Welcome everyone to the Rapids report first time get to say that we hope you all are happy to be doing
I thank you very much for joining us for this doing things a little bit new and differently with this show
But we're still going to be bringing you the guests that you have come to know and listen to and the information that is so vital to our community
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They're on with us today encourage you to check out their videos and the great work that they are doing over there
Love the work with the mayor and the interviews and those I've been really enjoying those
Check it out at WRC
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Community media and subscribe to their page keep up to all the great things that they are doing over there when I bring up
Talking to local individuals and bringing great information one of those
Wonderful resources we have is Lance Plimmo a kind of board chairman Lance not only knows what's going on in this area
But really up and down the state and one of those to that point Lance you were just at a statewide conference. I wanted to start there with you
That's I was really really happy that you said I'm one of the interesting people you talked to you wouldn't get the same answer from my wife or the kids
Or anybody else, but that's that's really good to hear. Yeah, you know, it's really interesting
We had a couple of statewide
presentations and conferences dealing with some large organizations
And it really comes down to you know, what does government do and what are the different levels of government to
And how do we make that more seamless because if you call somebody
Whether it be an ambulance a
Police officer when you call for you know help from human services if it's a mental health issue
You don't necessarily know who you're calling, but you hope somebody shows up and in oftentimes or most of the time
People don't know who is responsible for what so you know part of what we're talking about right now is how do we provide more seamless
Services to people how do we blend those services and make them more affordable?
How do we cooperate with all levels of government and this a great segue because you let into this?
You know, I have conversations with the mayor, you know often in the county in the city of Wisconsin Rampons work together often
You know one of the big projects
We just finished a big jail project and that project wouldn't happened without the cooperation of the city
We vacated Ava on street had to make some changes and there's gonna be some changes to parking
As we move forward the county has acquired much of the property across the street
The city has plans on some of those properties as well. We have a
long-time
Burnt out foundry that's been sitting in the city forever
The city worked cooperatively with the county or vice versa
You know to get that raised and get some development going there so you know
We constantly look at how do we do things better more effectively more efficiently and then
You know to be a little bit. I don't want to be crass, but you know people ask me all the time
You know
Who's responsible for picking up my garbage, you know, I get calls like that my my garbage wasn't picked up this week
There's still two full cans out there. Well the county doesn't do that
But I think it's
Important it's imperative that as officials that we know who you can call
I think the most frustrating answer I ever get is not my job
Yeah, so it wasn't caused me
I'd like to be able to say I can either answer that or I can get you to the person right away that can answer that and if I get two or three people
That ask me the same question. I'll usually call the department say give me the answer so I don't have to refer them
I do it the next time so I have a question and that I can't be I don't think I'm the only one thinking
When it comes to
Running for any kind of public office. Do you think that a person needs should be able to and I don't mean this literally
But should be able to take a test to be able to answer like what the job that they are doing because I feel like we're seeing more and more of
This lance where I certainly put it on individuals every single American to know their not only that what it takes to be able to
Vote but what it take the person that they're voting for can they do that job are they actually qualified and can they do they know
What they're doing can they name the three branches of government can they do these things do you think that somebody that they
It should be a rule like when you wanted to be a board chairman that you needed to take a test to know exactly what a board chairman does
Or we just bring let people run for whatever they want to run for and I don't have an answer for this
I'm asking I'm genuinely asking the question to not just you but our our listeners out there
It's a really good question and if you're watching this you know if you're seeing the video I'm laughing here because not only do and I'm gonna
Get in trouble for this not only do I think you probably have to have some should have some qualifications
Or some familiarity with what you're doing. I think you have to have to take that test before you vote
Now I'm gonna get in trouble for saying that but but I'm amazed at what people don't understand or what they don't know
And what they often blame local officials for of which they have no control and I can give you a really good example one time
I had a person who was running for county board
And once seated they said and we're gonna get everything in this school district straightened out
And I said well, you know what you you ran for the wrong office
We have zero control over county boards now that doesn't mean we don't know them and we don't talk to them and like during COVID
I mean when there's a health issue we're meeting with the superintendents who I'm taken direction from their boards
I mean there are symbiotic relationships, but not only
The person running but the person voting I'm just I'm amazed
Well at some of the stuff I hear no, I got do's watch these men on the street interviews
I was gonna reference that I was gonna reference the old Leno bit everything because I I remember being a kid and watching that and thinking well
This is this is it gets funny at first and then you're like wait a minute like this is this is actually a little sad
Some of these things and I understand how busy the life gets I understand we only have so much bandwidth as somebody who tries to follow every single
Sport I get it. It's pretty tough, but that's life, man. That's like the
the idea that
So much of democracy is just handed to us and is God given is born given to us here in this country
I think meeting things halfway is the least we can do. Hey, I'm an American citizen. I have democracy in my pocket
I get to vote. Okay, you got that now meet us halfway and learn about what you're voting for
Learn about the laws that you're voting on learn the people that are do they know their stuff and do you know your stuff because?
