This is the final article in The Badger Herald’s series on the changes in leadership and organization the City Council and County Board are undergoing in the midst of recent partisan, and often personal, battles.

When former City Council president Gary Poulson gave his farewell speech Tuesday, he touched on an issue that some Council members fear is interfering with the group’s efficiency — the increasing tension and personal animosity among council members.

“I’m concerned about the atmosphere,” Poulson said as he accepted a plaque commemorating his year as the council’s leader.

“We’ve all had our ups and downs,” Poulson said. “We should give each other a little more respect and a little more consideration.”

Newly elected president pro tem, Ald. Linda Bellman, District 1, said she sees growing personal animosity among some members of the council and thinks personal struggles often inhibit policy-making.

“We start to deal with personalities, not issues,” Bellman said. “Two people can look at a problem and come up with two solutions, but that doesn’t mean that one’s right and one’s wrong.”

After serving on the Council for seven years, Ald. Mike Verveer, District 4, said he has noticed a change in the Council’s demeanor and suggested the Council is at one of its “lower points.”

“We used to have more fun,” Verveer said. “Meetings were shorter because there were less debates. We used to all go out after meetings. Now people aren’t as friendly. There used to be more of a collegial atmosphere.”

Council president Matt Sloan, who represents District 13, said he hopes to work on council relationships over the next year through the council’s organizational committee.

“It’s a matter of great concern to everybody,” he said. “The organizational committee is a place to work out how the council can work out problems.”

Sloan and Verveer both said increasing personal animosity between Council members could partially be blamed on the amount of debatable, controversial and many times emotional agenda items the council has taken up in recent years.

“We’ve had tremendously important, serious problems that are difficult to solve, which increases the magnitude of stress,” Sloan said.

Verveer said factions within the Council tend to determine the outcome of votes.

“I’m just as guilty as most,” he said. “People are less willing to compromise. They don’t talk with each other; they talk at each other.”

Ald. Todd Jarrell, District 8, now in his second year on the Council, said he has not been around long enough to notice a change in personal relationships, but does recognize some conflicts.

“People tell me they don’t like other people [on the council],” Jarrell said. “That does happen. There’s no one that I personally hate, but there are people who frustrate me.”

Long considered the more politically divided body of local government, the Dane County Board has also experienced its share of personal conflicts. Though he says attitudes are “pretty good” right now, Supv. Scott McDonnell, District 1, said board debates are often rooted in political differences.

“A lot of times it’s how well the conservatives get along with liberals,” McDonnell said. “We disagree, but there’s a lot less of a personal edge to the debate.”

However, McDonnell noted that if Tuesday’s one-vote chair-election margin is any indication, future votes will be close.

“We could see some late nights,” he said.

After serving on the City Council for five years, Bellman said she has noticed that members’ attitudes tend to fluctuate year-to-year.

“It’s the kind of thing that comes and goes,” Bellman said. “Every time there is a new series of alderpersons, [animosity] can rear its ugly head.”