Shawano County supervisors agreed to a change in the makeup of its ethics committee in hopes of avoiding any future conflicts of interest.
Members agreed March 25 that the makeup of the committee will be five residents and one alternate resident. The inclusion of county board supervisors was eliminated.
Members will be appointed by the county board chairman and approved by the county board.
The move follows the tumultuous 2024-25 session in which several complaints were field against Supervisor Lowel Hammett, who was serving as chairman of the committee.
At the time of the appointment, members must not be county officials nor have an immediate family member that is a county employee or county official.
Appointments will be made from as broad a base as practicable, and, to the extent practicable, will include one member from each of the eastern, western and central areas of the county.
“We just have to find enough individuals that are willing to serve on the ethics committee,” said Tom Kautza, board chairman.
Members shall serve staggered three-year terms, with terms expiring the third Tuesday in April.
To establish staggered terms, two members will initially be appointed for one-year terms, two will be appointed for two-years terms and one will be appointed for a three-year term.
After that, all appointments will be for three-year terms.
“Whoever the chair is, they will not be allowed to appoint all of them,” Kautza said. “That way you will never end up in the future of one chairman that can push for a certain group of people, because they will be staggered over time.”
The rules committee, which forwarded these changes to the board, also included specific language that the department heads would report to the administrative coordinator even though the executive committee had removed that from the revamped job description. The job description has yet to be approved by the board.
After much discussion, the language was removed from the rules book, with the understanding that the board will make that decision next month when it reviews the proposed job description.
In another move reorganizing standing committees, the ag and extension committee will merge with the land conservation committee and will be renamed the land conservation agriculture extension committee.
Finally, one of the two county board supervisors serving on the library board will also be a member of the public property committee.
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