Welcome Back!

Welcome back to the Dane County Board of Supervisors District 35 News/Updates and Information Bulletin. My goal is to update constituents of District 35 in the Stoughton, Pleasant Springs and Dunkirk area of Dane County a couple times a year. I am interested in informing constituents on what I have been working on in county government and hearing any input you would like to provide to me about the county and our district. You can contact me at my email address and visit my page on the Dane County Website to sign up for District 35 Updates.

Recent Happenings

Budget

The budget process is under way. Currently our departments are preparing their budgets with a directive from the County Executive to cut 4% from their base budgets. The county board will be working on the Executives budget in September and October with passage of the 2026 budget in late October or early November. This year is an especially tight budget due to a structural deficit and uncertainty by federal administration cuts. 

New Directors

We have a new Director of the Airport Mark Papko and a new Director of Human Services John Schlueter starting this month. Both come highly recommended and should help make improvements in those already great county departments. We are looking to get our regional airport designated as an International Airport at some point in the future. We continue to look at expanding routes to more locations within the United States and we want to look at getting some international destinations as well. As the fastest growing county in the state we need to continue expanding transportation options to meet the demand. Our Human Services Department consists of about 40% of our county’s budget. The department serves the county in so many areas including Behavioral Health, Family, Youth & Community, Disability & Aging, and Economic Assistance, Healthcare, Housing & Jobs. Here is a link to the vast benefits and services of Dane County Human Needs Department. Here are links to our airport and human services websites.

Alliant Energy Center

The county will be putting out a request for proposal to remodel the Dane County Veterans Memorial Coliseum in the near future. There has been a planning process and master plan to make vast improvements of the whole campus over a number of years. There are visions of having a private public partnership for some of the development on campus including a remodeled coliseum. The overall picture is to make the campus a gathering place for people to visit on a regular basis not just for events, improve transportation in and out and to become a focus point of the community. The Alliant Energy Expo Center will be adding additional space and improvements that are in the planning process as well. Here is a link to the Alliant Energy Redevelopment Committee site. 

Land & Water Resources

Our Land & Water Resources Department is currently working on 25 restoration projects throughout the county including the phase 3b of the Yahara River sediment removal program north of Lake Kegonsa, Door Creek restoration, Black Earth Creek restoration, Great Sauk Walking Iron trail and bridge over the Wisconsin River and many others. Here is a link to the current land & water restoration projects. 

Dane County Board

The Dane County Board of Supervisors is the legislative and policy making body of County Government. It is made up of 37 supervisors elected from districts in the county. The mission of the Board of Supervisors is to effectively represent the people of Dane County, providing services which secure the blessings of freedom, ensure domestic tranquility, promote the general welfare, and perfect the forms of government. 

https://board.danecounty.gov

Please don’t hesitate to contact me. Thank you!