Plan to hike pay of La Crosse county supervisors needed more notice

We likely already know the answer, but why is it that those we elect to office tend to downplay the most controversial issues? For example, members of Congress often vote to give themselves a pay raise in the middle of the night, when few people are watching. We’re seeing the same thing at the local level. A La Crosse County committee had on its agenda for yesterday’s meeting a plan to raise pay for those serving as county supervisors. The plan would nearly double the monthly salary of county board members and the county board chair. But it certainly wasn’t well publicized. In fact, some county board members didn’t learn the hefty pay hike was even on the agenda until contacted by WIZM News. No only did the public have no chance to weigh in on the pay hike proposal, neither did those who would be affected by the pay increase. Longtime County board member Ralph Geary admitted he didn’t know of plans to increase supervisory pay until our newsroom reached out to him. In recent years, when supervisors have gotten a pay raise, it was one or two percent, equal to what county employees received. This calls for a much larger pay increase. Given how much the county is paying its administrator, who has the responsibility of managing county government, hasn’t the typical supervisor’s workload gone down? And if so, then why should we have to pay them so much more?