FDL County Exec Sam Kaufman Talks County Gov't, Development, Economy + More

Introduction

Adam: This WiLL Cast is with Sam
Kaufman, who is the Fond du Lac County Executive. Becca, what do you think?

Becca: One of the coolest parts of
doing the WiLL Cast is I’ve learned a lot about things like city government —
we spoke with Joe Moore quite a few episodes back. But now getting to meet Sam
— it’s just not someone you really think about, or you don’t think about the
impact they have on the community in which you live. It was a really cool
opportunity to learn more about county government and how that all operates and
his role. He took over after a very long-standing County Executive in Allen
Buechel, who was really widely respected and loved. He didn’t necessarily step
into the easiest position — really big shoes to fill. But really good energy
about him. Super positive guy. It’s very obvious that he cares a lot about the
Fond du Lac community. He seems really genuine.

Adam: He’s very much trying to help.
He has so much going on — he runs a law practice, he’s County Executive, sits
on some boards. You kind of get this vibe that he’s doing things for the right
reasons. It’s a huge responsibility — hundreds of people that report to him. I
don’t think I realized how many county employees there were.

Becca: When you start to think about
it, it does make sense. But it’s a huge responsibility. And to think about some
of the other cities in the area that are under him — Waupun, Campbellsport,
Eden, North Fond du Lac, Van Dyne — there’s a lot that I don’t think we
necessarily think about.

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County vs. City Government

Adam: What’s the relationship or the
difference between county and city?

Sam: The county consists of all county
government services — Department of Social Services, Community Programs, the
County Highway Department. The structure is different than the city. The city
has a city council and a city manager. County Executive is my role — I’m an
elected official for four-year terms. Then you have the County Board, which is
the legislative body — 25 County Board supervisors representing districts
throughout the entire county. We’re separate and distinct. Think of it like
Madison or Washington — you have three branches of government. I represent the
executive branch, the County Board is the legislative branch, and then you have
the judicial branch, which is five judges.

Sam: I bring initiatives to the County
Board in a legislative form, through a resolution. They approve it or not. If
they approve something on their own that I don’t like, I have the power to veto
it. Then it goes back to them for a two-thirds vote. And of course you have the
judiciary, where any citizen can go before the court to ask the court to
invalidate what we’ve done.

Adam: There are only 12 County
Executives in Wisconsin?

Sam: That’s right. The rest of the
counties have County Administrators, where the County Board hires someone to be
the administrator. There’s usually an executive committee from the County Board
that the administrator reports to, and the County Board has the ability to
terminate them. Whereas the County Board cannot terminate a County Executive.

900 Employees, 30-Plus Departments

Adam: What does a week look like?
Where do you spend a lot of your time?

Sam: Meetings. I have 30-plus
departments that I oversee. We have about 900 employees. What I have to do is,
without micromanaging, monitor the departments, find out what’s going on, meet
with my department heads. By statute, the county department heads are actually
selected and appointed by the County Executive, and they are confirmed by the
County Board. However, all department heads serve at the pleasure of the County
Executive. At any time, an incoming County Executive has the ability to
terminate every department head if they want to, or replace some.

Adam: Within Fond du Lac County, Fond
du Lac is the largest city. It’s an interesting mix of small towns and a
somewhat larger city. What does that dynamic look like?

Sam: The Highway Department, for
example — our County Highway Commissioner Tom Yanke does a wonderful job. He
may have to coordinate with villages and townships on highway projects. Each
municipality has their own governing body — town boards, village boards. My job
as County Executive is to engage with all those municipalities, find ways to
partner with them to make sure what they’re doing improves the lives of their
residents. A good example is economic development. A business might be looking
to come into a smaller municipality. We’ll look to partner with that
municipality — say, a low-interest loan to entice them to come into that
community.

Sam: The hardest part for me at times
is staying in communication with all of them. We have a Fond du Lac County Town
Association that meets every three months. I’ll give a report — kind of a state
of the county address — and let them know what issues are coming up. For the
villages and cities, I try to make my rounds to their regular meetings and
present myself to their governing body. Communication is really a
responsibility of the County Executive.

