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Winnebago County orientation walks new supervisors through departments, budgets and meeting technology
Summary
County Executive Gordon Hintz led an orientation that introduced 27 department heads, reviewed major capital projects and statutory duties, and included hands-on training for the county’s board portal and laptops ahead of the organizational meeting.
County Executive Gordon Hintz opened an orientation for newly seated Winnebago County supervisors with an overview of county responsibilities, saying the job requires coordination across departments, long-term planning and careful stewardship of public resources.
The orientation included briefings from 27 department heads covering public safety, public health, solid waste, highways, parks, facilities and finance. Hintz framed the session as an introduction to immediate priorities and statutory obligations, noting his office draws authority from state statute 59.17 and serves to coordinate county administration and budget development.
Why it matters: Supervisors will soon vote on committee assignments, the county’s organizational rules and budget priorities. Staff repeatedly urged new supervisors to treat mandated services (statutes and court-ordered duties) differently from discretionary programs during budget deliberations.
Major takeaways from the presentations: - Public safety: Sheriff John Motts reported a 355-bed jail with a count of 278 inmates and warned recent booking increases have driven higher staffing needs and costs. Motts highlighted in-jail programs such as the STAR sobriety-treatment initiative and a jail reintegration program aimed at reducing recidivism. - Public health and grants: Public Health staff described a $4.4 million HUD lead-abatement grant and a community schools pilot to connect students and families to services over three years. - Capital and operations: Facilities and parks leaders outlined a multi-year capital program that includes a roughly $5 million Sunnyview Expo West Campus project, runway and taxiway work at the county-owned general aviation airport and resurfacing/maintenance plans across the highway network. - Technology and meetings: IT staff led step-by-step training for board laptops, multi-factor authentication and the board portal, instructing supervisors to join the portal meeting early, mark themselves “present” and save votes to ensure accurate roll-call and enable the request-to-speak and e-vote features.
Quotes from the meeting capture the practical focus of the session. Sheriff John Motts summarized jail capacity and demand: "We have a 355 bed jail. It's 278 today was our count." Public Health supervisor Julia Salomon described a recent award: "We are currently in the hiring process for a staff member, [for a] $4,400,000 HUD grant that supports lead abatement work to help local families." Parks Director Adam Briest noted capital needs: "The Sunnyview Expo West Campus improvement ... is about a $5,000,000 project." IT Director Jennifer Ritten emphasized readiness for next week’s meetings: "Join that meeting as soon as you get there ... press present and voting and save."
What’s next: Supervisors were reminded of the organizational meeting the coming week (chair and vice-chair elections) and to review proposed rule changes from Judiciary & Public Safety; staff encouraged review of the five‑year capital improvement plan and the county strategic plan ahead of budget work.
The orientation was informational; no formal votes or policy decisions were taken.
