Voters to chime in on size of Milwaukee County Board

MILWAUKEE -- Voters in several communities will chime in on the size of the Milwaukee County Board on Tuesday, April 3rd. A proposal would reduce the board from 18 to nine supervisors.

A separate question will be whether the supervisor posts will be designated as part-time, rather than full-time positions.

The vote will not lead to any official action, but those in favor of reducing the size of the board say it's the best way to send a message to the County Board. Supporters say it would make for a more efficient process while making it easier to pass other reforms.

Others on the board say critics will always have a problem with the size of the board.

"I think this is an effort by those who are just anti-government in general. If we had two supervisors, they would demand we have one," County Board Supervisor John Weishan Jr. said.

"What we have is too much micromanaging and supervisors that don't have enough actual work to do, so we end up making busy work for ourselves," County Board Supervisor Joe Sanfelippo said.

Over the last decade, the board has shrunk in size from 25 to 19 supervisors. After redistricting, the board will go down to 18.