Wednesday, August 22, 2012

Think "Less Gummint" Is Easy?

Interesting turn of events here.

Waukesha County Board Chairman Paul Decker and other members of the board's Executive Committee on Monday put to rest any notion that the chairman's job should be part time.

"We know it takes more to being in the chairman's position than a lot of people recognize," Decker said in explaining how his time has been occupied since taking over the chairman's job in April.

Initially, he was among those who apparently underestimated what it took to do the job.

The job was made full-time by its previous occupant, a Lefty who needed something to do.

...For the past few months, Decker and the Executive Committee have been considering revisions to the board chairman's job description. On Monday, the committee voted 6-1 to adopt a written listing of expectations. In her motion, Supervisor Pat Haukohl said the chairman's job should continue as is currently defined.

As most folks know, the definition of job duties and responsibilities has a lot of impact.  So what are the "duties" which take up so much time?

...Decker said he's had to travel to many meetings representing Waukesha County throughout the state.
"If Waukesha County is not represented there, it can impact negatively," he said.

Let's leave aside Decker's manifest problems with standard English.

The County employs a full-time Executive, who has full-time assistants.  Are they unable to 'travel throughout the State....representing the County's interests'?  Is there no email?  Skype?  Snail-mail?  Telephone service?  And precisely what "interests" does the County have in Green Bay, or Rhinelander, or ...wherever....aside from Madistan or the Walking-Bankrupt-to-the-East?

So.  The Board defined a position which requires a full-time "interest representer" who will be traveling all over the State.  What else?

...Decker also said the legislative branch, which he represents, must be ready to respond when something is proposed from the administrative or executive's branch.

Decker said he's spent more time than expected on behind-the-scenes communications with supervisors about constituent concerns, something that's "hard to quantify," he said.

Uh-huh.  Vrakas could do.......what, exactly.......without a Chairman to "respond"?  Close the jail?  Shut off the electricity?  And this "behind the scenes" stuff:  what in Hell does that mean?  Are other Board members unable to discuss 'constituent concerns' without Decker's counsel?  Are they that incompetent?

The big picture here is this:  there is too much Gummint stuffed into every corner of life in Wisconsin, and that fact--alone--is what creates more Gummint jobs.  Decker's a good guy who found out that Gummint will now swallow his life, just as it is swallowing the lives of taxpayers.

It's a State-wide (and nation-wide) problem.  Too bad that Waukesha County taxpayers have to live with it.

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