Day {x+2} of The Weird
It’s quite something to be part of a government that’s actively responding to the #novelcoronavirus. At the same time, I remember how I described the running for the County Board back in 2010: “It’s what you want it to be.” (Note the clever Sugar reference; 88.9 RadioMilwaukee even picked it up.) That is in part by virtue of my place and position in the county, the Parks specialist, and partially due to the County Board being pushed to the side by aggressive state legislation. While my personal involvement in dealing with the covid-19 outbreak beyond my family and the occasional #helpful Facebook post is dwarfed by the tremendous efforts county professional staff are putting into it, today I helped authorize a cool six figures of funding for an emergency covid-19 response, which includes emergency services and expanding telework* beyond what has existed before this crisis.
That probably will be our last in-person committee meeting for the foreseeable future. True, the committee cycle ended today; but this public health threat makes it very difficult to conduct legislative meetings in public, and with public access. Finance Committee usually draws at least ten to twenty people, not counting the seven member committee, five staff, and various department heads who attend, testify, and otherwise participate. We occasionally have attendees overflow into an adjacent room, as so many people showed up. Or they just pack in like sardines. Either way, that’s not happening now! While the state law does allow local government bodies to meet during the public health crisis, it’s with tight attendance caps. And we were all six feet apart.
Haas414: Milwaukee Writ 