Sunday, September 30, 2012
You've been busy this week, and we understand that you might have missed some of the bigger stories from around Mount Pleasant-Sturtevant Patch. We've got a list of the top 10 most read stories from last week.
It was a quite a week, those last few days of September. Sure, we had crime stories, but we also had a major situation in Mount Pleasant. When the president and the administrator resigned there on the same day, that pushed a local political story to the top of the list of top 10 most read stories for the first time ever. That controversial (and horrible) call from the Packers game against the Seahawks spurred a couple of local fans to organize an NFL boycott, but most of the rest of the list has to do with crime in our area. Still, if you feel like you might have missed something, don't worry. We gathered here the stories that readers tuned into most: MP President and Administrator Resign OWI for Driver in Crash Injuring Sheriff's Deputy …
Wednesday, September 26, 2012
Mount Pleasant leadership—including the search for a full-time administrator—is up in the air now that its top official and staff member have resigned.
**Updated 6:10 p.m. Village President Carolyn Milkie and Interim Administrator Mark Morien simultaneously resigned from Mount Pleasant on Wednesday. Milkie's resignation is effect as of the close of business on Wednesday; Morien will be leaving Oct. 5. Milkie said it wasn’t any one thing that pushed her to step down. Instead, she said everything just came together to a point where she knew it was time to resign. “It was really like the perfect storm,” she said. “But in a nutshell, the board’s inability to accept change and to recognize what this community could be and implement those changes have really just gotten to be too much.” Milkie has served on the village board since 2003, first as a trustee and then as Village President since …
Tuesday, October 11, 2011
Reducing the South Shore Fire Department budget by 5 percent would mean laying off 14 fire fighters. Trustees say they want another option.
In the end, Mount Pleasant trustees couldn't argue with a PowerPoint presentation that laid out the stark reality of a 5 percent budget decrease for the South Shore Fire Department. SSFD Battalion Chief Jon Kaiser laid out a detailed plan of how such a decrease in the operating budget would lead to laying off 14 fire fighters and closing two fire stations. "We've already reduced vacation and sick day coverage as well as administrative costs. If we bypass any replacement vehicles or apparatus, we have to look at our personnel," he said. The 5 percent decrease was at the request of the Village Board that department heads prepare their 2012 budgets using that figure to bring down expenditures. "I'm just not comfortable reducing any staff," …
Not everyone on the board thinks the Village needs a full time Administrator.
Views on having a full time Administrator in Mount Pleasant are split along the same lines as the narrow 4-3 vote that approved a search to fill the position. Trustees Sonny Havn, John Hewitt and Harry Manning with Village President Carolyn Milkie believe having a full time Administrator is the way to go. Trustees Karen Albeck and Gary Feest believe otherwise, and while he didn't voice an opinion at the Oct. 10 board meeting, Jerry Garski voted against a full time position. "I think the job description has been embellished to make residents think we need a full time person," Albeck said. "I think we need to determine whether or not some of these duties are even the responsibility of the Administrator." Specifically, she was referring to …
Monday, October 10, 2011
The board voted that the Personnel Committee should look to fill a full time position after an ad was already placed to find interested candidates.
The search for a full-time Administrator in Mount Pleasant is a go, the vote taken after an ad was placed for the position. Trustees voted 4-3 at the Oct. 10 Village Board meeting to direct the Personnel Committee to continue trying to fill the position with a full time employee. The job has been vacant since May 9 when the board voted unanimously to fire former Administrator Mike Andreasen, who died of a heart attack on June 1. "Who authorized this?" asked Trustee Karen Albeck. "The board did not confirm this was the direction we were going to go. What were you thinking?" Albeck believes so strongly that the village Personnel Committee may have acted illegally by directing the clerk/treasurer to place an ad for a new Administrator that …
Sunday, October 2, 2011
Trustees directed department heads to prepare budgets with a 5 percent decrease, and that could mean lost positions in the police department.
