March 16, 2001
by Tony Palmeri
I like Jane Van De Hey. As a television journalist, I like the fact that she is always available to the press and doesn't get bitter or stop talking to us when she gets confronted with tough questioning. As a citizen of Winnebago County, I like the fact that she has upset some of the COBZ ("County Old Boyz")--though Van De Hey's kitchen cabinet of former County Supervisor Jackie Wagner and former Register of Deeds Marge Dahms are hardly what I would call cutting edge new guard. As a Union member, I like the fact that Jane has the union bug on most of her campaign literature. As a feminist (yes, men too can be feminists), I like the fact that Jane has demonstrated that women can be change agents in the still much-too-male-dominated Winnebago County political system.
But as much as I like Jane, I am troubled by the results of a recent Commentary survey showing that Supervisors plan to vote for challenger Charlene Lowe at a rate of 2 to 1 against Van De Hey. Much like a City Manager in municipal government, the Winnebago County Executive is largely an administrative position. If members of the Oshkosh Common Council were dissatisfied with City Manager Richard Wollangk by a 4-3 or 5-2 margin, they might have to fire him. The fact that only 6 supervisors were willing to come forward and announce that they will vote for Van De Hey can only be interpreted as a sign of deep dissatisfaction with her administrative ability. Clearly, the County Board has given Jane a vote of No Confidence.
It is true that some of the dissatisfaction with Van De Hey has to do with the fact that she makes the COBZ uncomfortable. It is also true that she has begun to address some of the County Sacred Cows that for too long were ignored by prior Executives. However, our survey found that many of the Supervisors supporting challenger Charlene Lowe are the new members of the board considered to be reformers with no allegiance to the old guard. These Supervisors told us that they believe Van De Hey needed to show stronger and more assertive leadership on the jail and other issues.
Of greater concern to me is that Supervisors not supporting Van De Hey repeatedly chided her for her "inability to often tell the truth." State Representative Gregg Underheim and County Board Chair Joe Maehl have said the same thing about Jane over the years, but their status as Grand Poobahs in the COBZ Network calls their credibility into question. Yet when relatively new and independent Supervisors say the same thing about the Executive, there is a problem.
Van De Hey might minimize the feelings of the Supervisors by saying that as an elected official she is accountable mainly to the voters. But does she even enjoy the voters' confidence? On February 20, more than 45% of primary voters voted for someone other than Van De Hey, a strikingly high number when you consider the fact that Lowe and Daggett were virtual unknowns to the majority of residents.
I may still vote for Jane Van De Hey on April 3. Her opponent, Charlene Lowe, has yet to convince me that she is truly independent from the COBZ and local Republican Party hacks. But if Jane does get re-elected, she needs to find a way to repair her relationship with the Board. To use a business analogy, no company can succeed if the Chief Executive Officer is not trusted by a majority of the mid-level managers.