Dick Truax This is Me

 View all 9 references Web References

1. 1. Red Wing Republican Eagle

   www.republican-eagle.com/site/ - [Cached]

   Published on: 7/25/2002   Last Visited: 7/25/2002

   "One of the big fears with taking these tablets is we will lull people into a false sense of security and kill them for all intents and purposes," agreed County Board Chairman Dick Truax.
   
   A meeting about the pills is set for 7:30 p.m. Tuesday at Prairie View Elementary School in Hager City.

2. 2. PCEDC

   www.pcedc.com/board.html - [Cached]

   Published on: 7/7/2004   Last Visited: 7/7/2004

   Richard Truax Pierce County Board of Supervisors

3. 3. The Front Page

   www.prescott-journal.pressente - [Cached]

   Published on: 4/22/2004   Last Visited: 4/28/2004

   Last Tuesday after two years at the helm, Dick Truax banged the gavel for the last time as chairman of the Pierce County Board of Supervisors - an action that capped a dozen years on the board and almost 40 years of public service in the county.
   
   Those who've tracked his civic career and worked with him say a hallmark of his efforts has been to identify and take care of needs expressed by people.
   ...
   Former county supervisor Rita Kozak, River Falls, who served a number of years with Truax, said, "The citizens of Western Wisconsin have been well served by Dick, not only in the county but on numerous issues at the statehouse in Madison.
   ...
   Dick has had a vision during his tenure on the board for improving government and its services.
   ...
   Schroeder recalled that at his first meeting serving as chairman, Truax announced the Pierce County Initiative to seek ways of better coordinating and consolidating how the county interacts with its various municipalities and with other counties.
   ...
   In an interview, Truax said, "Right now in Pierce County there are some 25 or 26 municipal government entities that in many cases are duplicating efforts. If we can agree to consolidate more and more of these common areas and services, we all could save money."
   
   He suggested that there are opportunities for local governments to schedule leases of seasonal equipment - such as street sweepers - from a third party, with or without operators to handle the assignments.
   
   Truax said one area where such cooperation already has helped taxpayers is the program the county board and state Sen.
   ...
   Hass said Truax's leadership got the initiative started and helped establish the steering committee to continue the work beyond his tenure.
   ...
   Truax said he knows of no one in county government who has a desire to control such programs.
   
   "The forum was established as a separate entity to discover and recommend areas of mutual benefit," Truax said. "The county just wants to participate."
   
   Public Outreach
   
   "Dick has tried hard to reach out to the public, to listen to peoples' concerns and better inform them about issues that face the county now and in the future," Hass said.
   ...
   Truax said the most pleasing aspect of his county service has been to reveal for citizens what he regards as the biggest secret in the county - how Pierce County's governmental decisions are influenced and made.
   
   "I tried to introduce public participation into county government by requesting - almost demanding - the public attend hearings, committee and board meetings to speak out about issues of concern," he said.
   
   He acknowledges that some board colleagues will say he didn't control board meetings very well.
   
   "That was by design where the public was concerned. I worked to be inclusive and glean good ideas from citizens by letting them speak their minds," Truax said.
   
   Hass said, "On a personal level, Dick is a very respectful gentleman who encourages others' points of view.
   ...
   Hass also credits Truax with being instrumental in making Pierce County a showplace for computer technologies, their application to county and municipal government and how government and county extension can deliver better services to constituents.
   ...
   At the time, the only facility in the county was in Spring Valley - a 75 mile roundtrip," Truax said. "There'd been talk about getting a nursing home here for a while, but her having to rely on friends and neighbors so she could visit him there really drove the point home for me."
   
   Truax helped convince state officials that another facility was needed for the people of Prescott and Pierce County.
   ...
   While handling those civic responsibilities, Truax also used his commercial real estate experience to broker businesses in the region and helped a group of investors who founded and put together plans for what became Clifton Highlands Golf Course.
   
   Truax said when former District 1 supervisor Roy Finley decided to step down in 1992, Finley recruited him to run for the office.
   ...
   In 2001, County board chair Dick Wilhelm asked Truax about extending his time on the board to retain some continuity on the finance committee and the board because a large number of county supervisors were not seeking re-election.
   ...
   "During the dozen years I've been around, lots of very talented and dedicated people on the county board have served on the finance committee, and they did a great job of improving county financial planning," Truax said.
   
   Truax said that while Dick Wilhelm chaired the county board, it introduced mill-rate caps in its budget the year before the state budget incorporated mill-rate caps.
   ...
   "There always has been a great deal of overlap between the matters considered by the two groups," Truax said. "This enables more responsive, efficient attention to public needs and lowers the costs of doing so."
   
   He also supports reducing the number of members of other committees to a more workable number.
   
   Truax said a new home monitoring pilot program approved by the board's finance committee is another money-saving measure. The program is intended for people who cannot afford home-monitor anklets and otherwise would be incarcerated.
   
   "By using home monitoring, the sheriff's department doesn't incur costs of $45 a day per inmate for boarding and securing them," he said.
   ...
   The state asked to meet with Truax and other county officials.
   ...
   Truax said that those serving in county government must realize how slowly it moves to enact change.
   
   "The single most energized dynamic in government as I see it is the R-T-C Syndrome - that stands for resistance to change," Truax said. "That's not something specific to Pierce County - it's pervasive throughout government."
   
   He said that as a result it probably takes about 10-times longer to change or enact something in government than it does in business.
   
   "That's why business leaders find the pace of government initiatives and the passage of programs maddening," he said.
   ...
   I'd encourage people to tell me and as many county and municipal officials as care to be involved what it is that concerns them," Truax said. "Those concerns should then be incorporated into the initiatives pursued by the chair and the board."
   
   Biggest Disappointment
   
   Truax said that at the time he first ran for county office, the county needed to comprehensively address the need for a new judicial center. It still does in his opinion. He said the board's decision in 2002 not to adopt a comprehensive plan for a new judicial center was his biggest disappointment during board service.
   
   "We continue to address growing space needs at the county seat, in the courts and jail on a piecemeal basis," Truax said.