2018 candidates for Brown County circuit court judge.
League gives sustained attention to, and takes concerted action on, issues chosen by the members. Through its voters’ service, the league provides nonpartisan factual information on the structure and functions of government, and on voting procedures, election issues and candidates.”
In addition to that general mission, all Leagues study issues that their members select as important, and develop positions.
“ At its founding, the Brown County schools were seen as a critical issue, and so our league studied schools and school finance and developed a position at the time,” Winn said.“ Other key issues that this League has focused on over the years have included water and watersheds, land use, planning and zoning, septic, sewers and solid waste, emergency services( including the fire district), and accessible health care. We recently completed a study of county fiscal and development management.”
Winn said that selecting issues is the result of a combination of individual members having a passion for something and the membership at large agreeing on items they want to see pursued.
Winn said she is convinced that the League has had a significant impact on the community over the decades.
“ Issues that the League was instrumental in getting out there, through Visions 2010 and 2020 and a multitude of Community Conversations and Forums on single issues, have since percolated throughout the community and come to fruition. Examples include the Brown County Solid Waste District and Facility, the Brown County Community Foundation, and the Deam Wilderness,” Winn said.“ We don’ t take the credit for actually doing all the work of accomplishing some of these things— there were a lot of people here who got these things done— but we got the discussion going.”
Each year, the League hosts numerous events to help educate the community. Annual events include the Meet Your Legislators town hall every winter, to which state senators and state representatives are invited. Candidate forums for both the primary and general elections are another set of events that the League hosts annually.
“ Candidate forums provide the chance to see and hear the candidates respond to questions that the audience has submitted. I find them very helpful myself— I watch their body language, listen carefully to what they are saying, weigh that against what I know about the issues and about what they have said or done in the past, if I have knowledge about that,” Winn said.“ I have made up my mind only after the candidate forums many times. In the primary election, the races are intraparty, so it’ s interesting to see how multiple candidates of one party differentiate themselves. In the general election, of course, there can be much more disagreement about the issues, and that’ s good for those listening, since they can hear various viewpoints.”
The group also occasionally hosts a forum / community conversation in partnership with another organization or county / town government. For example, the Forums on Road Financing in 2016 and the Salt Creek Trail( and iron bridge) last October.
Winn said the group is most passionate about simply helping voters become more informed.
“ We have a number of slogans about informed voters,‘ Democracy is not a spectator sport,’ and‘ Decisions are made by those who show up,’ are two of my favorites,” she said.“ Basically, a democracy is rooted in the consent and participation of the governed. Our forefathers believed that the fundamental mechanism for giving that consent was the vote. A citizen has rights under our Constitution, but also responsibilities— and to participate at the most basic level in the civic community by voting is one of the most critical. Decisions about local( and national) issues will get made regardless by those who
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