Forum announces Salute to Local Government award winners
MILWAUKEE AND MADISON –The Wisconsin Policy Forum is proud to announce its 2023 Salute to Local Government award winners, as we celebrate more than three decades of recognizing the best of our state’s public-sector agencies and workers.
The 31st Annual Salute will again celebrate the benefits that public sector ingenuity and excellence bring to taxpayers and communities throughout Wisconsin. Award categories recognize local governments and school districts for innovative problem-solving, advancing racial equity, and public-private cooperation, as well as individuals in the public sector for excellence, leaders of the future, and lifetime achievement.
Eligibility for Salute awards generally is for accomplishments or individual performance from our last nomination deadline until the present. This year the Salute features a new award category, in partnership with UW-Madison’s La Follette School of Public Affairs, to recognize innovative performance in state government.
“The new La Follette/Gladfelter Award for Innovation in State Government allows us to extend our annual recognition of public-sector excellence beyond local governments to their partners at the state level,” Forum President Rob Henken said.
Now entering its fourth decade, Henken said the importance of the Salute has only grown as politics in our state and nation have become increasingly fractured.
“There has always been value in taking a day to recognize those who accept the challenge of working in public service,” Henken said. “Today, the Salute is now also one of the only opportunities we have as a community to say “thank you” to public workers at a time when a tight labor market gives them other options — and an increasingly fraught political dynamic gives them even more incentive to consider private sector opportunities.”
This year’s Salute will be held Nov. 15 at the Italian Community Center in Milwaukee. Click here to learn more about the event and how to participate. This year’s award recipients are:
Innovative approach to problem-solving
City of West Allis
Mobile Integrated Healthcare Substance Use Disorder Program
Substance use disorder (SUD) is one of the leading causes of death in West Allis, accounting for 43 resident deaths in 2022. Still, even as SUD fatalities throughout Milwaukee County have continued to increase, overdose deaths and overdose incidents are down in West Allis since the community initiated new outreach efforts through its Bureau of Mobile Integrated Healthcare. Community Paramedics are tasked with providing outreach to those suffering from addiction, connecting them to medication-assisted treatment and recovery services. Paramedics meet with the patient and their loved ones within 24 hours of the overdose incident, and have seen tremendous success in getting these people enrolled in recovery services.
La Follette/Gladfelter Award for Innovation in State Government
Department of Children and Families
Child Care Stabilization and Sustainment Initiative
The COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated a longstanding crisis in Wisconsin’s child care sector. The state Department of Children and Families (DCF) responded with an initiative to stabilize and grow the early care and education system. One grant program (Partner Up!) supported partnerships by offering funds to businesses to purchase slots at existing regulated child care providers. Another (Dream Up!) focused on building child care supply through a collaborative community approach, providing funds to 37 communities to help create new child care businesses and enhance existing ones. Meanwhile, the Child Care Counts program was created to stabilize and sustain the industry, providing monthly payments to regulated providers to support staff through wage increases and parents through tuition relief and stabilization. DCF provided solutions that are replicable, including resources for communities and businesses to develop local solutions for their community.
Effort to Advance Racial Equity
City of Appleton
Appleton Engaged Podcast
Appleton Engaged, a city of Appleton podcast, explores the many people, organizations, and resources that make that community a great place to live, work, and play. By actively focusing on themes related to diversity, inclusion, and experiences of marginalized communities, the podcast has assumed a pivotal role in raising awareness and nurturing dialogues about racial equity within the Appleton community. The Appleton Engaged podcast offers valuable insights for other governments seeking to address racial equity challenges. Its cost-effective, community-engaged, and authentic approach can be adapted to foster open dialogues, empower communities, and spotlight positive initiatives, even with limited resources.
Intergovernmental cooperation
City of Mequon and Village of Thiensville
Southern Ozaukee Fire and Emergency Medical Services Department (SOFD)
The independent fire departments serving Mequon and Thiensville traditionally have relied predominantly on volunteer/paid-on-call staff. But as in other Wisconsin communities, this model came under strain as the number of volunteers/paid-on-call professionals declined. Thiensville and Mequon responded by merging their fire departments, commencing joint operations in 2022 and becoming the Southern Ozaukee Fire and Emergency Medical Services Department (SOFD) on Jan. 1, 2023. The department is using a hybrid staffing model — while including much of the old framework, it’s strengthened by new full-time staff. The result: Improving shift coverage and faster response times, even amid increasing call volume and many operational changes. As it completes future merger phases, SOFD aims to set an example on what can be accomplished via cooperation with nearby municipalities.
