Nostalgia kicked off Thursday’s Dane County Board of Supervisors meeting as several outgoing supervisors accepted accolades for championing the interests of citizens before ending their tenure in true local government fashion: with drawn out debate over billboards.
Three outgoing county supervisors, including former University of Wisconsin student and Dane County Supervisor Leland Pan, District 5, received plaques from former supervisor and current state legislator, Rep. Dianne Hesselbein, D-Middleton, for being strong advocates for their constituents. The body also voted to approve state funding for police anti-narcotic initiatives, despite scattered opposition.
Hesselbein commended Pan for being an effective “hellraiser” as the District 5 supervisor, a predominantly student constituency known for producing supervisors outspoken on social issues. She fondly recalled Pan organizing a walkout at the same school her own daughter attended and Pan’s commitment to voting with his conscience.
Leaving county board, Leland Pan recalls career marked by idealism
Pan, who is succeeded by newly-elected Hayley Young, thanked the board and joked that he might have learned more as a county supervisor than he did while attending UW.
True to his nature, Pan used the meeting to speak out against the War on Drugs in response to two resolutions accepting state and federal funds for police counter narcotics operations. He said he understood the fiscal reasons that would lead to the resolution’s passage, a feeling shared by several other supervisors.
The body passed both resolutions by roll call 29-5 despite several members voicing concern about the continued acceptance of state funds to enforce a drug policy largely seen as ineffectual.
“The criminal justice system is not the avenue by which we should be addressing the issue of drug addiction,” Pan said. “The criminal justice system is a hammer and this is not a nail.”
One of the resolutions accepted federal funding for the county’s continued participation in the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Program, giving added funding to narcotics departments. The other continues state funding for a multi-county narcotics task force aimed to “dismantle drug trafficking organizations in Dane County.”
The county board spent much time debating the fate of several billboards located on county property near the airport. The board voted 16-8 to forego extending a lease to a billboard company on county land, effectively eliminating three billboards surrounding the airport.
“It makes me want to not leave the county board,” Pan joked near the three hour mark.
Nearly all board members raised their hand for the motion to adjourn at 11 p.m.
