Hey, if you’re looking for an amazing way to spend your evening, how do the words “Local Budget Alert Session” strike you? Pretty tempting, right? Yep, nothing screams “classic Wisconsin Summertime fun” like a good budget crisis brainstorming session. Luckily, the Citizen Alliance for Strong Communities is hosting just such a session – tonight. From the press release:

• The Citizen Alliance for Strong Communities (CASC) would like to invite you to an important informational meeting titled, ‘Local Budget Alert Session’. This will be a review of the difficult times that lay ahead, and an honest discussion about the impact of state budget cuts on Eau Claire area services at the city, school and county level. The meeting will be on August 4th from 5:30 to 7:30 pm at the Chippewa Valley Technical College Health Center, Conference Room 117.
• As you know, CASC is made up of many public sector and private sector organizations committed to protecting the quality of life in our area.  

In addition to presenting the budget cut info, CASC will also be hosting discussions. Sounds like a pretty interesting event if you,you know, care about the quality of life around these parts.

THE FULL PRESS RELEASE:

• July 30, 2009
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• Dear  Community Member,   
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• The Citizen Alliance for Strong Communities (CASC) would like to invite you to an important informational meeting titled, ‘Local Budget Alert Session’. This will be a review of the difficult times that lay ahead, and an honest discussion about the impact of state budget cuts on Eau Claire area services at the city, school and county level.  The meeting will be on August 4th from 5:30 to 7:30 pm at the Chippewa Valley Technical College Health Center, Conference Room 117.
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• As you know, CASC is made up of many public sector and private sector organizations committed to protecting the quality of life in our area.  
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• This will be the first time leaders from all these sectors are working together to provide our citizen groups with information on how the loss of public funding will affect services in the greater Eau Claire area.  School administrators and teacher union representatives will summarize how area students will be impacted. City and county officials with public sector union leaders will describe possible outcomes for local families and businesses, depending on budget decisions later this summer. We will finish with small group discussions based on questions and ideas from the audience.
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• We are asking community groups to attend this meeting for two reasons. First, it is crucial that citizens be aware of the financial pressure affecting our communities.  Second, it is critical that citizens be involved in decisions about how we should respond to the loss of services.
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• We realize that there are more pleasurable ways to spend a summer evening, so we will start and end on time to make sure you can still enjoy other activities. We will also provide a light supper to save you time and energy.  But, city and county budget planning must be done by September so if we don’t hold this meeting now, it will not be possible to incorporate your ideas into the planning process.
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• This “Local Budget Alert Session” is extremely important and we hope that you will make time to participate. We all care deeply about our community and want to protect the quality of our life here. Cities, counties and school districts across this state are facing similar financial shortages.  All of us are struggling to find ways to maintain strong communities and strong public structures.  Our best chance is to work together.
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• Thank you
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• Gregg Moore – Chairman of the Eau Claire County Board
• Tom McCarty – Eau Claire County Administrator
• Mike Huggins – Eau Claire City Manager
• Matt Staudenmaier – Vice Chair of the Eau Claire Labor Council
• Carol Craig – Eau Claire School Board President
• Jo Ellen Burke – Retired Educators Association
• Mike Golat – Altoona City Administrator
• Greg Fahrman – Altoona School Superintendent
• Bruce Barker – President, Chippewa Valley Technical College