COUNTY BOARD CANDIDATE DATA SHEET

NAME: Donald F. Meyer

ADDRESS: 3619 Deerfield Place

PHONE NUMBER: 788.7907

E-MAIL: meyerdon@charter.net

AGE: not listed

NUMBER OF YEARS LIVED IN LA CROSSE COUNTY: lifetime

FAMILY: wife Jackie

Four children, four grandchildren

EDUCATION: Central graduate

Two years UW-L

OCCUPATION (if retired, former occupation): Retired after 34 years as a buyer for Trane Company

ELECTED OFFICES HELD (include years served):

County Board supervisor for 18 years

COMMUNITY ACTIVITIES AND MEMBERSHIPS:

Mobile Meals volunteer

Drug Court volunteer

Church Council

La Crosse County Board Candidate Questionnaire

Why do you want to serve on the La Crosse County Board? (Please limit this answer to 75 words so it will fit into a standard format.) I have been on the County Board for 18 years and enjoy being involved in policy setting decisions to enhance the health, safety, and welfare of all county citizens. As a member of the Planning Resources and Development Committee, I am involved early on pending changes and improvements requested. As a member of the City/County Harbor Commission, it allows me to better understand the requirements and rules of the harbors on the Mississippi River. Also, I have enjoyed meeting many of my constituents from District 17 to discuss their concerns.

I have more than two issues as defined below:

1) Continue to hold or lower county taxes and hopefully improve our third place ranking in the state.

2) Ensure that the jail expansion finally gets started and is completed as scheduled in August, 2010.

3) Continue to follow the Lakeview Health Care Center collaboration program to ensure it is progressing as planned.

4) Follow-up on the Park Plaza Development which has been in process for several years without results. I would like to see progress in 2008.

The next several questions will ask your feelings about past and future actions by the county board. Please answer by putting an “X” next to the statement that most closely reflects your view. Then, please explain your reasons in writing

1. Do you support or oppose reducing the size of the county board by half?

Strongly Support

Support

No opinion

Oppose X

Strongly Oppose

Date: Thursday, January 24, 2008 8:28 AM

From: Reid Magney <Reid.Magney@lacrossetribune.com>

To: meyerdon@charter.net

Subject: La Crosse Tribune Questionnaire for Don Meyer

Size: 52 KB

COUNTY BOARD CANDIDATE DATA SHEET

NAME: Donald F. Meyer

ADDRESS: 3619 Deerfield Place

PHONE NUMBER: 788.7907

E-MAIL: meyerdon@charter.net

BIRTHDATE:

NUMBER OF YEARS LIVED IN LA CROSSE COUNTY: lifetime

FAMILY: wife Jackie

Four children, four grandchildren

EDUCATION: Central graduate

Two years UW-L

OCCUPATION (if retired, former occupation): Retired after 34 years as a buyer for Trane Company

ELECTED OFFICES HELD (include years served):

County Board supervisor for 18 years

COMMUNITY ACTIVITIES AND MEMBERSHIPS:

Mobile Meals volunteer

Drug Court volunteer

Church Council

La Crosse County Board Candidate Questionnaire

A. Why do you want to serve on the La Crosse County Board? (Please limit this answer to 75 words so it will fit into a standard format.) I have been on the County Board for 18 years and enjoy being involved in policy setting decisions to enhance the health, safety, and welfare of all county citizens. As a member of the Planning Resources and Development Committee, I am involved early on pending changes and improvements requested. As a member of the City/County Harbor Commission, it allows me to better understand the requirements and rules of the harbors on the Mississippi River. Also, I have enjoyed meeting many of my constituents from District 17 to discuss their concerns.

B. What are the two most pressing issues facing La Crosse County, and what do you think La Crosse County government should do about them? I have more than two issues as defined below: 1) Continue to hold or lower county taxes and hopefully improve our third place ranking in the state.

2 2) Ensure that the jail expansion finally gets started and is completed as scheduled in August, 2010.

3 3 3) Continue to follow the Lakeview Health Care Center collaboration program to ensure it is progressing as planned. 4) Follow-up on the Park Plaza Development which has been in process for several years without results. I would like to see progress in 2008.

