“I am particularly unhappy about the fact that Dane County has chosen some very low numbers of case limits to decide whether to allow K-12 to start back up again in person” –

University of Wisconsin-Madison Chancellor Becky Blank.

This post begins a series on local offices that govern (and in theory work for us) Madison’s well funded K-12 taxpayer supported school system.

First up, Dane County Executive. The 140+ employee Dane County Madison public health department has issued a number of “orders” affecting many organizations, including schools. (recent data reporting questions).

My recent County Executive open records request:

All county executive communications that contain the words covid, or school, or university for the period 1 July 2020 to 31 July 2020.

Results: [77MB PDF]

This position will be on the Spring, 2021 ballot.

The Dane County budget has grown from $460,434,195 in 2010 to $593,707,780 (inflation adjusted from 2010: $547,905,370) in 2020. (28.9% increase). Tax base note.

Staffing, too has grown, from 2251 in 2010 to 2531 in 2020.(12.4% increase)

Dane county’s population was 488,075 in 2010 and was estimated to be be 546,695 in 2020 (12% increase)

Key Dates:

January 5, 2021:
Completion of Campaign Registration Statement – Form CF-1. The ETHC-1 is filed when candidacy is publicly announced and/or when receiving or expending funds for candidacy.

Completion of Declaration of Candidacy – Form EL-162

Completion of Nomination Papers – EL-169

Collect 500 (minimum) to 1000 (maximum) signatures from Dane County electors between December 1, 2020 and January 5, 2021.

Completion of Statement of Economic Interest – Must be filed within 2 weeks of filing deadline, or by January 19, 2021.

County Executive Campaign Finance Reports.

PRIMARY DATE (if needed): February 16, 2021

ELECTION DATE: April 6, 2021

** Note that just one of 7 local offices were competitive on my August, 2020 ballot. The District Attorney was unopposed (the linked article appeared after the election).