EC County Needs Your Input!

The City of Eau Claire and Eau Claire County have made good efforts to get public input on budget concerns, opinions, and new ideas. Unfortunately, public meetings tend to go unattended and surveys are hard to find. Well, here’s another one, this time from Eau Claire County. As the county says, “The mission is ‘To provide quality, innovative services that safeguard and enhance the well being of all our residents.’ Your opinion is important to us. 2012 is going to be a difficult budget year and your ideas and opinions provide input to the Committee on Finance & Budget on community priorities.’ ” Sometimes the silent majority needs a chance to share what they think is most important. How important is having an Aging and Disability Center as opposed to Child Support Enforcement? These are difficult questions to answer, but sharing your opinion is one of the first steps to making a difference. To complete the survey, go to SurveyMonkey.com/s/EccBudgetSurvey. 

Chippewa Riverfront Plans Move Slightly Forward

The riverfront park we’ve all been looking forward to in downtown Chippewa Falls since 2007 is one step closer. In a 6-1 vote by the city council on Tuesday, the city purchased three acres from Canadian National Railway for $1 in exchange for five acres on the city’s west side. The park site is south of River Street, between the Main Street and Highway 124 bridges. Costs for cleanup on the purchased property may add up to $48,000 due to some contaminated soil, a detail the city knew about before negotiating. The project’s total cost has been estimated between $10 million to $15 million, but funding is not yet finalized. 

Eau Claire Aldermanic Boundaries to Change

Eau Claire City Council members will vote August 23 on the undetermined boundaries of the city’s five aldermanic districts. New boundaries must be drawn to make up for population changes while keeping existing neighborhoods together. Council members have been presented with three potential maps. One map adjusts the boundaries to compensate for the creation of new voting wards and population changes. A second map will force incumbent Councilman Andrew Werthmann into incumbent Councilwoman Kathleen Mitchell’s district. The third map creates the largest variance of residents between districts by creating a downtown-centered constituency. City Hall encourages the public to voice their opinions on August 22. 

GOP Retains Senate Control After August Recall Elections

The Wisconsin Senate recall elections were the next step in the bitter budget battle raging across the state, but they weren’t the big win many Democrats were expecting. Out of the six elections, only two Democrats managed to turn over the GOP incumbent. Three seats were needed for Democrats to gain a Senate majority. In the Menomonie district, Sen. Sheila Harsdorf was one of the Republicans who kept her seat, defeating Shelly Moore with 58 percent of the vote. At the time of press, there are two recall elections remaining in Senate Districts 12 and 22, but even if Democrats were to win both, Republicans would still hold a narrow 17-16 majority in the Senate. The results could have an effect on the movement to recall Gov. Scott Walker, who is up for recall in January 2012.