VIROQUA, Wis. – Vernon County Board of Supervisors Chairperson Lorn Goede (gay-dee) recently announced his picks for committee assignments for all the remaining county committees that were not elected by the board of supervisors.
The way Vernon County government is structured requires the board of supervisors to elect the committee members for four committees. The board of supervisors did elect those members at their April 16 organizational meeting. Those committees are arranged as listed below. All elected committees elect their own committee chair at their first meeting.
Conservation and Education (Land and Water – UW Extension)
Will Beitlich (chair), Mary Henry, Nathaniel Slack, David Eggen, Frank Easterday and Community Representative Carol Hall
Infrastructure (Highway, Zoning/Sanitation and Solid Waste)
Lorn Goede, Martha Olson, Paul Wilson, Charles Jacobson, Sandy Schweiger
Human Services and Veterans Affairs
John Pedretti (Chair) , Patrick Sullivan, Alycann Taylor, Kay Stanek, Wayde Lawler, David Strudthoff
Vernon Manor Board of Trustees
Board representatives: Lonnie Muller, Kevin Walleser, Bruce Kilmer
Community Representatives: Kristine Brueggen, Barbara McNeal
Following those elections, all the members of the standing and advisory committees still needed to be appointed. Those committees are not elected by the board but are appointed by the board chair. This arrangement is going back to the system that had been in place before the county board decided to go to a county administrator in 2020. Under a county administrator arrangement, the administrator appoints the county committees, not the board chair. That made some members of the county board uncomfortable, and the board later voted to go to an administrative coordinator arrangement instead. Under that scenario the coordinator still has most of the functions as a county administrator but is not able to appoint committees. That duty went back to the county board chair and this year was the first time the county was back to that arrangement.
The county board chair has the sole responsibility of those appointments but Board Chair Lorn Goede, who was re-elected to a second term by the board in April, made is appointments in consultation with Supervisor Alycann Taylor and County Administrative Coordinator Cassie Hanan. That may be because Taylor was a close second in the election for a county board chair, narrowly losing to Goede 10-8. Taylor has also been chair of the General Government Committee and has been tasked with handling some of the weightier issues facing he county including expansion of the Vernon County Landfill and exploring county wide zoning.
Goede’s committee appointments are as follows:
(note- committee chairs are appointed by the board chair as well)
Finance Committee
Kay Stanke – Chair, Will Beitlich – Vice Chair, Charlie Jacobson, John Pedretti
Martha Olson
General Government
Alycann Taylor (chair), David Eggen (vice chair), Lorn Goede, Wayde Lawler and Mary Henry
Health Committee
Board representatives: Kelli Mitchell (Chair ), David Eggen ( Vice Chair ), Mary Bringe, Martha Olson, Paul Wilson
Community Representatives:Rhonda Peterson (RN), Sherrie Seidel, Michelle Felton
Public Safety (Sheriffs Department and Emergency Management)
Paul Wilson (Chair), Sandy Schweiger (Vice Chair), Patrick Sullivan, Bruce Kilmer, David Strudthoff
Economic Development
John Pedretti (Chair), David Strudthoff (Vice Chair), Bruce Kilmer, Nathaniel Slack, Patrick Sullivan
Community Representatives: Karen Dahl, Katie Helseth, Kevin Larson, Tom Weston
Opioid Prevention and Abatement Steering Committee:
Board Representatives: Mary Henry, Martha Olson
Community Representatives: Martha Karlstad, Linzi Gronning, Duane Koons, Kristina Reser-Jaynes, Steven Palmer
Planning Committee
County Board of Supervisor Representatives:Charlie Jacobson (Chair), Kay Stanek (Vice Chair), Sandy Schweiger, Nathaniel Slack
Community Representatives: Pete Strachan, Mary Stanek, George Wilbur
There are nine other county advisory committees but those committees but those committees have rotating terms and the members of those committees are currently not listed on the county website.
Advisory Committees
- ADRC Advisory Committee
- Viroqua-Westby Trail f/k/a Coon Prairie Trail Committee
- Comprehensive Community Services
- Highway Safety Committee
- Nutrition Advisory Committee
- Land Information Council
- Local Emergency Planning Committee
- Transportation Coordinating Committee
- Viroqua Business Park Commission
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