I don't know if I'm 100% with you on the voting part, but I'm leaning that way man
I'm leaning that way more and more to where I want I want informed voter
I want everybody to be able to vote and I want to then form voter and I don't think that's asking a lot
I don't think this is a bar. We're setting where you got to do this this and this no can you do you know the three branches of government?
Do you know certain things and that's for the person running for office as well as the person voting for it
I don't disagree with you on that. Yeah, I mean it
Requirements probably strong, but you know
We know you know you're out there and I'm amazed because I talk to people that are fairly involved
politically and and typically if you said them, can you name our two US senators?
That's a struggle sometimes and if I say can you name half of our congressman or women
Representatives are the answers I can usually name mine maybe they don't know who the others are and so I you know
I think if you're gonna run for office, you know
Again, test is what you know higher bar, but you probably ought to at least attend some meetings ahead of time
The problem we run into often is most people
Decide to run for office because there's an issue a single issue
Yeah, that has really irritated them and it's often an important issue. I don't want to diminish that
But in the grand scheme of things when I look at you know, for instance, what we handle at the county level
It's it's such as
It's just a microcosm of what we do. I mean it's important
But it's nowhere near as important is many of the other things that we have to deal with and and we see this all the time and
Some of you say well, don't you think this is important? I go I do but I've got a much bigger
Issue that I have to deal with or the at the board has to deal with today and sometimes those get you know pushed aside a little bit
But that's where knowing what your government does and no one who to call, you know
Makes a difference. Um, it doesn't make sense to
Necessarily to call me although I probably have a direct line them if there's something that you want our federal representatives
To take on and handle because I don't get a vote there. Right
If you want if you want I this is one of those things that I think every person has to start looking in the mirror about
Do you want to get something done when you feel passionate about something when you you want to hear
So you want to be heard about a saw a topic that one issue that you're referencing or something. Okay. All right
That's great
But do you really want to get stuff done or do you just want to bark because if you really want to get stuff done
That's what we're talking about here actually taking that energy and putting it in the right direction
I've used this example all the time you don't like the gas prices
Well, yelling at the clerk ain't going to do anything the clerk is just trying to do their job clerk had nothing to do with that
You really want to you have a problem with the gas prices learn where you need to go to actually be heard about that
You have to face this as a human being in this day and age where all of us have an outlet and all of us have a
Podcast or radio show uh, which is basically social media
So when do you want to just be a dog barking or do you want to get stuff done and that's what you have to realize as a human being
I think more and more now and part of getting stuff done is knowing who to talk to the branches of government and different things that services that are
You know offered by different part departments. Yeah, and that's really well said
And developing those relationships, you know, there's kind of four parts of this that I think I really important and the first part is
Develop relationships and I'll give you an example. This is probably a good, you know, lesson for anybody out in the community, but
If every time I called a state legislator or congressman, I wanted something
I really didn't establish a relationship and they don't know me
You know, you got to get to know the person first and then you got to get your facts and figures together
You got to have the data and the metrics
Then probably the most important part you need to be able to tell the story and so if you've developed the relationship
So the person trusts you and then you have the the metrics the data to back it up
And then you can roll that into a story that resonates you become a trusted individual
I made a comment the other day at an event. I was at I said as a youngster
I never thought in a million years that I'd ever have a conversation, you know, with the United States congressman
You know, you don't think that's gonna happen and and I have more than once, you know
Been out on a boat on a Saturday afternoon and I remember a congress calls me and says what do you think about?
And I had one of those conversations and I'm not in your district and they said
We don't care if you're in our district
We know that you probably talked to people you probably know the issue and you probably hear what they're saying locally
The point is there was a relationship where they trust you if I walk into the Capitol and I'm barking every minute or I'm screaming about everything
And I don't prioritize. I'm not gonna get anything
I
Want whether it's the governor's office the state legislature those representatives away locally
I want them to know that if I call them, it's really important
And it it's important to me because it's important to the constituents
That we deal with and the closer you are to your representative
Both geographically, you know, and from a relationship standpoint the more that story will resonate and then sometimes
We are the person who carries that you know that ball to the next level and gets it done for you
Lance at a recent wood County board meeting you guys made some budget changes. I wanted to touch on that a little bit too
Yeah, we make a whole bunch of budget
Yeah, that's really satisfying. It wasn't
Most of it believe it or not
This is really funny because if you first came to the county board every year we have a deficit budget every year and they'd say
Well, you're gonna be broke pretty soon and that was what I thought when I first got there again
I was low information high opinion. I got here, but
It's it's kind of the way we budget it's it in essence really doesn't end up being a structural budget or deficit
Or would have been broke a long time ago, right? What tends to happen is we we tend to under budget
Revenue is because they're there's government stuff that comes through so give you an example if we have a hundred and fifty sixty million dollar county budget
Only about you know 20 to 30 million that's discretionary money. We can really spend the rest of it's already
Dedicated or earmarked for a federal or state project
Oftentimes those revenues increase somewhat significantly throughout the year our expenses