The math of police response time is really pretty simple for the most part. Fewer calls mean faster response times. At the very least, if calls and population both increase, then so, too, do the number of officers. But in Mount Pleasant, the number of full-time, sworn officers has been stagnant for the last several years predominantly because of budget contraints. And now with Mount Pleasant trustees asking department heads to prepare budgets with a 5 percent decrease, the result may be reducing the number of officers. Village resident Rick McClusky is calling foul. "To not raise the mill rate and to cut police and fire budgets further in order to call Mount Pleasant 'debt free' jeopardizes the safety and well-being of every citizen in the…
Wednesday, September 28, 2011
The Personnel Committee outlined a tentative job description for a new administrator.
The Village of Mount Pleasant is getting ready to look for a new administrator. Whether or not the new Mount Pleasant Village Administrator retains that title remains to be seen, but the new job description going through review is being rewritten to reflect the need for transparency. Personnel Committee members - Trustees Harry Manning and Sonny Havn with Village President Carolyn Milkie - with village staff read through a series of duties and responsibilities for the administrator position. Before the discussion got fully underway, Planning Director Ron Meyer, who is also part of the interim management team, voiced his opinion about the job. "Hiring a new administrator will create the same issues if the job description is not changed," he…
Monday, September 26, 2011
Trustees are expected to approve a refinancing plan that will save taxpayers some money.
Mount Pleasant trustees are expected to approve a resolution at the Sept. 26 Board meeting that will save taxpayers money. Specifically, the village is looking to refinance $5,150,000 in municipal bonds originally issued from 2004 to 2006. Because payments on that debt would prove too costly to taxpayers, trustees want to refinance the amount at a much lower interest rate. "We will be able to take advantage of extremely low interest rates," said Village President Carolyn Milkie. Original borrowing rates were estimated at three to four percent while new interest rates are hovering around two or two-and-a-half percent. "It's a significant savings for residents," Milkie added. The impact to the levy is expected to go down from $1.04 per …
Thursday, September 22, 2011
Community leaders and residents participated in a groundbreaking ceremony for the new Mount Pleasant Diversey Family YMCA.
Representatives from YMCA, Johnson Diversey, CNH, Ruud Lighting, Village of Mount Pleasant and others celebrated the ground-breaking of the developing YMCA Complex at a Thursday morning ceremony. In attendance were figures from area businesses, donors, local politicians, Racine Kilties and community members. With construction of the YMCA under way and floor plans displayed, ceremony attendees had the chance to get a feel for what is to be completed by this time next year. Dozens of people attended the ceremony directly behind the new Mount Pleasant Village Hall on this cool, damp Thursday morning, where they listened to short speeches of support and gratitude. The 70,000-square-foot complex will consist of a gymnasium, exercise studios, …
Wednesday, September 14, 2011
Exactly where those cuts will come, though, has yet to be determined.
The 2012 budget cycle is not going to be an easy one. Like most municipalties in Wisconsin, Mount Pleasant faces a budget hole that needs to be filled. With state aid reduced and tax revenues down, village employees and trustees need to prepare a budget that delivers services in least painful way possible. According to Vicki Matter, lead accountant, between highway/transportation aid and state shared revenue, the village needs to fill a $300,000 hole. Instead of receiving the same $1.6 million from 2011, Mount Pleasant will get about $1.3 million in 2012; with just over $1 million in the highway/transportation fund and $300,000 in state shared revenue. "Costs rise and revenues, including the aid we get from the state, are down, too," she …
Watching the stupidity
4:22 pm on Thursday, September 27, 2012
Why would you mention police & fire? Is it coincidence that Fire Chief Bouma announced HIS retirement back in July (effective Oct 4th.... while Morien's is Oct 5th). It does seem highly unusual that there's so much turnover at the higher levels all at one time. Usually that's paraphrased as "gettin out while the gettin's good". more ›