Transition Committee Meeting

The Vilas County Transition Committee will hold their next meeting April 28, 2011 in the Courthouse Conference Rooms at 4:30 pm.  Please keep up the great numbers and respectful attitude that you have exhibited before!

Vilas County Transition Committee

Vilas County Courthouse

Conference Rooms

Thursday, April 28, 2011

4:30 pm

Administrative Professionals Day

Today is Administrative Professionals Day, and as such Vilas County Local 474 would like to thank all union and non-union administrative professionals for the great work that they do in helping to run offices all around the world.  Please make sure to wish your friendly local administrative professional a happy day today!

Supreme Court Vote Recounting Begins

The recounting of Vilas County votes in the Wisconsin Supreme Court election will be held on Wednesday, April 27, 2011 in the Vilas County Courthouse Conference Rooms in the basement of the Courthouse.  The recounting will commence at 9:00 AM.  Access to the rooms will be through the door to Conference Room #3 and items such as purses, coats and briefcases, as well as pencils or pens with blue or black ink, are prohibited.  Please make sure to allow your elected officials the space and concentration that they need to complete this complex, tedious, and critically important process.  Thank you.

Jim Holperin Announces Budget Hearing

Senator Jim Holperin has announced the next date in his series of public hearings regarding the 2011-2013 state budget.  This hearing will be held at:

Antigo High School

Volm Theater

1900 Tenth Ave

Antigo, WI

Friday, April 29, 2011

3:00 pm - 6:00 pm

In statement, Senator Holperin said "Governor Walker's budget proposal contains more significant policy changes and more program cuts than any two year budget in recent memory.  In orfer for legislators to make informed decisions on these proposals weneed to hear specifically what impact the changes and reductions might have on localities and on programs in different parts of the state."

The hearing is open to the public and the media, and other area legislators have been invited to attend.  Call (715) 891-1412 for more information

Sen. Holperin Recall Petition Filed

The recall petition against Senator Jim Holperin was filed with the Government Accountability Board on Thursday, according to the Wisconsin State Journal.  There is no word yet on any details of the recall election.  We will let you know when we have more information.  Thank you to all of those who helped support workers' rights and Senator Holperin by not signing the petition.

Kloppenburg Files for Recount

     In a move that was widely expected, Assistant Attorney General Joanne Kloppenburg officially asked today for a recount of the results of the recent election for Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice, which saw her lose by approximately 7,000 votes out of almost 1.5 million cast.  Since the results were closer than 0.5% of the total votes cast, the state will pay the cost of the recount, which incumbent and victor David Prosser called a waste of time and money.

Recall Petitions Filed

Three petitions to recall Republican state senators with the minimum amount of signatures needed have been filed, and at the time of this posting a group is in the Government Accountbility Board office in Madison handing in the signatures to recall a fourth.  All of the groups who have filed so far have had many thousands of signatures more than needed to force a recall election.  Also, efforts are still underway to recall an additional four Republicans and eight Democrats.  Kim Simac, who is heading the recall effort against Senator Holperin is being reported by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel as saying that she will file her petition sometime this week.  We will bring you more as we have it.

GAB Satisfied With Waukesha County Election Results

     The State of Wisconsin Government Accountability Board - the agency tasked with oversight of state elections - has issued a statement stating that there was no major discepency between the Supreme Court election results recorded by the municipalities and those reported by the Waukesha County Board of Canvassers, and that the GAB is satisfied with the offical results.  The offical statement can be seen here.  The GAB sent a team to Waukesha upon learning of the large error that was made in reporting the unofficial election results that handed the election to incumbent Justice David Prosser to verify that all of the vote totals matched and paperwork was in order.  In related news, Justice Prosser has stated that the recount that is almost certain to be asked for, and which would be paid for by the State of Wisconsin because the margin of victory was within .05%, would be an unnecessary waste of time and taxpayer money.

State Asks Supreme Court To Vacate TRO

The Walker administration in the form of State Department of Administration Secretary Mike Huebsch has petitioned the Wisconsin Supreme Court to vacate the temporary restraining order against publication of the Budget Repair Bill that was issued by Dane County Circuit Court Judge Maryann Sumi.  The Supreme Court has not decided yet if will hear the petition or not.

Thank You

Thank you to all the employees who attended last night's Transition Committee meeting.  The strong show of employee interest was fantastic, and everyone was respectful and appropriate.  It showed very well for Vilas County Employees.

Changes in Supreme Court Race Totals

As the participants wait for official election results, and an almost certain recount looms, several mistakes that have been discovered in Winnebago and Waukesha Counties have led Justice David Prosser to be leading by approximately 7500 votes.  The largest error was in Waukesha County, where County Clerk Kathy Nikolaus said that she failed to save on her computer and report 14,315 votes from the traditionally Republican City of Bookfield.  These totals allowed Prosser to gain 7582 votes over Kloppenburg in the hotly contested race.  The Waukesha County Board of Canvassers - which oversees elections and results - has stated that the are satisfied with the updated numbers.  A spokeswoman for the Kloppenburg campaign has promised a full investigation, while Justice Prosser said on Fox News "I'm not conceding, and I'm not congratulating.  And I'm not claiming victory.  We're simply waiting out the process." 

