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The Milwaukee County Board of Supervisors voted 10-7 last week to reject legislation that would have dedicated $129,000 to create a county Office of Sustainability manned, in the beginning at least, by a single employee, a new Director of Sustainability.

The director would have carried out, on a full-time basis, the county’s Green Print program and other efforts, which are currently overseen by Steve Keith, a county environmental engineer who also serves as a part-time sustainability director.

Marina Dimitrijevic

Supervisor Marina Dimitrijevic has long pushed to create the new position. Supervisors Gerry Broderick, Nikiya Harris, Willie Johnson Jr., Theo Lipscomb, John Weishan and Peggy West joined her in voting not to reject legislation founding the office.

Its creation has been a point of fiscal contention for years – Scott Walker, when serving as county executive, vetoed an attempt by the county board to include funding for it in the county’s 2010 budget.

Under the Green Print program, the county’s buildings are becoming more energy efficient, leading to utility savings. According to an October 2010 county report, the Green Print program had so far saved the county $800,000 in electricity costs.

The board also voted 10-4 to allow county park rangers – a group composed primarily of volunteers that patrols county parks – to write citations for such minor offenses as consuming alcohol in a county park or walking an unleashed dog. The rangers, who have been trained by the Milwaukee County Sheriff’s Department, will write tickets for violations of county ordinances. Supervisors Dimitrijevic, Weishan, West and Michael Mayo voted against giving the rangers the new police powers.

And the county also agreed, without objection, to recommend a change in state law that would allow the county to place juvenile delinquents in local detention facilities for longer periods of time (180 days instead of 30) as an alternative to committing them to state juvenile corrections facilities. The recommendation was proposed by County Board Chairman Holloway and Lipscomb.

Gov. Walker’s 2011-13 budget calls for closing the Ethan Allen boys school in Waukesha County and the South Oaks girls school in Racine County and consolidating operations at the Lincoln Hills school in northern Wisconsin, about 220 miles north of Milwaukee. Holloway and Lipscomb said they supported the change to allow juveniles to stay closer to Milwaukee County and their families.

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