Rural Development Challenges

Adam: When we put in our building
expansion, we were looking at a few different sites. We looked at business
parks south of town, North Fond du Lac, rural Fond du Lac County. The further
you get away from the city, it turns into farming very quickly. Do you see
outside companies wanting to get into the more rural areas?

Sam: One of the problems is, a large
corporation wants to move into Fond du Lac, but the problem is space. You have
to find the right space for whatever they’re trying to do. Some companies
prefer a more rural setting because of the space — their plans might include a
larger parking lot, and we can’t always do that here in the city. But a lot of
the rural areas are agricultural, and the farmers don’t want to give up their
land. A lot of the towns, because of farm preservation, don’t want to see
farmland given up for commercial purposes. So that’s the challenge we face. A
lot of the smaller manufacturing businesses are likely multi-generational
family machine shops that have always been there. When it comes to a larger
company wanting to move into a rural area, there are all the challenges I
outlined.

Sam’s Background: Chicago to Wisconsin

Adam: What made you want to get into
this line of work? What’s your background?

Sam: I’m originally from Chicago — the
Garfield area, right in the middle of the city. My family moved here to
Wisconsin. We had a place in Adams, Wisconsin, over by Castle Rock Lake. I went
to UW–Superior for my undergrad. I was supposed to go to Madison, but I went
with a friend to Superior just to check out the area. It was a blizzard going
on, but I fell in love with the area. I’m an outdoors person. Pattison State
Park holds the state’s largest waterfall up there. He went to Madison, I went
to Superior.

Sam: I ended up going to law school —
I’m an attorney also. I went to Hamline University. I came to Wisconsin and
passed on living in a large city in St. Paul. I was offered a job there, but
growing up in Chicago and then moving to Wisconsin, I started to realize
there’s nothing that beats small-town living. The connections you get with
people, the friends you develop. It really is a better way to raise your
family, as far as I’m concerned.

Adam: What part of Chicago originally?

Sam: Garfield area. Right in the city
itself. We used to laugh at the people who would say they’re from Chicago and
you find out they’re from the suburbs.

Adam: Are you still a Cubs fan?

Sam: I grew up with the Cubs. But I’m
a die-hard Brewers fan. For Cubs fans, we do not like the White Sox, never did.
When the Brewers were in the American League, we rooted for the Brewers at all
times. When they came to the National League, it was torture. But the Brewers —
I always end up going to their games. My kids have always gone there. I fell in
love over at Miller Park with the Brewers.

Sam: I met my wife in Montello. I
passed up on a large firm, came to a small firm in the Montello area. Happened
to walk into a restaurant one day, opened up a door, and she’s standing in
front of me. She was the one. Seven years now. We have four children — one we
adopted last year. We were a foster home, and we adopted him.

Sam: As an attorney, I followed
politics a little bit, and an opportunity came to go on the County Board. Some
individuals were pushing me to do it. I was elected my first term seven years
ago. I was re-elected a few more times. After my first term, I was honored to
become elected as the first vice chair of the County Board. Unfortunately, due
to the untimely passing of Allen Buechel, our County Executive — I was on the
ballot for County Executive. I won the special election on June 7th, took
office two days later, and here I am.

Adam: A lot of good things happening.

Sam: Allen was a friend of mine. I
served as his treasurer in his last election. Nothing but respect — he was a
mentor to me. Coming in now with the change of leadership, there’s still that
element of Allen in the room. I’ve always tried to keep that in my mind — what
would Allen do here? We have a great staff. I kept all my department heads. One
of my right hands is Aaron Jared — she’s my Director of Administration. She
does an amazing job.

Law Practice & County Executive

Adam: Do you still practice law?

Sam: I do. I have a part-time
practice. I’m in the County Executive office Monday through Friday, usually
from 8:30 to about 5:00. I have staff who takes care of the other stuff at my
other office during the day. Evenings and weekends I’ll work on things. I’m a
trial lawyer. I do primarily insurance defense work. I represent a lot of
governmental bodies — if you sue a city, a village, a county, I typically come
in and get hired by the insurance company to defend them. I’ve cut my practice
down to half right now.

