April 2002
Issue
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One Woman's
Fight for
Farm Safety
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Wisconsin Favorites
The Roads Less Traveled
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ARCHIVES |
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One Woman's Fight
for Farm Safety
Kay Olson never thought she'd be volunteering
hours of her time on a state committee working for solutions
to improve farm electrical safety. The feisty, determined
Adams County dairy producer certainly has enough to do; a
120-head herd to manage and a farmstead near Friendship, Wisconsin,
require more than enough of her time. But the events of June
1999 changed everything.
That was when Kay's husband, “Olson” (Eddie),
died tragically in an electrical accident while working in
the barn.
Since then, Kay has volunteered to be a member of the state’s
Rural Energy Management Council (REMC), an advisory council
to the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer
Protection. The REMC consists of 19 members and has established
several committees, each of which includes members of the
public. The council discusses issues ranging from energy conservation
to stray voltage. Kay is one of the members of the Professional
Services Committee chaired by Shannon Clark, manager of Richland
Electric Cooperative.
The mission of the committee is to identify ways to improve
farm electrical safety and to improve the quality of electrical
work on farms.
Kay got involved in the REMC at the urging of its creator,
Representative Al Ott (R–Forest Junction), chair of
the Committee on Agriculture of the Wisconsin Assembly. In
addition, Jeannie Meier, former head of the Farm Center program
at the Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection,
urged Kay to serve on the Professional Services Committee.
Kay has a tremendous amount of credibility with the members
of the council, a fact readily evident when they describe
their colleague. “She is a farmer, she's articulate,
she tells it like it is, and she tells it from the heart.
A lot of people would be set back and would withdraw after
the death of a spouse. She decided to do something about it,”
related one council member.
The committee has been conducting public comment sessions
around the state to take testimony and listen to concerns
of people in rural areas about the issue of farm wiring, licensing
of electricians, electrical inspection, and related topics.
“Our committee is moving forward. We're listening to
people and trying to find solutions,” says Kay.
In December, the committee heard from 25 people at a listening
session in Friendship. More recently, the committee held listening
sessions on March 13 in Madison and on March 27 in Green Bay.
Among the options for improving the safety of farm wiring
is a proposal to license electricians on a statewide basis.
State Representative Lee Meyerhofer (D–Kaukauna) recently
introduced a bill to require statewide licensing of electricians.
The bill passed the Wisconsin Senate 25–8 on March 7.
However, the proposal has not been acted upon by the Assembly.
Another possible measure to improve electrical safety on farms
includes some form of inspection for all new electrical construction.
Currently, not all residential and farm electrical construction
is inspected. Electrical inspection and licensing of electricians
are subject to local codes and ordinances. In many rural areas
of the state, electricians are not required to be certified
by the Department of Commerce. Similarly, electrical inspection
is not uniform within the state. Many of the citizens who
have testified before the committee have stressed the importance
of inspection.
However, the Wisconsin Department of Commerce has only two
or three electrical inspectors for all rural areas of the
state. Current fiscal uncertainties and cuts in the state
budget make it difficult to add more. The Department of Commerce
plans on undergoing rulemaking this summer to authorize more
private electrical inspectors throughout the state. One of
the issues the Professional Services Committee is grappling
with is how to pay for expanded electrical inspections.
Another issue is education and training of electricians. Improved
farm wiring education for rural electricians is currently
under study by the Wisconsin Vocational, Technical and Adult
Education (VTAE) system. The system is working to create an
18-hour course to improve the skills of rural electricians
who do on-farm wiring work. The proposed course is not a certification
course, but simply a fundamental training program that would
emphasize electrical wiring issues that are unique to agricultural
settings.
Other examples of improved farm wiring safety include utility-sponsored
farm wiring assistance programs. These generally take the
form of a combination grant-loan award to a farmer for re-wiring
farm buildings to code. Wisconsin's electric cooperatives
offer farm wiring assistance programs and are examining what
changes could be made to improve them.
The Professional Services Committee will examine and take
public comment on these issues and report to the full REMC
at its next meeting.
Kay is no stranger to farm issues and public policy debates.
As the president of the Adams County Farm Bureau Federation,
she is used to dealing with important issues that affect the
lives of producers. She has also served on the Adams County
board and as town clerk.
But her efforts in spreading the word about farm electrical
safety—and trying to find workable solutions—are
perhaps the most personal and important work of her life.
“I'm doing this so other farmers don't have to go through
what I went through. I want farm couples to be able to grow
older with one another. I want them to be able to enjoy their
families and all the things families do as they grow together
and not have something tragic happen that will not allow this.
We deserve that right just like everyone else does. Families
have the right to have the fathers around to walk their kids
down the aisle,” says Kay. “From the governor
on down, people need to understand that we care about electrical
safety. I am not going to give up on my fight for this.”
One of the most important issues, Kay believes, is trust.
