News

Former School Board member to run for county executive

Former Madison Metropolitan School Board member and realtor Nancy Mistele formally announced Wednesday she will run against incumbent Kathleen Falk for Dane County Executive.

In her announcement speech, Mistele primarily focused on public safety, talking specifically about the failures of the Dane County 911 Center.

“The failures of the 911 Center are not new, and they are not isolated,” Mistele said. “A consultant reported five years ago that we needed to fix technology and personnel. All of these failures can be laid at the doorstep of Kathleen Falk.”

The 911 Center mishandled calls related to two homicides this year, one of which came from the cell phone of slain University of Wisconsin student Brittany Zimmermann.

Mistele added she would not run for re-election unless she fixes the 911 Center, which she intends to do by updating the center’s technology.

Falk added staff and technology to the 911 Center in the 2009 county budget. She also added new dispatching software, computer systems and infrastructure. Falk also implemented a $30 million radio communication system for police, firefighters and EMTs.

“It was the second-largest project in county history,” said Josh Wescott, spokesperson for Falk.

“If Dane County is to be competitive for jobs, we need safe roads that will move people, goods and services efficiently,” Mistele said.

In addition, Mistele said every taxpayer dollar would be used efficiently and government would “work harder than the taxpayers.”

Mistele also said she wants to put an end to taxpayer-funded bail for defendants. She said people should not act as “bail bondsmen” like they do in Falk’s catch-and-release program.

“Judges should be free to put criminals in jail without pressure from the county executive to put them on the street,” Mistele said.

Mistele said she wants to cut the catch-and-release program and add more dispatchers to the 911 Center.

Mistele also intends to maintain domestic partner benefits for homosexuals in the county and promised the gay and lesbian community she would maintain the domestic partner registration program.