Sam: My father was a union carpenter
from Chicago. They always used to say, you ever want to solve a problem, don’t
get the lawyers — they seem to complicate it. It can happen.

Bipartisan Challenges & State Surplus

Adam: One of the things I find
interesting is how behind closed doors, people often get along or are on the
same page a lot more than in public. What are some ways people from both sides
can work together more?

Sam: The nice part about County
Executive and the County Board is it’s nonpartisan. But in my position, I still
have to deal with the state level, where officials are partisan — Republicans,
Democrats. Maybe I’m old school, but I come from the day where there should be
a team effort. It should get back to what is best for our residents and our
citizens. Watching the ugliness of politics on both sides of the aisle has been
very disappointing and an embarrassment at times. I watch the stalemate in
Madison or Washington. As a County Executive, knowing there are things they
could be doing to help us with our budget, increase our revenue stream — we
face a very tight budget due to the lack of resources from the state. We’re
sitting on a $5 billion surplus right now in Madison. It’s been frustrating for
County Executives because we keep saying, you need to do something here, stop
playing politics with it.

Sam: I’m hoping they can find common
ground. I understand there are core issues they can’t compromise on, but there
are some issues they can, and they need to step up to the plate.

Adam: And what’s unfortunate is the
distrust people have for the media now. It used to be where people relied on
the media and felt the information was fair and balanced. Now it’s become
partisan to many people, and there’s just no respect for the media as a reliable
source of information.

Sam: But we still get to have
podcasts.

Adam: That’s right. This is the future
of media.

Onshoring, Labor Shortage & Demographics

Adam: What are you seeing in the
business world here?

Sam: Corporations are trying to come
back into the country. I think it’s a cost savings issue — supply chain
control, time to produce the product here in the United States. That’s the way
it should be. We have a lot of companies trying to develop and expand here in
our state and our community. The problem we run into is the labor shortage.
That’s really the biggest issue we face. It’s hard to sell the county to a
corporation if there’s no labor force for them to hire. Many of our companies
right now are facing that labor shortage, and the county is not excluded — I
have a lot of openings in county government that I can’t fill. We compete with
the private sector, and county government can’t pay what the private sector
does. All we can do is try to offer additional benefits to offset the wage
difference.

Sam: This younger generation is
different. The idea used to be, I want to work in this community because this
is where my family is. Now the younger generation is more, I’m going to go
where the money is — out of state, out of the area. We have a large amount of
people in Fond du Lac County that moved to Texas. But what we tend to find is,
when they get older, they come back to their roots.

Adam: We talk to people all the time
that are moving back. If you can have a house that’s twice as big and a third
of the cost and you’re trying to raise a family, that’s a pretty strong
argument.

Sam: It’s estimated that by 2035, in
Fond du Lac County, we’ll have more people over 65 than under 18. That’s a
scary thought. It’s going to affect our labor issue even more.

Adam: I don’t think people fully
realize how concerning some of the demographic issues are. In manufacturing,
for every five people retiring, there are only two people replacing them. We’re
fortunate that when people come tour our operation, the first thing they say
is, man, you guys have a lot of younger people working here. Our average age is
33, which is pretty young for manufacturing. Part of our mission is to get
people excited about manufacturing.

Sam: When I tour different
manufacturing places, it’s always interesting — the number of older individuals
compared to younger. It’s really a matter of three to five years before there’s
an exodus of people retiring. And even though there’s an exodus, due to economic
conditions, we’re seeing older individuals who were retired having to come back
for part-time jobs.

Keeping Young People: Activities, Parks & Amenities

Sam: What I’ve been trying to do as
County Executive is work together with Envision. Sadie does an amazing job over
there. We’re trying to not only increase economic activity to get businesses to
come, but I also need to figure out how to keep the younger generation from
leaving. Their mentality — they want to make money, but they also need
something to do. We’ve been trying to figure out ways to partner with Envision,
Downtown Promotions, and areas like Waupun, Ripon, Campbellsport. Can we create
activities for them? New trails, outdoor activities? Because that’s a big
factor for a lot of them, including myself.