“We need to rebuild trust among everyone involved in
this,” she observes.
Kay, a Milwaukee native, is experienced at spreading the word
about the importance of farmers and farm families. She participates
in the Ag in the Classroom program, where she visits school
children in Milwaukee Public Schools in order to emphasize
the connection between urban and rural people.
An Adams–Columbia Electric Cooperative member, Kay is
also working with her cooperative on a farm wiring safety
demonstration that will take place later this spring. The
purpose of the demonstration will be to display and explain
proper farm electrical practices for area producers.
“Farmers need to know what questions to ask. We cannot
be experts in everything, but we can ask questions,"
she observes.
“People can e-mail me with their thoughts, comments,
and suggestions. I'll read them. I want to hear from farmers,”
Kay noted. “I may not have all of the answers for them,
but I will listen and read their comments and I also will
respond to them.”
People interested in e-mailing her can send comments, questions,
or suggestions to Kay at mogi@maqs.net.
The legislative climate for getting state action on the issue
is better than it has been in many years. Proposals for licensing,
certification, and inspection are attracting significant interest
on the part of legislators. There is also bipartisan support
for some of the proposals, such as Representative Meyerhofer's
bill.
The issue is attracting the attention of many statewide organizations
including the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers
(IBEW), electrical contractors, firefighters and fire safety
professionals, utilities, cooperatives, and other groups.
At a recent Senate hearing, more than 200 citizens packed
a crowded hearing room to testify on S.B. 470, a Senate companion
bill to Representative Meyerhofer's Assembly bill.
A principal concern Kay has is making sure that elected representatives
hear and take action on the concerns that farmers have on
the electrical safety issue. She wants to make sure that the
message of farmers is not "filtered" or disregarded
by legislators' aides or others.
Kay is frustrated by the overall slow progress of the Rural
Energy Management Council, but is encouraged by the progress
her committee has made. She is confident that the state will
eventually pass legislation that will help provide solutions
to the issues of licensing and inspection of electrical work.
“We are going to win this,” she says.
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Wisconsin Courts Seek
Guidance from the Public
By: Shirley S. Abrahamson, Chief Justice
Wisconsin Supreme Court
If you had a dispute with a neighbor, or were
getting married or divorced, or adopting a child, you would likely
find yourself at your county courthouse. Visits to court often
mark important – even life-changing – moments in our
lives. Going to court can be very stressful.
When I became chief justice in 1996, one of my goals was to find
ways to improve the experience of going to court. How could we
make it easier to understand the process? To find your way around?
To get your case heard more quickly? To find the answers that
would help us to improve the system, we turned to the experts,
the users of the system: farmers, factory workers, business executives,
mechanics, homemakers, retirees – you get the picture. We
launched an effort to create opportunities to talk with people
and get their ideas. We have been astounded at the number of great
ideas we have heard.
We are now six years into this effort and going strong. Here are
just two examples of new court initiatives:
· At the Supreme Court, our hearing room used to be empty
during oral argument except for the justices and attorneys. Now,
thanks to a program called Court with Class, high school students
from around the state pack the hearing room for nearly every case.
We work with their teachers in advance to make this visit a valuable
civics lesson.
· In the county courthouses, the Volunteers in the Courts
initiative is a network of more than 5,000 non-lawyers who have
gone through training and are giving their time to supplement
the services available in the courts. Volunteers mentor people
who are on probation, monitor the welfare of disabled and elderly
people who have court-appointed guardians, mediate small-claims
disputes, and much more.
One of our latest efforts is the court's Appointment
Selection Committee, which recruits non-lawyers, of varied backgrounds
and interests, to serve on Supreme Court boards and committees.
We are pleased to report that the court recently appointed Holmen's
Greg Sacia of the Wisconsin Electric Cooperative to the Board
of Governors of the State Bar of Wisconsin. If you are interested
in serving as a courthouse volunteer or working on a court board
or committee, we want to hear from you.
We also welcome you to visit the Supreme Court in Madison. You
can find the Supreme Court’s oral argument schedule and
more information about the courts on our Web site at www.courts.state.wi.us.
The courts belong not to lawyers and judges, but to you, the public.
We encourage you to become involved in improving the court system
to provide equal justice for all.
If you are interested in serving on a court-related
board or committee, please send a letter and resume to: Cornelia
Clark, Clerk of the Supreme Court, P.O. Box 1688, Madison, WI
53701-1688, or fax to Clark’s attention at: (608) 267-0640,
or e-mail to: cornelia.clark@courts.state.wi.us.
While there might not be immediate openings, positions are filled
on a continual basis and resumes will be kept on file for consideration
for future opportunities.
