Aug. 3, Rep. Frank Lasee, R-Green Bay, announced on his website that he is co-authoring a proposal to create a task force whose goal is to examine the feasibility of reducing the number of counties in Wisconsin from 72 to 18 or less, a 75% reduction. According to Lassee, a county reduction to consolidate public services would save money for the state. Lasee's proposal does not acknowledge any problems associated with consolidation; he is looking at the lines dividing the state through rose-colored glasses.
Lasee says I believe combining counties could provide efficiencies and save money on major services without losing our representative government,"" but the only efficiencies would be lay-offs of public workers or a reduction in public services. If Lasee does not intend to reduce the number of workers - and therefore the quality of public services - then why have this consolidation at all? Centralizing the county offices only increases travel times for workers and creates a general inconvenience for all who need county services.
While there is significant redundancy in terms of each county's services (county jails, for example), the state's residents benefit from having higher quality service that their tax dollars afford them.
If consolidating a service was reasonable for counties, then they have the right and the means to come to agreements with other counties to combine their efforts. There is no reason to force counties to consolidate if there is no internal desire to do so.
Lasee also claims this alteration in the infrastructure of Wisconsin would not pose problems for transportation since we no longer live in the 1800s, when the county lines were drawn to reflect the distance a horse and buggy could travel in a day. He surmises that having to travel a much more significant distance to get to and from a court date, for example, would not be an issue.
Lasee does not recognize the reality that some people do not own cars and depend on public transportation.
Having to use public transportation would occupy much more of their day than simply driving to a court hearing. Furthermore, forcing people to travel farther distances for public services wastes fuel in a time of skyrocketing prices and is generally worse for the environment.
Another issue Lasee needs to contend with is the complex process necessary to combine the governmental systems of each county. Each county has a specific system in which they keep their residents happy and to combine these intricate systems could affect the livelihood of the residents.
Ideally, the transition would be seamless, but the reality is that there is nothing generic about county services, as each has a unique modus operandi.
Finally, this editorial board feels it is rarely an intelligent idea on the part of lawmakers to condense representation. Every person deserves to have representation and to voice his or her opinion. Less counties equates to less representation, even if that is only on the county level.
Lasee should be more responsible and look below the surface of his plan to understand how many issues would arise if Wisconsin had such a drastic change.
