September Update: County Newsletter

Written By Stephanie Knezz

Happy September Kenosha County. I hope everyone is doing well as we head into the fall. This is a really busy time of year for me, so this update will be brief and to-the-point. I appreciate your understanding as I move into both the budget season for the county and teaching lots of classes for my day job. 

In September, County Board meetings were highlighted by impactful statements from the public, and I have been hearing more from constituents about the issues that matter to you. This is incredibly helpful for me, as it can help guide my efforts as we move into our budget season–the time when the County Board arguably has the greatest impact. There has been a great deal of concern with the state of affairs at the District Attorney’s office, specifically the spaight of resignations and the backlog of cases that has resulted. While the DA is an elected position and the County Board is a separate branch of government, the Judiciary and Law committee has been making an effort to get a clearer picture of how things are operating at the DA’s office, and we hope to hold this office accountable when considering budget allocations. Proposal of the budget gives this office the opportunity to explain what funds they are requesting and how they plan to spend them, which gives the board the opportunity to probe deeper on how the office is operating. 

I have also heard from diligent members of the community about the significant lack of resources for people experiencing homelessness in Kenosha. The need for resources has increased significantly over the last few years, and with winter coming, this is an urgent issue. I have been working with the Human Services department to make sure that the organizations that support our homeless population are adequately funded for the coming year; this includes Shalom Center, Kenosha Human Development Services, the Sharing Center, and Women and Children’s Horizons. I really appreciate the community holding us accountable to make sure we are supporting the vulnerable residents across the county. This is something that I want to make sure gets prioritized appropriately in the budget.

In addition to issues raised by the community, the County Board heard a presentation from Supervisor Belsky about possible investment in the Kemper Center and the Anderson Arts Center. I know this is something that the community cares a lot about, and I will be watching this issue closely, as the Kemper Center is a beloved community resource, especially in District 2. I received a clear message of apprehension about the possibility of Kemper being fully privatized, and I am on board with the sentiment; I am also apprehensive about it. I care a lot about keeping community spaces open and public, and I will keep an eye on how this develops. If you are interested in the specific context of the presentation, you can follow this link, which will bring you to the portion of the meeting where Supervisor Belsky discusses the proposed investment for the Anderson Arts Center. Essentially what she’s asking for from the County Board is just to renew the lease of the Kemper Center, which would allow them to move forward with this kind of project.  I will keep you updated with where that stands; so far we haven’t voted on anything.

Finally, I had the opportunity to participate in a Council of Governments meeting over the weekend where I got to learn about the Kenosha County Housing Task Force, which is a joint effort by Kenosha Area Business Alliance (KABA) and Kenosha County. This task force aims to address the very real problem of housing shortage in the county and is using a multipronged approach to build housing at all income levels to support our growing population. The group is launching a website with updates soon, and I will be sure to link it when it becomes available (next month I believe). For now, I will include a link to their overview flyer, in case you are interested in the work this group is doing. 

Thank you as always for your ongoing engagement and communication. I love hearing your feedback, and I hope to be dynamic in my response (as much as possible). I look forward to updating you about all the exciting things that come the coming month as we finalize our budget for next year. Have a great rest of your month, and I will see you in October. 

Links:

Stephanie Knezz
Next

August Update: County Newsletter