Consultants: County human services staff more ‘positive’

Most of the county’s human services staff report higher job contentment after six months of work following accusations the department had become “toxic,” consultants told the county board Monday.

“There were fractures in the relationships among staff,” consultant Nicole Milliren of Brave Spaces told supervisors. “But pre and post surveys show improvements.”

Milliren cited results that showed, for instance, the percentage of department employees who said their work environment was “positive,” went from just 33 percent before the consultants intervened to 72 percent after the work.

Department director Deb Suchla was the subject of an inquiry last summer after some employees objected to her leadership style. She ultimately was retained by the county board in August.

“This work began at a time that the department was broken and anxious,” Suchla said in her introduction to the consultants’ results. “I still have not been told what I did wrong, and I’ll never see the (investigation) report. That’s a heavy burden to bear.”

The consultants said the work to improve the department’s culture will have to continue, and that some employees remain disgruntled and inclined to “gossip.”

Supervisor Sally Miller told supervisors that she and the advocates of a Second Amendment sanctuary proposal for the county have found shared interest in deterring the use of guns in domestic violence or other heated personal encounters. The sanctuary measure was voted down by supervisors last June following a contentious debate.

“That issue was polarizing for the county,” Miller said. “During it, I just happened to mention my concerns about the use of guns in domestic violence and now something good has come out of it.”

Junior Prudlick of the Associated Conservation Clubs of Trempealeau County said his group is interested in developing seminars and possibly podcasts to “start a movement.”

“We want to prevent the idea that when you lose control, a gun makes it all better,” Prudlick said. “I cringe when I hear someone using a gun against someone else.”

The board also approved hiring an assistant corporation counsel by an 11- to six-vote after Corporation Counsel Rick Niemeier cited significant growth in his work load. Niemeier said his duties require him to work on weekends and even on vacation, and that part-time legal help was not effective.

Among those voting against the new position was Supervisor Dan Schreiner who said he would prefer that the money spent on Niemeier’s assistant go toward a county administrator, a position the county board has long debated. Other supervisors were wary of the cost of the new position, which in 2023 will be an additional $89,665.

The board also approved designating portions of Highway 35 as a Mississippi River Trail for bikes.