Greendale to Vote on Reducing Size of Milwaukee County Board

Should the Milwaukee County Board of Supervisors be reduced in size and compensation?

That is the question to appear on ballots in Greendale for the April 3 general election according to a resolution passed by the Village Board at its January 17 meeting.

The referendum will be non-binding and advisory-only, but local municipalities including Greendale hope it will send a message to the Miwaukee County Board regarding how constituents feel about downsizing county government. The.

Of the nineteen municipalities that make up the council, eight have decided to place the referendum item on their spring ballot, including Greenfield, Hales Corners, Franklin, River Hills, Shorewood, West Milwaukee, Whitefish Bay and Greendale. Bayside is considering it on Thursday, January 18th. Glendale and Brown Deer will both consider it on Monday Janaury 23rd.

Supporters of a county board reduction say it makes sense since the county workforce has been reduced by 43 percent over the last decade.

County Supervisor Joe Sanfelippo, who represents the 17th District including Greendale, tells Patch, "We need to look at the whole organization, not just a part of it. We've reduced the county workforce but insulated the management end of it."

He pointed to the fact that Milwaukee County is the only county in the state to have full-time board members, saying part-time supervisors might be a better option.

During their discussion on the matter, several Greendale trustees expressed concern over retribution by the county should they decide to place the referendum on the ballot, citing a but in the end decided that local residents should be allowed to vote on it.

Trustee Carl Genz said, "The people of Greendale deserve to have a voice in this."

Sanfelippo agrees saying those municipalities who decide not to place the item on their spring ballots are really only hurting their own citizens by not allowing them to voice their opinions. He also said he is not overly concerned by push-back from the county, saying there isn't much the board could do against local municipalities. 

He hopes it will spark a dialogue among county supervisors if the majority vote in April supports reducing the size and compensation of the board, but says if they still refuse to make any changes, the state could step in using statutory action.