Looking back on the issues and opportunities of the past year

The ancient Romans recognized Janus as the god of transitions and new beginnings. They gave his name to the January, the first month of the near year.

In popular art, Janus is depicted as being two-faced — one face looking forward and the other looking back. The Romans weren’t subtle with their messaging that in order to look ahead at where you are going, you must always be aware of where you came from and what came before.

As we approach the end of 2024, it is important to take a moment and reflect on the major issues and happenings of the prior year so that in looking at the year that was, we can look ahead to what might come in the next 12 months.

County leadership

County leadership on the day-to-day level has been an ongoing issue within Taylor County government.

Taylor County has historically maintained a very active and hands-on board of supervisors. Through oversight committees and interaction with department heads, county board members keep their fingers on the pulse of what is happening.

The balancing act with any hands-on elected board is where does setting policy and being engaged cross the line into micromanaging and meddling in the operations of departments.

This issue has been at the heart of the drive to develop the county’s comprehensive plan that was approved by board members earlier this year. There are some who are happy with the status quo and are legitimately wary of losing decision making authority to unelected employees. They correctly note that the board members, not the county employees, are the ones ultimately answerable to the voters.

On the other side of the debate are those that have seen personnel issues end up costing taxpayers money and using up time and resources. They are pushing for the creation of a county administrator or county manager.

Since these positions are given wide authority within state law to enact policy independent of the board, there has been concern over taking power from board members and concentrating it in a single office.

A compromise between the two has been to more formally empower the administrative coordinator position and to clarify the chain of command when it comes to county operations.

The issue of day-to-day leadership of county operations is far from settled as a new committee was formed specifically to study the issue and bring back a recommendation.

Housing

The biggest headlines of the past year in the city of Medford has been the continued commitment by city leaders toward providing residential growth opportunities.

This has been a new direction for the city. For decades, city economic leaders have worked to bring industry and commercial jobs to the community. The prevailing philosophy is that providing job opportunities would bring people to the community who would either purchase single family homes in the community or in the immediate area.

The result of this practice has been the transition of nearby rural towns from being dominated by production agriculture to becoming more residential in nature. This has led to issues as newer rural residents ask for things like paved roads and additional community amenities.

Adding to this is that many people, especially among younger workers, either cannot or do no want to purchase homes but instead need rental housing. Compounding this is the growing population of older city residents who are looking to downsize into apartments or duplexes rather than having the ongoing maintenance and burden of their family homes.

City economic and business leaders recognized that in order to maintain and grow the local workforce, there needs to be increased housing options across the spectrum from entry level to retiree housing. The city’s use of reserve funds to provide $10,000 grants to developers of multi-family units has proven to be a good investment bringing increased housing opportunities as well as growing the tax base through new construction.

With the city potentially looking at using Tax Incremental Financing to help open an otherwise vacant area along Hwy 13 for residential development for a 55 and older community, there will be plenty of discussion on the long-term results of this residential focus.

As the city has worked to become more competitive in attracting residents, there has also been a larger focus on the importance of amenities such as improvements to parks. The past year saw the opening of the new Tombstone Bandshell which has led to a Kiwanis Music in the Park free concert series which saw growing numbers all season long. In addition, the city’s investment in park improvements in the downtown with the completion of the RCU Pavilion and the splash pad have encouraged the growth in downtown events and improvements to the downtown farmers market all of which brings more people and activity to the downtown area, which is good for downtown businesses.

Schools and education

Over the past year, both Rib Lake and Medford school district voters approved once-in-a generation level referendums addressing ongoing maintenance and making much needed upgrades to their building.

Voters in both communities had a critical eye to the plans presented and by listening to the feedback of residents, board members and leadership in the schools crafted proposals that meet the needs of current and future district students and families without going into the excess that has drawn criticism to bloating school projects elsewhere in the state.

Connecting the middle and high school buildings, creating a larger gym space and renovating the kitchen will all have longterm benefits to the Rib Lake school district.

Similarly, Medford school district’s investment into classroom space upgrades for the sciences and technical education will open the door to increased educational opportunities which will help ensure local graduates are sought after by area employers.

At the same time, Medford will be able to make much needed upgrades and repairs. Combined with the use of the district’s ability to set aside funds for future maintenance projects, if managed correctly will allow the district to reach a level where future maintenance projects can be sustainable as part of budgets rather than having to continually come back to voters.

While the record-setting level of referendums has drawn attention from state lawmakers, this is the result of decades-long policy decisions made at the state level and the age and condition of the state’s school buildings.

The past year brought with it many opportunities and challenges and in many ways lived up to the hope that the year started with. There is always work to be done, but that is the task in 2025 and beyond.