Racine County Executive Jonathan Delagrave brought together a group of more than a dozen Racine County elected officials, from Waterford Village Chairman Don Houston to Racine Mayor Cory Mason, as well as the Elmwood Park Village President Ernie Rossi, Caledonia Village President Jim Dobbs and Town of Chair Norway Jean Jacobson.

“It’s not the Racine County Council. This is not Jonathan Delagrave’s advice,” Delagrave said, urging community leaders to take charge of the RCICC when the time is right, using it as a powerful tool to build unity and strengthen ties between municipalities. .

Delagrave’s hope for the council over time is to become a collective to lobby, band together and support each other with issues that affect them all. Delagrave will be chairman of the RCICC for the first two meetings, then step down. The role of president will then fall to the president of Village Union Grove, Steve Wicklund.

The council seeks unity among the leaders. To make anything work, Delagrave urged the council to all be on the same page with each other.

The council must meet on the third Thursday of January, March, May, August and November. While the August meeting is scheduled for RCICC’s return to the iMET center, all subsequent meetings will take place at different meeting locations around Racine County as suggested by the Norway Town President and the new Treasurer of the RCICC, Jean Jacobson.

Thursday’s meeting was primarily structural, setting out the main direction and institutional functions of the council.

Members voted to not change any of the bylaws presented, which had been largely copied from the Milwaukee County Intergovernmental Cooperation Council bylaws.

Some time was also spent discussing issues that impact multiple communities, such as the proposal that more of the county sales tax be allocated to fire departments and working on the boundaries of state-imposed levies that limit the ability of all Wisconsin municipalities to control their own tax. revenue.

Another subject that hoped to be addressed by many elected officials, the taxation of residents who rent property on the Airbnb seasonal rental platform.

There has also been pressure in recent years for more Racine County fire departments to consolidate, which the board could facilitate.

Delagrave encouraged elected officials from each municipality and their administrators to attend each meeting.

The subject of meeting dues was discussed, but not cemented on Thursday. Delagrave suggested a figure of $200 per municipality per year, but understood that elected officials would have to discuss this with their respective governments first. Council funds may be used to find guest speakers or hire lobbyists.

Meetings will be open to the public, unless otherwise specified in advance, but the Chair will decide whether oral comments from the public will be permitted at each meeting. If oral comments are not permitted, the Chair will accept written comments in their place.