Dane County Executive Kathleen Falk released a letter Friday calling for the dissolution of a county commission that assesses local water quality management – a commission that served as a key issue during the recent county executive race.

Falk said in the letter the Capitol Area Regional Planning Commission “has failed and continues to fail at many of the key responsibilities it was created to undertake.” Falk recommended dissolving the commission as soon as possible to prevent county taxpayers from having to fund CARPC’s $750,000 budget this year.

Falk also said recent decisions made by the Department of Natural Resources have rendered CARPC unnecessary.

“The DNR has taken away whatever authority CARPC had,” said Topf Wells, Falk’s chief of staff. “The emperor doesn’t have any clothes on, and it’s time that somebody noticed that.”

Wells said in addition to CARPC’s limited authority, the commission had made some poor decisions in regards to helping plan future urban growth in the county’s cities, towns and villages.

However, CARPC commissioner Ald. Larry Palm, District 15, said the commission is necessary because as a local commission it can be more timely than the statewide DNR. He also said because the commission was designed to assess water quality, it can extrapolate additional issues like land use and population density.

CARPC Administrative Services Manager Chris Gjeston said Falk’s disappointment with the organization is partially because she had certain expectations that were not within the commission’s jurisdiction.

Gjeston said Falk and CARPC did not see eye-to-eye about the commission’s authority regarding Future Urban Development Areas.

CARPC was created to carry out FUDA to plan more effectively for the future and provide the best environmental information, Wells said. He added CARPC has “completely failed” to execute FUDA.

In Falk’s letter, she said the charter defined FUDA and charged CARPC with methods and priorities to pursue them. She added that to date the commission has not completed any FUDAs.

But Gjeston said FUDA is in the process of being carried out in two areas, although delays have occurred because of short staffing.

Palm said the commission’s legal counsel agrees they do not have the legal standing to require FUDA because it is not written in state statutes. He said the commission is an advisory board designed to work actively with communities and simplify the FUDA process.

“If we have a disagreement about how the commission should go about things, [Falk and CARPC] should see what they can do within the system and not throw bombs at the commission,” Palm said. “She has on numerous occasions threatened them.”

Gjeston said the recommendation came as no surprise since Falk has referred to dissolution many times throughout the past year.

With Falk leaving office Monday after 14 years of service, Wells said the recommendation’s goal is to frame the question of CARPC’s necessity and start the debate. He said if CARPC does disband, its tasks could be delegated to several county-based commissions and agencies.

Wells said the debate about whether or not to dissolve the commission will “probably be huge” for incoming Dane County Executive Joe Parisi. He said the big question will be determining how CARPC would be replaced.

“[Falk] is setting us up for a nice battle,” Palm said.