Committee approves reclassification to add operations supervisor at AEC despite public opposition

The Dane County Public Works and Transportation Committee on Sept. 4 approved Resolution 123 to reclassify a vacant Event and Exhibitor Services Specialist (G7-ten) into an Operations Supervisor (AEC M10) for the county’s event center (AEC).

Kevin, an AEC staff member, told the committee the position existed before the COVID-19 pandemic and that during the pandemic the county temporarily combined facilities- and operations-manager duties under a deputy director role. As event activity has returned toward pre-pandemic levels, Kevin said the department needs to separate those duties again and convert the long-vacant specialist position into an operations manager to supervise center workers and oversee event setup, teardown and cleaning.

Eric Anderson, who identified himself as a Dane County resident and taxpayer, testified in opposition. Anderson urged the committee to delay the reclassification until budget deliberations and argued the department should prioritize hiring additional center workers rather than adding a manager. He also said the specialist position had been vacant for over two years and questioned why the reclassification had not been included in the departmental budget request. Anderson said, “Reducing overtime expenditures is accomplished not by adding managers, but by adding center workers.”

Kevin responded with staffing details. He said the center currently has 22 workers in titles including supervisors, crew leads, shift leads or center workers, up from 20 the prior year, and that last year’s budget created two shift-lead positions that were filled; one of those promotions subsequently left for another county job, leaving one of the shift-lead slots vacant. Kevin said the department currently had five vacancies among center workers but was interviewing applicants and expected to fill those openings by the end of the month. He also said the proposed operations manager position had received “overwhelming support from the center workers who will be supervised by this position.”

Committee members noted an email to the committee from Derek of AFSCME stating union support for approving the reclassification. The resolution was moved by Supervisor Blazewicz, seconded by Supervisor Udell, and approved by voice vote.

The motion in the meeting record describes the action as converting an existing vacant Event and Exhibitor Services Specialist G7-ten position into an Operations Supervisor AEC M10. No roll-call vote tally was recorded in the transcript; the approval was taken by voice vote.