss reform that is data-driven, fact-based and inclusive of people affected by Milwaukee County
government

Tactic:

Propose consistent agenda for discussion:

1. COUNTY GOVERNANCE

•Item One: Secure data-driven, fact-based independent analysis of countywide governance

•Action: Reach out to partners to put together this analysis in a timely manner. We took
the first step yesterday in approving an outside audit, and we will follow through on this promise
to study county governance and look at county wide reforms.

•Item Two: Evaluate Size of County Governance

•Action: We do not believe that imposing an immediate budget cut on the board without analysis and discussion is productive.
We would support making changes to county governance and believe this should be part of the whole discussion for change. We would potentially need to ask the state after the local discussion for the tool to rightsize our governance structure. Business leaders, former county supervisors and many current supervisors believe we address concerns by rightsizing the board and rightsize the executive office to bring us in line.
We will promote changes to co unty governance departments, as long as it is fair and balanced. We can also look to other departments,
like the County Treasurer, who has a proposal for change.

•Item Three: Act immediately to finding efficiencies and discuss where we might find more in the next budget

•Action: The Board Chairwoman has found efficiencies in the department and will make cuts during this public process. It is believed the cuts will amount to a 20 percent cut in expenses. In addition, and through the help of discussions and outside analysis, the Chairwoman
commits to looking for ways to trim the County Board budget through other measures, such as working with the County Clerk to streamline duties,
all of which can happen in this cycle.

•Item Four: Define Roles of Self-Governing

•Action: We will revise Board review of reports, appointments and appearances by department heads, to clarify the potential for misunderstanding of roles between the executive branch and the legislative branch.

2. SERVICES CONSOLIDATION

•Item One: Explore any and all possible avenues of consolidation

•Action: Move forward with task force to reach out to municipal partners immediately and to discuss seriously ways we can together move forward on consolidation of services.

3. FUNDING SOURCE

•Item One: Open up the public discussion and work to support dedicated funding for Transit,
Parks, and our Cultural Institutions and the Bradley Center

• Action: We would like to start the public discussion and work with community partners on finding dedicated funding for our county treasurer and keep our economy growing. It is time we get the public invested in this commitment and move forward.

4. MENTAL HEALTH

•Item One: We are dedicated to continue to push forward with mental health redesign. Now more than ever we need the public and people who utilize these services to push all of us to make improvements and forge ahead with modernizing and helping those with mental illness stay in the
community while getting the services they need.

•Action: We started yesterday by setting benchmarks and timelines for improvement. We invite families, advocates and the workers who care about our most vulnerable population to help us push hard for immediate change. We believe we all need to engage more heavily in the
improvement of comprehensive mental health services.

And again I apologize for any typos or formatting errors…they are my fault!