AFSCME Membership Savings

AFSCME Wisconsin Council 40 has a list of things on which you can save money just for being an AFSCME member.  You can get savings on things like AT&T cell phone service, Dell computers, movie tickets, and even auto insurance.  Just click on the picture to go to the site and get details.

ETF Update

The Wisconsin Department of Employee Trust Funds has updated their Frequently Asked Questions regarding how the Budget Repair Bill is going to impact the retirement fund.  This link will take you to the publication.

Associated Press Announces Unofficial Winner in Supreme Court Race

      The Associated Press is reporting that it has tallied the voted from all 3,630 precincts in Wisconsin and that by its count Assistant Attorney General Joanne Kloppenburg has unofficially won the Wisconsin Supreme Court election by 204 votes out of over 1.5 million cast.  The official results will be announced in the coming days.  If a candidate asks for a recount - which will most certainly happen - the state will do the recount at no cost because the margin of difference was less than 0.5%.  The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel has laid out how the process will work in the coming days in this article.  The last time there was a statewide recount was in 1989 when a recount was done on a referedum issue.
     Thank you to everyone who voted in the election and helped create an unprecedented turnout for a spring election, with some precincts reporting over 50% voter turnout.  The slim margin by which this election is likely to be decided goes to show just how important voting is in our system of government.  We will bring you more news as we have it.

Transition Meeting Set

The Vilas County Tansition Committee has scheduled a meeting to discuss matters pertaining to the pending Budget Repair Bill and its effects on Vilas County.  They have decided to schedule meeting of their Committee after normal work hours so that employees can be present without using vacation time.  Employees, however, will not be allowed a seat at the table with the Committee, they will be heard as members of the public.  The meeting will be held tomorrow, April 7, 2011 at 4:30 PM in the Courthouse Conference Rooms. A copy of the agenda with more specific times and locations can be obtained by clicking here, or by viewing on the courthouse bulletin boards.  Please keep in mind when speaking in front of the Committee that you represent the employees of Vilas County, so please make sure to be constructive, concise, and respectful in your comments.  Local 474 will have representatives at the meeting and we will bring you more information as we have it.  Minutes from their March 30, 2011 can be found by clicking here.

Supreme Court Race Too Close To Call

With precincts still left to report, the race between incumbent Supreme Court Justice David Prosser and challenger Assistant Attorney General Joanne Kloppenburg is too close to call.  The margin throughout the morning has been less than 1000 votes for both parties as it has swung back and forth, as reported by the Associated Press. We will let you know as soon as we are aware of who is declared the winner.  Just a note of caution however, expect a recount to be called for in an election this close.  A map of some early results is below.

Expect Signature Collectors at Polling Places

The Wisconsin Government Accountability Board has ruled that collecting signatures near polling places does not meet the definition of "electioneering" - which is illegal in Wisconsin - because the signatures being collected are not for the race at hand.  That being said, be prepared to find people collecting signatures on the petition to recall Senator Jim Holperin outside of local polling places.  Please remember to be civil and polite with dealing with these signature collectors as you go out to vote today, and please remember the courageous step Sentaor Holperin took in attempting to save union bargaining rights for public workers when confronted with the signature collectors.

VOTE TODAY!

Joanne Kloppenburg

Don't forget to go out and vote today in the Wisconsin Supreme Court elections behind held today at your friendly local polling place.  Please make sure to get out and have your vote counted.  Conservative Republican Sarah Palin has endorsed incumbent David Prosser.  Also, a December 8, 2010 news release from Prosser campaign spokesman Brian Nemoir called him a "common-sense complement to both the new administration and Legislature" although Prosser himself later diavowed that statement, stating that he did not see it before it came out.  Also, many of the groups that contributed to Governor Scott Walker's campaign have been contributing to Justice Prosser's.  Again, please make sure to turn out and vote in the Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice election being held today.  This election will help shape Supreme Court decisions for the next ten years.  Most polls will remain open until 7 PM.

Timetable Set for BRB Lawsuit

On Friday, Dane County Circuit Judge Maryann Sumi set final briefs due May 23, 2011 for the lawsuit regarding whether or not the Budget Repair Bill (a.k.a. Wisconsin Act 10) was passed in accordance with Open Meeting Laws.  We will bring you more information when we have it.

Vilas County Transition Committee Vision and Mission Statement

The County Transition Committee has issued its offical Vision Statement and Mission Statement, which you can read below.  You can read all the details of their last meeting - including a discussion of including employees at the Committee table in a non-voting role - in the Vilas County News-Review of March 30, 2011.

Vilas County Transition Committee Vision and Mission Statement

Vision Statement

The Vilas County Transition Committee recognizes the need for high quality performance by employees of Vilas County in providing services to the residents of the county.  It is our vision that the work of this committee will contribute positively to our relationship, strengthen the excellence of services and move us into a continuing era of employer/employee cooperation.

Mission Statement

It is the mission of the Vilas County Transition Committee to make recommendations to the County Board, in light of the recently passed Budget Repair Bill which effects the relationship between public employers and employees, giving thoughtful consideration to the interest of Vilas County taxpayers and employees, while preserving the quality of services historically provided by the County, in a manner that is consistent with our stated vision.