FALK, SUPERVISORS VOW TO FIGHT GOVERNOR’S RPC DECISION

August 23, 2002
Topf Wells, 266-9069
County Executive

With several Dane County Supervisors, Dane County Executive Kathleen Falk today released an opinion from Dane County Corporation Counsel stating that Governor Scott McCallum’s dissolution of the Dane County Regional Planning Commission is unlawful. “Besides being unlawful, the Governor’s action will hurt Dane County,” Falk said. “The development that concerns most of us consists of the big commercial or residential projects at the edge of our growing cities and villages. The RPC reviews and decides on the land use decisions needed for these big developments with a commission that represents the cities, villages, and towns of Dane County. It offers the only countywide review of projects that can affect big areas of our County. The Governor obliterates that planning. While he proposed to replace it with a DNR review, that option, too, seems illegal. The Governor proposes to replace planning with chaos.” Falk and the supervisors pledged to take the legal action necessary to stop the Governor. They said: “Only three weeks ago, the Governor formally approved a two year extension of the RPC to allow Dane County, the 61 cities, villages and towns within Dane County, and surrounding counties to develop new planning organizations to help the region grow better. The Governor should rescind his illegal order and return to the course of action he and the Legislature agreed to.” # # # Please contact the County Executive's Office for the documents that were attached to the press release. The documents are a memorandum from Falk to the County Board outlining steps the County should take in response to the Governor’s illegal act, the opinion from Corporation Counsel, and a fiscal analysis of the RPC’s dissolution by the County Controller.