David G. Meissner Award for Public-Private Cooperation
City of Milwaukee, Milwaukee County, Greater Milwaukee Committee, Metropolitan Milwaukee
Association of Commerce
Move Forward MKE
The City of Milwaukee and Milwaukee County are challenged by pension obligations that – when combined with unsustainable revenue structures – drove them to the edge of a fiscal cliff. Leaders from the city, county, and the region’s foremost business/civic organizations formed a public-private partnership, the Move Forward MKE Coalition, to seek a solution. For years, team members from the four principal organizations met every week, analyzing the problem and determining a local sales tax would be the best cure. Ultimately, the coalition broadened its approach and advocated for statewide solutions to widespread municipal budget challenges. This was instrumental in the June approval of Wisconsin Act 12, which increased shared revenue for all municipalities and counties and allowed the City of Milwaukee and Milwaukee County to implement local sales tax increases to create new revenue streams and stave off financial ruin. This effort proves significant progress remains possible through collective advocacy, and accomplished something previously deemed impossible: a systemic overhaul of local government funding across Wisconsin.
Norman N. Gill Award for Individual Excellence
Charles A. Tubbs Sr.
Dane County Emergency Management
Through his capacity to relate to people while also managing administrative tasks, Charles Tubbs has demonstrated vital leadership amid several defining moments in Wisconsin’s recent history. Tubbs spent 30 years with the police department in his hometown of Beloit, eventually becoming deputy chief. He became administrator of the state’s juvenile corrections division later that year and was named Capitol police chief in 2008. It was in this role that Tubbs garnered widespread praise for his handling of the 2011 Act 10 protests at the state Capitol. By maintaining constructive dialogue with protesters, elected officials, media, all citizens, and emergency responders, Tubbs and Capitol police achieved the remarkable distinction of navigating the weeks-long protests without any serious incidents of violence. Since joining Dane County Emergency Management in 2012, Tubbs has helped lead the county’s response to more history-defining events including the COVID-19 pandemic, and protests in response to the murder of George Floyd in 2020.
Jean B. Tyler Leader of the Future
Alec Knutson
Milwaukee County
As Milwaukee County Government Affairs Director, Alec Knutson has effectively represented the county with other levels of government by building productive partnerships. In 2019, he was hired by then-County Executive Chris Abele and charged with developing and leading a strategy to secure a local option sales tax. Knutson led a public-private work group that ultimately worked with Gov. Tony Evers and legislative leaders to enact the most significant legislation in decades for Milwaukee County and the City of Milwaukee. Knutson also played a vital role in the legislative advocacy efforts related to the county’s COVID-19 response and helping secure state and federal funding for the county. He has demonstrated leadership and coalition-building skills — and delivered historic successes – that make him stand out among his peers.
Lifetime Achievement
David De Angelis
David De Angelis has more than three decades of experience in local government administration in southeast Wisconsin, including as former full-time mayor of the city of Muskego for nine years, and for nearly 21 years, as Village Manager of Elm Grove, a position from which he recently retired. De Angelis was an innovator for process change and professionalization, having conducted multiple organizational evaluations for Muskego and Elm Grove with attention paid to existing staffing and fiscal sustainability. As a founding member of the Waukesha County Cooperation Council, community liaison for the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewage District, and as part of multiple regional studies, De Angelis also has proven himself a regional leader in intergovernmental cooperation. The Forum would like to thank this year’s Salute award judges: Claire Silverman, Dan McCarthy, David Lubar, Kenneth Munson, Robert Whitaker, Sarah Diedrick-Kasdorf, and Vera Westphal.
The 31st Annual Salute to Local Government is sponsored by Bader Philanthropies, Baker Tilly, Ehlers, Herb Kohl Philanthropies, Kapur, League of Wisconsin Municipalities, Northwestern Mutual, Potawatomi Hotel & Casino, Quarles & Brady LLP, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Veolia, and We Energies. Our sponsor for this year’s keynote speaker – Bob Lang of the Wisconsin Legislative Fiscal Bureau – is Mueller Communications, and our media sponsor is Kane Communications.
The Wisconsin Policy Forum is the state’s leading source of nonpartisan, independent research on state and local public policy. As a nonprofit, our research is supported by members including hundreds of corporations, nonprofits, local governments, school districts, and individuals. Visit wispolicyforum.org to learn more.
NOTE: This press release was submitted to Urban Milwaukee and was not written by an Urban Milwaukee writer. It has not been verified for its accuracy or completeness.
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