Dane County ombuds reports low in‑person use, requests county mentor; committee to study office hours and survey plan

Diana, the contracted ombuds working with Dane County, told the Personnel and Finance Ombuds Subcommittee on June 10 that the office has logged 39 office visits year‑to‑date (29 unique visitors), seven facilitations or mediations and one training since opening to visitors in June 2024 and that the office’s workload is currently weighted toward management and availability rather than one‑on‑one appointments.

"Open office hours is accounting for a lot of the time, but we're not receiving any value out of that at this point," Diana said, describing an analysis she prepared that converts her time into standard consulting rates to illustrate where effort is going. Diana said she counted roughly 475 hours of active work on the contract since June 11, 2024 — excluding travel and some administrative tasks — and used internal rates of $250 per hour for prep/administration, $500 per hour for direct mediation or coaching, and a typical $2,000 minimum per training as a yardstick for estimating value.

Why it matters: the ombuds office is a county‑funded contract intended to provide confidential, neutral assistance to employees. The committee discussed whether the current mix of scheduled open office hours, onsite availability and virtual appointments is producing value commensurate with the contract and whether changes to hours or…