Committee would involve 3 counties, Lac du Flambeau Tribe

BY KEVIN BONESKE

REPORTER/PHOTOGRAPHER

In the wake of the charges being filed against suspects accused of being involved in the murder of a Lac du Flambeau man, Wayne Valliere, Jr., the formation of a Tri-County/Tribal Controlled Substance Response Committee has been proposed.

The Lac du Flambeau Tribe, which hosted a meeting last month with officials and agencies from Iron, Oneida and Vilas counties to discuss the need for a joint effort to fight drug abuse and violence in the Tri-County region, has drafted  a resolution for forming a committee comprised of representatives of the three counties and the tribe.

That resolution, which calls for two representatives from each of the counties and the Lac du Flambeau Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians, was backed Monday by Oneida County’s Administration Committee and forwarded to the full County Board for approval at its meeting Feb. 20.

“You can’t have a 60-person committee – you’re never going to get anything done,” said Oneida County corporation counsel Brian Desmond. “The idea was to try to narrow the focus down (with) two representatives from the tribe and each of the three counties – you’d have this eight-person committee.”

The resolution’s wording also notes Oneida County’s representatives would include one county supervisor and one representative from law enforcement. It was noted at Monday’s meeting Oneida County sheriff Grady Hartman has expressed an interest in being the county’s law enforcement representative on the Controlled Substance Response Committee.

According to the resolution, the Controlled Substance Response Committee’s initial focus would be “the task of ascertaining and evaluating regional controlled substance response strategies, practices, resources, strengths, deficiencies, and barriers, for the purpose of coordinating a comprehensive intergovernmental response to the drug epidemic and creating safer communities within our region.”

The resolution further states that committee “shall develop an action plan and periodically report to the governing bodies of the respective member entities.”