Update on Rep. Michelle Litjens & Culverts.....

In the Winnebago County Board meeting this week we passed the following resolution:

Establish Policy With Regard to Application For Town Bridge/Culvert Aid Pursuant to Section 82.08, Wisconsin Statutes

Exciting stuff!  But in a nutshell, the towns apply for County & State work & funds to repair bridges and culverts.  The County Highway Dept wants to codify the process to make sure the process runs smooth.

This flies right in the face of Rep Michelle Litjen's Statement in the OshNW:

"In the towns, when the town hall parking lot needs to be plowed or a culvert cleaned out, someone raises their hand and it's done. The more government promises to do, the less we help each other. In towns, people take responsibility for each other."

(I discuss the fallacy of this statement in detail here)

I would like to once again express the concern that Ms. Litjens please learn how govt is funded before she begins voting on it.

Rep-Elect Michelle Litjens just might have no idea what she is talking about....

From a profile today in the OshNW:

"People need to take responsibility for their communities and not look to the government to fix everything anymore," Litjens said. "In the towns, when the town hall parking lot needs to be plowed or a culvert cleaned out, someone raises their hand and it's done. The more government promises to do, the less we help each other. In towns, people take responsibility for each other."

(emphasis mine)

I urge Rep-Elect Litjens to look at the Winnebago County 2011 Executive Budget for Snow & Ice Removal:

http://www.co.winnebago.wi.us/sites/default/files/uploaded-files/2010ExBudget.pdf

p 294 - $696,340 - COUNTY: Snow & Ice
p 294 - $927,070 - STATE: Snow & Ice
p 294 - $400,000 - LOCAL MUNICIPALITIES: Snow & Ice
Total: $2,023,410

The county plows all the roads and many of the facilities for local governments. 

The county is also the agent for bridges and culverts throughout these areas as well.

In fact, the county has over $30,000,000 budgeted or planned on Roads, Bridges, Culverts, Snow & Ice in the towns and rural areas of Winnebago county

p 289 - line 4510 - $2,520,676 - Hwy Maint-Municipal
p 289 - line 6510 - $176,118 - Hwy Maint-Municipal

p 294 - $25,000 - COUNTY: On Systems Bridge
p 294 - $696,340 - COUNTY: Snow & Ice

p 294 - $724,258 - STATE: On Systems Bridge
p 294 - $927,070 - STATE: Snow & Ice

p 295 - $2,594,309 - LOCAL MUNICIPALITIES
Includes:
Snow & Ice - $400,000
Routine Maintenance - $1,833,158
Road Construction - $352,236

p 518-23 - $26,436,465 - County Highway Capital Projects for rural county roads

I would urge Rep-Elect Litjens to learn about government funding before she votes on those funds.