County Board questions on ballot in Brown Deer, not Glendale

Advisory questions on the size and compensation for the Milwaukee County Board will be on the ballot April 3 in Brown Deer, but not in Glendale.

The governing boards of the two communities arrived at opposite conclusions Monday night after discussions in their respective municipalities.

County Supervisor Joe Rice and three Brown Deer residents spoke in support of the measures.

"The issue is whether they should be placed on the ballot so your residents can be heard on the topic," Rice said.

Previously, the Brown Deer Village Board had tabled the measure.

The Intergovernmental Cooperation Council, made up of the 19 municipalities in Milwaukee County, has urged its members to place the questions on the ballot in part because of the recent county redistricting.

The referendum would allow voters to weigh in on the ICC proposal of reducing the board from 18 supervisors to nine and on making the position part-time instead of full time.

In Glendale, Supervisor Theo Lipscomb spoke against the referendum, while four others supported it.

Glendale City Administrator Richard Maslowski said the majority of the Common Council felt the referendum should be countywide rather than a local question. About half of the 19 communities will have the questions on the ballot, Maslowski said, but the larger communities such as Milwaukee and Wauwatosa will not.

Council members Dan Sweeney and Richard Wiese voted for the referendum but aldermen Robert Whitaker, Elliott Moeser, Izzy Goldberg and JoAnn Shaw voted no.

Brown Deer, with a unanimous vote, joins the other North Shore communities of Bayside, Fox Point, River Hills, Shorewood and Whitefish Bay who will also have the questions on the ballot.