For the second year in a row, the Door County Board of Supervisors voted down a motion to put an Open Door Pride month proclamation proposal on its agenda for discussion. In a roll call vote, the board defeated the motion 13 to 8 at its regular meeting on May 27.
Open Door Pride, a Door County organization formed in 2017 that supports the local LGBTQIA+ community and its allies, has sent Pride proclamation requests via email every year to every municipality in the county since its inception, according to Cathy Grier. She is the Open Door chair and a founding member.
“We have never been included on a (County Board) agenda,” Grier wrote in an email responding to a request for comment.
Last year, Open Door was told it would need to submit its request via the county clerk to communicate with the board chair for its agenda item request, she said. Both last year and this year, the organization followed up with Supervisor Vinni Hancock “to be sure that they, as a supervisor, also request a proclamation to be added to the April or May agenda,” Grier said.
Hancock, who represents District 18 including the Town of Gibraltar and part of the Village of Ephraim, raised the topic in the new business section of the board’s May agenda. She said she had asked Supervisor David Englebert to add the proclamation request to the May agenda and “did not hear back.” Englebert is the County Board chairman and supervisor for District 1 representing the Town of Union and part of the Town of Brussels.
Hancock then made a motion that the proclamation proposal be included on the June agenda for discussion and possible action. Supervisor Bob Bultman seconded, and the motion went to roll call vote where it failed to pass.
Last year, Englebert called the issue “too divisive for a new board.” When contacted for comment after the May 27 meeting, he said he did not include the Open Door Pride proclamation request on this year’s agenda because he was “acting consistently with the county’s rules of order.” Proclamations must make “a direct impact to the county,” according to Englebert.
The County Board voted in favor of changing its rules of order regarding proclamations at its regular meeting in April. Before the administrative committee-backed amendment to the rules came before the board, there were no specific guidelines for how the board considered proclamation requests.
The new item added to the rules of order states: “To be considered by the Door County Board of Supervisors, a proclamation must be sponsored by the County Board Chairperson and directly impact the County’s programs, services, or budget. A proposed proclamation shall specify how it directly impacts the County’s programs, services, or budget. This rule excludes memoriams.”
The County Board chairperson is tasked with placing items on and setting the County Board agenda by state statute, according to County Corporation Counsel Sean Donohue. A process exists where the board can vote to put a topic on the agenda if the chair decides not to, he added, but this is “an uncommon occurrence.”
Bob Bultman, supervisor for District 17 representing parts of the Towns of Baileys Harbor and Jacksonport and a member of the county administrative committee, said he was initially happy with the new proclamation guidelines.
“I’m a small government person…I don’t want to make more rules. I’d like to get rid of rules if we can,” Bultman said. But, he added, “I came out of that administrative meeting being okay to say a proclamation will specify how it directly impacts the county’s programs, services, and budget.”
The new proclamation guidelines require any individual or organization to “do a little research…make a few phone calls…visit the county offices that’s applicable,” he added. “Everybody’s better informed. Which is what Vinni tried to do on Tuesday.”
The Open Door Pride month proclamation is directly related to county programs, services and business, according to Hancock, and she referred to the county’s 2023-2025 Community Health Improvement Plan. Every five years, the Health and Human Services and Public Health departments are required by state law to conduct a Community Health Improvement Survey and subsequent plan addressing health issues that affect residents.
Door County’s plan calls for “increased capacity for physical and mental health for our local workforce, and that we have measurable engagement and opportunities to reduce social isolation,” Hancock stated.
“Proclamations through research are known to do that for the LBGTQIA+ community,” she added.
During a phone conversation following the meeting, Englebert said he was not familiar with the Community Health Improvement Plan referenced by Hancock.
District 16 Supervisor David Enigl, who represents the Village of Egg Harbor and parts of the Towns of Egg Harbor and Jacksonport, voted in favor of having the Open Door Pride proclamation request on the board’s June agenda. During discussion of the motion, he expressed concern that the board was not being just in its consideration of the proclamation.
“For me, it’s very simple. I have, through the years, seen proclamations come through that I feel have no real connection to the government,” he said. “It is difficult to understand how we’re picking on this topic to change our rules.”
The only other proclamation that has been considered by the board since the rules of order change was a June 7 “National Trails Day.” The proclamation request was approved.
During public comment at the May 27 meeting, Michelle Hroma, a Sturgeon Bay resident and member of the LGBTQIA+ community, spoke in favor of the Open Door Pride proclamation. In a follow-up conversation, she said she had been unaware Hancock would raise the issue during new business.
It was a “red flag” when the wording was added to the rules of order regarding proclamations in April, Hroma said. “It reminded me of the exclusionary flag rule from 2023.”
In September 2023, the County Board voted in favor of limiting flags that fly on county-owned flagpoles to the United States flag, State of Wisconsin flag, the county government flag, the POW-MIA flag and the flags of 20 of the United States military service branches.
Supporting the local LGBTQIA+ community has “direct and positive economic impact,” according to Hroma.
“In today’s world it is important for the county to commit itself to do more to support the LGBTQIA+ community. This community enriches every aspect of Door County as musicians, artists, educators, service industry workers, medical professionals, small business owners,” she said. “This community deserves to know that the county stands behind them and that this is a safe place. Deliberately excluding the proclamation of Pride Month from the agenda is a harsh blow to a community that is already being attacked on an international scale.”
District 15 Supervisor Elizabeth Gauger represents parts of the Towns of Egg Harbor and Sevastopol and is also an administrative committee member. She voted against the proclamation request being placed on the June agenda. Proclamations should support the business of the county, she said in a follow-up phone conversation, and that specifically refers to financial matters. For example, the National Trails Day proclamation would enable the county to apply for grant money, she added.
