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On Tuesday, Sept. 17, the Sauk County Commission voted to spend $40,500 to replace a total of one sheriff's vehicle from the July incident. The resolution printed on the agenda included a description of the incident, the car dealer, and an explanation that the funds would come from an insurance account.
This display of transparency comes a week after the same county commission approved a deal to sell a county-owned nursing home to a private entity. The agenda stated that the board would meet behind closed doors to discuss the sale. The buyer's name and sales price have not been disclosed. The buyer was revealed during a 45-minute public discussion following the closed session, but the sale price was not disclosed. The $5.1 million price was revealed the next day in an attachment to a press release. There was no fiscal memo on the agenda.
The memo may explain why the county accepted an offer of $3.4 million less than the $8.5 million it sought when it first put the 48-resident nursing home on the market. The county also did not explain why that price was so much lower than the $19 million the county would insure the nursing home. All these numbers are from records I have access to.
The December 2023 resolution that started the process included a condition: “Potential buyers shall demonstrate a history of five-star care ratings in the senior health care industry.” That was the county's evaluation of nursing homes at the time.
Medicare's star system for rating nursing homes is based on routine inspections and citation history. 5 stars is well above average, 4 stars is above average, 3 stars is average, 2 stars is below average, and 1 star is well below average. Buyer Aria currently operates three one- and two-star rated nursing homes in the north suburbs of Milwaukee.
The five-star criteria means the county will seek a private buyer with a track record of quality care similar to that provided by the county's nursing homes, which received a five-star rating in December 2023. Most people interpreted it. There was no official official position from the county regarding the sale until Sept. 10, when the board voted to approve the sale to Aria. The Sept. 10 motion, which passed, replaced all terms of the December resolution in the sales agreement.
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From December to September, the board held two closed meetings. The only information that came out of those meetings was that the county chose to negotiate with a single interested buyer, whose name was kept secret but leaked in late July. A petition campaign gathered 1,300 signatures opposing the sale of the nursing home, which was submitted to the county.
After many members of the public expressed disappointment with Aria's care evaluation during a Sept. 10 public comment session, the board met privately with Aria's representatives, who provided reassurance. After the board returned to public session, one board member who supported the sale told the audience:
yes. The audience, which was made up of citizens, taxpayers, and people with loved ones in their families, would also have loved to hear this presentation. That this was not allowed was typical of the entire process, where the public was given less information about the sale of the homes of 48 Sauk County residents than about the replacement of a damaged police car.
Why is the state's tradition of open government important? Just ask Sauk County residents who have been treated as if it were not.
“Right to Know” is a monthly column from the Wisconsin Freedom of Information Council (wisfoic.org), an organization dedicated to open government. Jeff Seeling is a former journalist and Sauk County resident.
