Issues and Ideas

  • As Executive I will focus on the Public Good and the broad interests of the entire county.

County Capital Projects

  • My opponent has worked with the outgoing County Executive to line up the most expensive solutions to our county space needs. No one disputes that we need a new jail. Executive Pavelski and our consultants used inflated space needs to make a total downtown solution appear unworkable, so now we are splitting off the jail and committing to long-term transport costs. The Sheriff's office, dispatch, vehicle garage, and data center simply do not have the same urgent need as the jail or courts, but they have moved to the top of the agenda under the Pavelski-Reser plan. To address the court's safety issues, Reser proposes building a wall around the City County Building and completely gutting the structure. For this to work we are going to build a completely new set of courts and offices in the old Furniture and Appliance Mart space on Church Street, which adds millions of dollars to the cost.

    There are less expensive and disruptive ways to address our needs. The Courthouse Annex was designed to be just that, an annex to the Courthouse. What we need is an addition to the Annex that just has modern courtrooms and judge chambers. The ancillary court offices would relocate to the Annex, and the County Building would host public-facing offices (County Clerk, UW Extension, Treasurer, Land and Water Conservation, Planning and Zoning, etc).

    Pierce County is currently building a new justice addition in their county seat that includes four courts and all the related offices for $35 million; the Pavelski-Reser solution is anticipated to cost twice that amount. Portage County taxpayers cannot afford that plan, we need a better one.

The Local Economy

  • Communities are increasingly competing to attract mobile 21st Century workers. Portage County can be a more active partner with businesses, schools, and higher education to increase the quality of life and promote a robust and diverse workforce. We also need to do more work to ensure an affordable housing market, and that includes keeping property taxes low. As Executive, I would play a visible leadership role in promoting how great our county is to help attract businesses and workers.

Paid for by Friends of Eric Olson

Government Transparency and Accountability

  • The internet makes it easier than ever for county governments to be accessible and accountable, but only if a leader pushes for it. Yes, we post agenda and minutes online, but good luck trying to find a specific piece of information without browsing through dozens of meetings. As Executive I will leverage the technology we have at our disposal to ensure Portage County is an innovative leader in open government and public participation.

Paid for by Friends of Eric Olson

The Need for a County Executive

  • The voters of Portage County created the Office of Executive in 2005 because they were tired of county decisions and investments that did not reflect county-wide priorities. A county administrator would report to the county board chair, who in turn will tend to focus on the needs and views of voters in his or her own district. A board chair might win their own seat by just a few hundred voters and then be elected chair by the county board by as few as 12 other friends. That’s not representative democracy. The County Executive must be independent of the board, elected by the majority of voters across the entire county, and put to the test every four years.

Paid for by Friends of Eric Olson

Groundwater

  • Water resources are one of the best examples of public goods, and yet they’ve been historically given over to private interests. Wisconsin’s Constitution establishes a public trust in water that state and local governments are charged with upholding. That legal obligation requires government to take the steps required to ensure that our shared water resources are not impaired. The County Executive must play a visible leadership role in moving us all forward on meaningful initiatives to ensure clean, safe drinking water is available to everyone. We have many opportunities to leverage programs like the Producer Led Watershed Groups and the Commercial Nitrogen Optimization Pilot Grant Program to work collaboratively with farmers to protect water while maintaining or improving farm profitability.

Paid for by Friends of Eric Olson

Community Sustainability and Resiliency

  • Portage County is well positioned to take advantage of opportunities to conserve energy, produce renewable energy, and prepare for the impacts of climate change. As County Executive I will work with community members, Mid-State Technical College and UW Stevens Point to revive Portage County’s sustainability plans and move quickly towards their implementation. The county will have new opportunities to invest in residential and commercial energy projects by leveraging revenue from utility-scale solar projects to fund our existing Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) program. This approach addresses the high up-front costs in solar and energy by using a revolving loan approach that is paid back by property owners through the energy savings they realize.