Kewaunee County meeting: officials report staff shortages, announce death of highway employee and approve refilling vacancies

Kewaunee County officials reported ongoing hiring difficulties for law-enforcement and corrections positions, announced the death of a long-time highway department employee, and approved motions to refill vacant county positions.

At the meeting a county official said Jeremy called that morning to report that Jamie Faze, a long-time highway department employee, died Friday afternoon. The transcript records that county staff identified the loss and said it created an unexpected vacancy in the highway department.

During the county administrator's report, staff told the meeting they are continuing hiring efforts for positions including radio operator and jailer and that recent months have not produced a significant improvement in recruiting. “We have not had a tremendous amount of luck,” a staff speaker said, adding the county is conducting another round of interviews with several candidates.

Meeting members moved and seconded a motion to refill vacant positions listed in the personnel report, including the highway department opening created by the employee's death; the motion was seconded by Lebranski and carried by voice vote. The transcript does not record a roll-call tally.

Why it matters: staffing shortages affect county public-safety and service operations; refilling vacancies begins the recruitment and hiring process but the transcript does not record timelines or funding implications.

Details not specified in the meeting record: exact positions to be refilled beyond the categories discussed, specific budgets for replacements, and numerical vote counts were not recorded in the transcript.