Sam: We have a beautiful park system.
Hobbs Woods is our gem. Schag-A-Nappy — a lot of people know it. It’s a Boy
Scout lodge area that we are now putting money into to develop for more hiking
trails and outdoor area for performances. We’re looking to renovate our
fairgrounds — the stage. Rolling Meadows — we’re working on ways to improve
that golf course so it’ll be around for the next five, ten years or longer.
Those are the ideas we need to pursue to keep people here.

Tech Schools, High Schools & the Four-Year Degree Shift

Adam: We’re big proponents of tech
school. We put an emphasis on productivity and lean process flow, lean
manufacturing. We’re getting out 30–40% more this year with the same size staff
on the floor. Moraine Park said their Six Sigma programs and Green Belt certifications
have never been busier, because of labor shortages forcing people to get more
creative on the productivity side.

Sam: We’re trying to do that too. Fond
du Lac High School has an ACE program. I toured it yesterday with Assembly
Elect Jerry O’Connor, Mark Castro the school board president, and Dr. Flagg
from the school district. It’s an amazing program that teaches high school
students various trades, and they usually get placed in manufacturing jobs
around the county. You’re seeing the downturn of those seeking a four-year
degree. More people are interested in either learning on the job or going to a
tech school and getting their degree in two years and making as much money.

Sam: The concern is, as the UW system
starts to decrease in enrollment, it’s time for the Board of Regents to start
realizing they have to revamp the UW system and bring it more in line with the
times. The tech schools have been expanding more and more. The $55 million
referendum just passed for Moraine Park. People passed that because they
realize the need for tech schools. We’re having a new Robotics Center built in
Fond du Lac, and as a county, we’re putting $500,000 towards it because we
believe in that investment.

Adam: I actually think there’s a lot
of opportunity in the high schools. When you think about how great kids are on
computers and with technology — we met with the INCubatoredu group over at
North Fond du Lac and had 25 kids through here, and those kids were super
impressive. You combine that thirst with the tools that technology provides and
get them associated with the right people in the area — you can really
accelerate the rate at which people can learn.

Sam: Senator Dan Feyen from our area
is a big supporter of the tech schools and trades industry. He’s at least ahead
of the curve. What I like about the trades program at the high schools is that
a lot of students who were dropping out now have a focus, something they can
achieve and know where they can head. Giving them an alternative to the
four-year college mentality — that’s what we should be doing.

Foster Care Advocacy

Sam: One thing if I can push — I
always push foster care. I am a licensed foster parent myself, along with my
wife. There is a shortage. I am very passionate about foster care because a lot
of people underestimate the impact it has on these children. My son went
through five different foster homes, tossed around the system, because
unfortunately our system is flawed in that it favors the parents who just can’t
seem to get it together. By the time these children are actually able to be
adopted, they’re already in their teens, and a lot of people don’t want to
adopt teenagers. Those individuals end up being pushed out of the system at 18,
already feeling unloved and unwanted, and their alternative is they’re going to
turn to crime or other issues.

Sam: I’ve been talking to a few of the
legislators about changing the system — putting timelines on when TPRs have to
be submitted to the DA’s office. We can’t keep doing this. It’s a failed system
right now. More importantly, we need foster homes. If people want to reach out
or find out more here in Fond du Lac, our Department of Social Services has a
foster care agent. There’s ways to become a licensed foster home, even just to
take temporary children — when someone has to have a child removed from their home,
they need a place temporarily. County governments have to stop thinking this is
just us. There are a lot of private agencies out there — licensed foster care
agencies. We need to partner with them. It really has to be about the children.
Anybody interested — DSS in Fond du Lac County. Always reach out. They’re more
than happy to help you out with the process.

Adam: I appreciate you bringing that
up. That is super important. Thank you very much for all you do in the county.

Sam: Anytime you want to come back and
say hi, or anything we can do to help, please reach out. I appreciate the fact
that you guys are here. I’m glad you’re part of Fond du Lac County.

Adam: We’re not going anywhere. Thank
you.