Due to delays in anticipated new member appointments, the Wisconsin Land Information Board has not met since April 3 this year. The new administration, under Governor Doyle, has indicated its desire for the board to have a full membership before proceeding with any new activities.
Appointments to nine of the board’s fifteen seats are made by the governor, eight for staggered six-year terms. Of these eight, currently there are three long-term vacancies, and two active members whose appointments have expired.. Several new faces are also expected in the seats representing five state agencies. Presuming that the gubernatorial appointments are in fact made, the board will have a very different make-up than it has in recent years.
OLIS “disappears” in DOA reorganization
In a September 4 news release, WI Dept. Of Administration (DOA) Secretary Marc Marotta announced the reorganization and formation of the Division of Intergovernmental Relations (DIR) within the DOA. This division previously included the Bureau of Housing which moved to the Dept. of Commerce under provisions in the recently adopted state budget .
One of the results of the DIR reorganization is the disappearance, in name, of the Office of Land Information Services (OLIS). The functions previously performed by OLIS, such as administering the activities of the WI Land Information Program (WLIP) and the WI Land Council (WLC), will remain within the Division; however, the internal administrative and management structure for these functions has changed.
Staff roles change
Michael Blaska, formerly the Director of OLIS, will lead a DIR team overseeing the activities of the WLIP, WLC and the Coastal Management Program (CMP). The CMP administers federal funds and provides technical assistance to manage the various ecological, economic and esthetic assets along the Lake Michigan and Lake Superior shorelines.
Management of the project to build the Wisconsin Land Information System (WLIS) remains within DIR, under its Division Administrator, Pat Farley. Tom Krauskopf, who had served as Deputy Division Administrator, retired in August.
Some functions realigned
Other units formerly under the OLIS banner, such as Plat Review and Municipal Boundary Review, will remain within DIR, but organizationally within a different team. The GIS services function formerly within OLIS has been transferred to the DOA Division of Enterprise Technology (formerly the Department of Electronic Government).