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Thursday, October 25, 2018 • Vol.137, No. 14 • Stoughton, WI • ConnectStoughton.com • $1.25
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City of Stoughton
Mayor proposes tax cut, few adds Unified Newspaper Group
The tax rate could be dropping in Stoughton for the third year in a row. The mayo r ’s p r o posed budget has yet to be vetted by the Finance committee, but the city h a s p u b - Swadley lished the proposal in this week’s Hub, meeting the state requirement to print it more than 15 days before its Nov. 13 public hearing.
Turn to Budget/Page 13
Stoughton joins Dane County restorative justice program BILL LIVICK Unified Newspaper Group
Victims of offenses help develop a plan that “heals” the fallout from the incident and allows offenders to “repair” the harm they caused and thereby avoid the cost of going to court and having a criminal record. The restorative court began operating in the county almost four years ago and is an alternative to the traditional court system. The committee voted
The city’s Public Safety committee last month voted to have Stoughton join Dane County’s restorative justice program. The program is designed to work with offenders between the ages of 17 and 25 who are referred to the community restorative court by law enforcement agencies such as the Stoughton Police Department or the district attorTurn to Restorative/Page 13 ney’s office.
Courier Hub
Photo by Scott Girard
Alex Hanneman, 8, of Stoughton celebrates winning a long game of musical chairs, beating his opponent to the only one without a plate on it. The game was one of many filling the Sandhill Elementary School gym for the Working For Kids Fall Festival on Friday, Oct. 19.
Fun at Fall Fest
Dozens of families dressed up in costumes for the Working For Kids Fall Festival at Sandhill Elementary School on Friday, Oct. 19. The event featured a movie, crafts, scavenger hunt and carnival games, all Halloween themed. For information about future events at Sandhill, visit stoughton.k12.wi.us and search “Sandhill Elementary School.”
Inside See more photos from Fall Fest Page 16
HATS hopes to combat homelessness Stoughton group uses housing On the web first model to earn grant To learn more about the Wisconsin Partnership AMBER LEVENHAGEN Unified Newspaper Group
The Stoughton Area School District identified 71 children who lacked fixed, regular and adequate housing during the 2017-18 school year. The Housing Advocacy Team of Stoughton (HATS) is working to fix that. That statistic was among the 15 pages of Boersma information analyzing the need for housing for homeless people in Stoughton, submitted to the Dane County Affordable Housing
for Housing Development, visit:
WPHD.info
Development Fund in June. A few weeks ago, HATS learned this proposal was accepted and had earned the group $300,000 to use toward building a home to support four homeless families at a time. Ald. Sid Boersma (Dist. 1), who serves on the City of Stoughton Housing Authority as well as HATS, told the Hub that while this was the fourth year the group pursued funding, the difference this time was focusing on “housing first.” That, he explained, “is putting
people into permanent housing and then providing additional services as needed so people can stabilize.” That idea was introduced to HATS through various presentations from groups such as United Way, the Dane County Housing Authority and Boersma’s connections with social workers in the Milwaukee area who have used that model to support individuals, though HATS is working more specifically with families. Those later services would come from the Stoughton Area Resource Team, START, which would provide a case manager to help assist the families once they move into the home. The kinks are still being worked out as START director Cindy Thompson, who also serves on HATS, is working with the group to
Turn to HATS/Page 12
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ALEXANDER CRAMER
Mayor Tim Swadley’s proposed 2019 budget includes a portion of the $300,000 compensation plan he has said is a priority – a 3 percent across-theboard wage hike for city staff – but it does not cover the other half of the cost of the plan, the proposed “rightsizing” of staff salaries. It also does not cover several staffing requests from various departments. Those include a clerk and officer in the police department and several firefighters – to bring the department to 24/7 service at a time the fire chief said it’s become more and more difficult to find volunteers. But the city is limited by “micromanaging” from
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Budget would fund half of staff compensation plan