If you want to learn more about opportunities
to volunteer in the courts, please call Colleen Flesher, program
assistant to the Wisconsin Supreme Court, at (608) 266-1298 for
a copy of the Volunteers in the Courts catalog, which lists court-related
volunteer programs by county. The catalog, and other information
on the Volunteers in the Courts initiative, is also available
online at http://www.courts.state.wi.us/media/vol_courts.html. |
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Volunteerism a
Core Co-op Value
by Perry Baird, Editor
Quizzical glances abounded as attendees at
this year’s annual meeting of the National Rural Electric
Cooperative Association (NRECA) read the name of the individual
who would receive the organization’s distinguished service
award. Not that they thought Lyndon Baines Johnson wasn’t
a worthy recipient; it was just that, well, the former president
has been dead for 29 years.
Besides, most knew that some of Johnson’s most pronounced
impacts on the rural electrification program predated his move
to the White House by decades. But, you know, that was precisely
the point.
Listening to his daughter, Luci, accept the award and recount
LBJ’s passion for rural electrification, it became clear
to 10,000 electric co-op leaders at the Dallas Convention Center
on March 13 that his early activism was not born of lust for
political gain, but of a genuine concern for his disadvantaged
neighbors in rural Texas.
Electrifying remote parts of America in the 1930s, according
to Luci Baines Johnson, was her father’s “dearest
dream” and “his life’s most rewarding work.”
That’s saying a lot for such a high-profile career of
public service and accomplishment that spanned more than 40
years.
Expressions change
Not surprisingly, once she told the tale of
LBJ’s early service to electric co-ops, the crowd’s
perplexed expressions gave way to nods of approval and understanding.
Cooperative members know about volunteerism and activism on
behalf of larger constituencies. It is through such selfless
human qualities that co-ops of all types are created and how
they are sustained. What Johnson started out doing in rural
Texas 67 years ago was the same sort of thing the parents and
grandparents of those attending NRECA’s annual meeting
had done in thousands of small farming communities across the
country during those same tough years.
Cooperative annual meetings—be they national confabs that
draw thousands to Texas or more modest gatherings of a few hundred
at, say, Cornell, Wisconsin—are themselves volunteer affairs:
people freely offering their time and energy to help determine
a co-op’s governance and to assist in conducting its business.
And as the path taken by Lyndon Johnson shows, the activism
of rural folk in support of their causes frequently requires
attention to the political arena.
Taking action
At the Dallas meeting, for instance, directors
and staff of countless co-ops stopped by a “congressional
action center” to e-mail position statements on pending
federal legislation to members of the U.S. House and Senate.
More locally, members attending Central Wisconsin Electric Co-op’s
annual meeting at Iola approve resolutions that give elected
officials a clear picture of their stance on similar issues
of importance to the co-ops. It’s not the venue that really
matters; it’s the desire and commitment to take part.
This month’s edition describes other volunteer efforts
of several individuals: a farm wife who has plunged into state
regulatory proceedings to help enhance electrical safety, a
Supreme Court justice who encourages public involvement with
the Wisconsin judicial system, and a co-op director who has
taken on the challenge of using non-lawyer sensibilities to
help guide the Wisconsin Bar Association.
I heard recently that a time span in mid-April has been designated
“Volunteer Week.” It’s fitting that such an
observance should fall amidst of a flurry of electric co-op
annual meetings. But then, for cooperatives and many of their
friends, volunteerism is an idea whose time is always.
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The
Roads Less Traveled
As spring weather approaches, Wisconsinites
enjoy motoring, biking, or hiking through the countryside, marveling
as the tawny landscape turns to green. This spring, why not
seek out our state’s Rustic Roads?
The Rustic Roads program of the Wisconsin Department of Transportation
was created in 1973 by the State Legislature to preserve many
of Wisconsin’s scenic, lightly traveled country roads.
Called “a positive step backward,” the program designates
rural roads with outstanding terrain, vegetation and wildlife,
or agricultural vistas as Rustic Roads. The roads must be local
access roads at least two miles long, with a maximum speed of
45 mph.
To date, more than 80 country roads are part of the Rustic Roads
program. These special byways are marked with brown and yellow
signs designating them as Rustic Roads, and they are marked
with the letter “R” and a number, such as R-35.
The state’s departments of transportation and tourism
have cooperated with the Rustic Roads Board to publish a free
guide to all Rustic Roads in the state. It includes a map and
a description of each road, including its special attributes.
Many of the roads are also illustrated with photos created by
Bob Rashid, Madison, who traveled every Rustic Road in the state
to gather images that first appeared in gallery exhibits, then
were published in his book, Wisconsin’s Rustic Roads.
Now, some of these photos appear in the guide by the same name.
Why not get your free Wisconsin’s Rustic Roads guide and
use it to plan an outing? Take the kids or grandkids, pack a
picnic, and discover portions of rural Wisconsin with timeless
appeal.
For your free Rustic Roads guide, call
800/432-8747 or visit www.travelwisconsin.com.
For other information about the Rustic Roads program, call 608/266-0639.
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