Should the County Board Chair Position Be Part Time?

With Waukesha Board of Supervisor Chairman James Dwyer by another board member who was redistricted into the same district as Dwyer, Waukesha County Executive Dan Vrakas is calling for the Waukesha County Board of Supervisors to make the chairman positions part time.

While Dwyer was defeated Tuesday by Janel Brandtjen, that does not mean Brandtjen is automatically the next chair of the board. The Board of Supervisors will have to vote on who it wants the next chair to be.

A news release from Vrakas notes that the chair position receives a salary of $58,586 and an ordinance would need to be approved by the board to make the change.

“A part-time position will likely attract more candidates to the job, especially those employed in the private sector,” Vrakas said in the release.  “We must continue to become more efficient and save taxpayer dollars whenever we can.”

From the news release:

A part-time designation will grant the new county board chair more flexibility while still fulfilling the mandated responsibilities of the role. Vrakas said he believes the county board has an opportunity to act now and make this change as it elects a new county board chair. In the state of Wisconsin, all other counties using the county executive model of government, with the exception of Milwaukee, also have a part-time county board chair.

 “The board’s current chair has done an outstanding job, gone above and beyond the call of duty and it will be difficult to expect future chairs to take on as many local and statewide committee and organizational responsibilities,” Vrakas concluded.

 The newly elected County Board could vote on an ordinance as soon as its May 22  meeting.