ANALIESE EICHER TO CHAIR THE DANE COUNTY BOARD

January 27, 2020
Supervisor Paul Nelson, 608-695-1464
County Board

Citing the need for continuity, today Supervisor Paul Nelson resigned as the Chair of the Dane County Board of Supervisors, which – based on the order of succession in County Ordinance, results in Supervisor Analiese Eicher becoming the Dane County Board Chair for the remainder of the term.  Nelson assumed the Chair on Friday, upon the resignation of Sharon Corrigan, who left the Board to serve as the Interim Director of the county’s Alliant Energy Center.

 

“After careful consideration over the past few days, I have come to the conclusion that I cannot serve as the County Board Chair,” explained Nelson, who represents District 9 (Middleton). “My primary reason for declining to serve as chair is a belief that the succeeding chair be someone with an eye on the Board’s future, someone who will continue to serve as a board member after the April elections.  As I am in the last weeks of my third and final term on the County Board, I do not fit this criterion,” he said.

 

Supervisor Eicher represents District 3 in Sun Prairie and is completing her second term on the County Board.  She first served in the 2010-12 term, representing District 5 in downtown Madison. She is unopposed in the April supervisory election.

 

“I appreciate how thoughtful Supervisor Nelson has been in weighing what is best for this body in a time of transition,” said Eicher.  “I think we all may be reeling a bit from the pace of leadership changes in the past several days. That said, I look forward to guiding the work of the Board over the remaining weeks of this term, and setting a course for the next term, which will include many new members.”

 

Eleven of the 37 members of the County Board have chosen not to seek election in April, and two additional seats are being contested. 

 

Nelson made clear that he will continue to serve on the County Board until the end of the term and would be happy to resume the role of first vice chair, which he relinquished when Corrigan resigned and he assumed the chair.

 

“I am willing to resume my duties as first vice chair, if board members so choose at our February 6th meeting, when elections for a new first and second vice chair will take place,” Nelson noted.