4331 The next several questions will ask your feelings about past and future actions by the county board. Please answer by putting an “X” next to the statement that most closely reflects your view. Then, please explain your reasons in writing

1. Do you support or oppose reducing the size of the county board by half?

Strongly Support

Support

No opinion

Oppose X

Strongly Oppose

Reason: I do support reducing the Board to 24-27 after the 2010 census, which is when new districts will be established. I don’t support reducing the County Board size by half as the question is worded.

2. With the switch to a county administrator four years ago, how satisfied are you with the county board’s new role as a board of directors that makes policy decisions rather than operational decisions?

Very satisfied X

Satisfied

No opinion

Unsatisfied

Very unsatisfied

Reason: I like the policy approach to county government because it gets the County Board out of trying to micromanage departments, etc. The additional meeting each month has been beneficial to allow discussion on subjects that would have been done at committee level in the past.

3. How satisfied are you with the county administrator's new four-year contract?

Very satisfied X

Satisfied

No opinion

Unsatisfied

Very unsatisfied

Reason: Mr. O’Malley is a professional administrator and has done an excellent job re-engineering the way La Crosse County does business. He has provided leadership to all departments and made changes to improve operations of county government. He is also well respected by most subordinates and community contacts.

4. How satisfied are you with the proposed “smart growth” comprehensive plan scheduled for county board approval in coming months?

Very satisfied

Satisfied X

No opinion

Unsatisfied

Very unsatisfied

Reason: The Steering Committee has been working on the plan for 30 months. It is starting to fall into place so we can vote at our March County Board meeting. We aren’t required by the state to complete the plan until 2010, so amendments can still be added. The plan will help control development in the county. It will save infrastructure costs and keep taxes lower. This should be a good plan for the future in La Crosse County.

5. Do you support or oppose having the county board hold a referendum before borrowing money for buildings or other capital projects?

Strongly Support

Support

No opinion

Oppose X

Strongly Oppose

Reason: Supervisors are elected to make financial decisions for capital improvements.

6. Do you support or oppose La Crosse County being the main developer of its vacant Lakeview Farm property in West Salem?

Strongly Support X

Support

No opinion

Oppose

Strongly Oppose

Reason: I do support La Crosse County being the main developer of the Lakeview property. This will allow the county to negotiate with possible buyers and ensure that a proper mix of businesses are secured. Hopefully, additional jobs and taxes will result.

7. Do you support or oppose La Crosse County's criminal justice philosophy, which includes finding alternatives to jail for offenders who are not a danger to the community?

Strongly Support XX

Support

No opinion

Oppose

Strongly Oppose

Reason: The Criminal Justice program has already saved the county taxpayers a large amount with more money to be saved in the future. We first must determine who we are mad at and who we are afraid of and then take appropriate action. The system allows for people to be on electronic monitoring, thus not costing $55.00 a day in jail. It is a good program and is working well.

8. Do you support or oppose spending more of the county's budget reserves to reduce the property tax levy?

Strongly Support

Support

No opinion

Oppose X

Strongly Oppose

Reason: Unlike the state of Wisconsin and the Federal Government, La Crosse County is planning for a rainy day. Because of our reserve balances, our bond rating is AA2. Thus, we obtain a lower interest rate when we have to borrow money.

9. Do you support or oppose the state of Wisconsin's use of a "property tax cap" which limits La Crosse County's ability to raise property taxes by 2 percent, or the percentage of new construction growth, in 2009?

Strongly Support

Support X

No opinion

Oppose

Strongly Oppose

Reason: La Crosse County has been diligent during our budget setting hearings and has discussed ways to operate the county within the 2% cap. Since La Crosse County is the 3rd lowest taxed county in the state, our 2% is based on a lower past year total than counties that have allowed their taxes to increase at a higher rate. It’s not fair, but that is how it’s done.

10. Do you support or oppose the county's plans for a $29.5 million jail expansion?

Strongly Support X

Support

No opinion

Oppose

Strongly Oppose

Reason: The female jail is in poor condition and requires major repairs to meet state jail standards. Plus the operating costs are high because it is in a different building. In the future everything will be in one building. After numerous debates the Law Enforcement Center addition was approved unanimously by the County Board. The completion is now scheduled for August 2010.