What we budget is expect don't and so you know in the time
I've been that we've probably more than doubled the reserves yet every year it shows as a structural deficit
So this time of year we do budget resolutions to adjust it now
It seems funny me you think you need a budget resolution if you're gonna spend more money
We actually need a budget resolution
If we're given money back
Which is seems kind of ironic you think you just put it in the bank account you'd be good
But it has to be a kind of for so the one you're talking about though is edgewater Haven is is a tap-natch
Nursing home facility down here. It's a five-star rated
Facility one of the best in the area and and our board over the years and you know kudos to him has said
We really want to keep families together
We want to make sure that we have a top-notch facility in the area where
Whether it be grandma and grandpa or great-grandma can stay here
They can visit the grandkids they can stay in the area and then we don't have to worry about
You know their kids or grandkids moving somewhere else to be with them and in that case
It becomes
That might create a business development
Possibility if they leave it creates a problem the other way
So we've made the commitment to keep those people here and the cost of that project at
Edgewater the engineering and that part of it was about the budget adjustment was about $200,000
The total project is gonna be about two million dollars and you go that's a lot of money
But the revenue projections are by making those changes. It's gonna be revenue positive
Because you can handle different kinds of
You know patients and our residents. So we always look at that
It's it's a big number up front, but at the end of the day it pays dividends comes back and comes a positive
So you're gonna see a whole bunch of these in the next month. Yeah, well, and I think just
I'm this particular one especially when it comes to edgewater haven or something. It's
Important I think in any area certainly, but especially here in such a Wisconsin and specifically in Wisconsin rapids and port edwards
In our surrounding areas here where we have a very strong high senior population
All the more reason to be taking care of this and doing this for one because it's the right thing to do
Just bluntly I think but it's also it's smart economically to the points that you're bringing up
So it doesn't happen all the time at society where I feel like the right thing to do is also the economical thing to do and that
That's a great thing to note. I think yeah, those don't always go hand in glove
No, no, you know from a demographic standpoint. Yeah, we're in trouble
You know all of the projections whether it be forward analytics at the state level or or even the national news we hear there's gonna be a huge
Nursing home shortage and yet you have nursing homes closing all over
Or they're being bought by private entities sometimes only with profit in mind and that necessary not necessarily such an undertak covered topic
And you know, we've really we've really worked on making edgewater
You know feel like home much less institutions. It's a really nice place fact
I was in there a couple weeks ago, and I said can I have this room?
You know in a few years because it's really nice the viewers fantastic
But that's commitment we've made we want to make sure that those beds are available
You know demographically
we're
We are on the worst half
Of all of the 72 counties of the state of where we're gonna be in several years and so you know
We have to deal with it and we have to be ready well, and this is again part of the reason why you want people that know what they're doing and
Know the job in these positions because you guys are getting ahead of this and that's you know
Accredited our board and our community when it comes to these things I appreciate that and before we wrap up a
Lance I did one of our mind everybody the Wood County Sarah Park is not open for reservations
Encourage everybody to get those reservations and get on over there
I know a number of people actually that I've talked to since that news got broke
That they're looking forward to getting over there one a couple I knew they went there when they were kids
Haven't really been there since and now they want to take their kids over there
And that was a real you know another feather in the cap of the parks department
When that opportunity arose and we have the ability to have you know waterfront property
To take on an existing campground, you know
We're talking savings of millions of dollars to provide something in the community that not only
Provides recreation for those of us locally, but provides economic stimulus the people that come into the area
Although our campgrounds run, you know at
Fairly close to break even I mean they're they're not huge profit centers
But those people are out in the community and they're they're buying gas and they're going to the restaurants and
Just to the stores, you know the retail stores and then some of those people realize what a great community we have and then they say
You know what maybe I should buy a house here or maybe I should open a business here and
Kind of funny story on the way in here. I just had a call from a
Developer just calling me up. He said what do you think about I can't talk about it yet, but I mean that was just
Driving in I had to cut them off in the parking lot and say I got to be on the year in one minute. I'll get back to you
But that call came in from Dallas, Texas. Mm-hmm. So, you know
We'll see what's out there, but all of that is a result of the community the people in it
I think the friendly attitude and nature of our residents and that's the cooperative friendly
Part that I talk about always appreciate the conversation Lance looking forward to hanging out again next month if people have fought questions
Would like to get in touch with you. How can they do that my my personal numbers are in the
Well, you can find them on the web you can find them in the county directory you can find at the county website my email you can text me
Whatever works best for you. I'm I'm always on talking real quick point
There's 74 or 5,000 you out there. Some of you have way better ideas than I have so feel free to give me a call
Encourage you to do that Lance is always looking forward to talking with you and if you're curious
The references I had for the art of the things we were talking about today is woodcountywi.gov
Encourage you to bookmark that web page and keep up on everything going on here in wood county while you're at it
Go to YouTube type in your search bar
Wisconsin Rapids Community Media and subscribe to the great work. They are doing right there. I appreciate you guys over there
Lance, thanks again for the time. Thanks James. We'll have more rapid support coming up for you everybody