Gauger also said she thinks the rules of order change makes things more fair when it comes to proclamations. “The board shouldn’t be deciding what social causes to support,” she said. “Any group can come forth and stretch their cause to (be) mental-health related. How do you control, how are you fair, and how do you not discriminate, putting one group in front of the other?”
The county does not receive numerous proclamation requests from different groups, according to Bultman, and the business of the county is often mundane things like “filling potholes,” but that does not mean the board cannot address social issues.
Bultman said his job as a supervisor is to represent “my constituents and the people of Door County, which is obviously a wide spectrum of folks.”
“I’m feeling discouraged, sad and discouraged that people wouldn’t even let it be talked about. I think it’s obvious that it needs to be talked about,” he said. “And we’re sweeping the elephant under the rug.”
Donohue, the county corporation counsel, said in an email that he was not entirely sure of the number of proclamations proposed for adoption by the County Board. He said he did not believe the county was overwhelmed by requests.
To clarify the impetus behind changing the rules of order regarding proclamation guidance, Donohue said there is a “significant amount of staff/supervisor time that goes into preparing and considering a proclamation.”
The amendment to the rules of order follows a foundational principle of the county’s administration, according to Donohue, that the government be held accountable to the taxpayers for spending public money.
“Proclamations that do not directly impact the county’s programs, services, or budget are passed, witnessed by those attending or watching the meeting, and are filed away… likely quickly forgotten with minimal, if any, impact,” he said. These are not a responsible use of resources, Donohue said, adding he hoped the rule change will focus proclamations to those with a direct impact to the county and a productive use of staff and supervisor time.
Other municipalities’ responses
Open Door Pride has sent Pride month proclamation requests to every municipality in Door County since 2017, according to Grier. The City of Sturgeon Bay Common Council has approved the proclamation every year since then, including at its June 3 meeting this year. The Town of Baileys Harbor and the Village of Sister Bay have also approved the Pride proclamation request since 2023.
The Town of Egg Harbor board voted unanimously to decline the request at its May meeting, according to Grier. Discussion around the decision centered on a desire for the town to “stay neutral,” said Steve Schopf, Egg Harbor town chairman in a phone call on June 3. “Where do you draw the line with proclamations?” he said.
Schopf also indicated Egg Harbor would be discussing whether to adopt proclamation guidelines similar to the ones adopted by the County Board at its next meeting in June. Gauger, who is an Egg Harbor town supervisor as well as a county supervisor, is looking into the matter, according to Schopf.
The Town of Washington asked for more information in response to the proclamation request, Grier said.
The Town of Sturgeon Bay has not issued a proclamation, but it recently changed its rules of order to mirror the county text regarding services or budget, Grier said. Open Door Pride will be giving a presentation of Pride in Sturgeon Bay and how it affects services and budget, at the Town Board meeting on June 9, she added.
The remaining municipalities have not responded to the request this year, Grier said.
“Honestly we work with what we have,” she wrote in an email. “We are a one hundred percent volunteer organization and the work we do is so incredibly important. Our initiatives do show how much we are making deeper impacts within the county for those who live and visit here. Diversity, inclusion and equity are not slogans, they are the building blocks of a just and compassionate nation. Our county proved at their recent meeting that they can do much better.”
Board warned of ‘impending food crisis’
Due to recent federal USDA funding cuts to local food pantries and school food programs, as reported by Knock in May, Door County may be facing an “impending food crisis,” according to an email from Door County resident Matt Peter. The email was included in the correspondence section of the May 27 County Board of Supervisors meeting and urged the board to address the issue.
“It is imperative that this issue remains on the radar for all of our elected representatives,” Peter wrote. “Please explore what role, if any, the County Board might have in addressing this food insecurity issue.”
Peter included total amounts of food and funding that was cut, gathered by the Door County Food Pantry Coalition and Adam Peronto at the Door County Community Foundation. According to the information, the largest food pantry in Door County, run by Lakeshore CAP, is losing 50 percent of the USDA commodities provided to CAP.
Those commodities account for 34 percent of the pantry’s inventory, and the cuts result in a loss of 35,000 pounds of food valued at almost $75,000, according to Peronto and the coalition.
Additionally the demand for food assistance has been increasing. There were 4,900 visits to CAP in 2023 and 6,100 in 2024. Peronto and the coalition anticipate the trend will continue in 2025.
Ambulance fee hike
The County Board approved a resolution to raise emergency medical transfer/ambulance fees. The resolution was submitted by the Judiciary and Public Safety committee after a recommendation by the county’s Emergency Services Department.
The last time fees were adjusted was in 2020, according to a memo from Aaron LeClair, the county’s emergency services director. The personnel, equipment and supply costs of operating an ambulance service have continued to rise, and Door County’s fees are below the average of those charged by comparable providers, according to the recommendation and resolution.
The fee increases would encompass all emergency medical transport services provided by the county, including the mileage rate going from $16.50 per mile to $21.00 per mile.
Door County EMS does not collect the total of all the fees, however, according to LeClair. The county only receives a portion of fees for Medicare and Medicaid transfers, and sometimes the EMS office is unable to collect fees from individuals.
“If people aren’t responding to us, we will work with (Donohue’s) office and put people to collections, intercept, returns, things like that,” LeClair said. County EMS will set up payment plans, he added.
“As long as they’re communicating with us, we’ll do what we can to help them out,” LeClair said.