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Earl defends makeup of women’s councilBy FRANK RYANMADISON, Wis. (UPI) — Saying that more women than ever before are poor, Gov. Anthony Earl named his 15-member women s council today and defended the appointment of seven members from the Madison area.Only two of the members are from Milwaukee, which has the state’s largest concentration of poor women. Madison is not considered a poverty area.Sarah Harder, assistant to the vice chancellor of the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, was named chairperson. Both she and Earl said the council’s major thrust will be the eradication of female poverty.The council is the descendant of similar councils appointed by former Govs. Patrick Lucey and Lee Dreyfus. Dreyfus, a Republican, croaked” Democrat Lucey’s council, claiming it was dominated by liberal women from Madison, that it was politicized and that it lacked diversity.Earl said the current council had a “broad diversity of interests and I hope that will be the hallmark for years to come.”“Part of the reason for the breakdown results from appointments made by both the Legislature and the governor’s office, although I must admit we tried to coordinate there,” Earl said at a news conference.“Part of it results from the fact some people now call Madison home when it wasn’t originally home. Most identify Ada Deer with Menominee County and the Menominee Indian reservation, but she now has a position here.“I understand the criticism and am sensitive to it. I think it is fair to say that the makeup of the council reflects a far greater diversity of opinion, background and experience than geographical addresses mightindicate.“I thought it important to make sure we had representation of racialminorities on the council and that led us to look to Madison. I strongly feel there is a much greater diviersi-ty on this council than any predecessor group of a similar nature.” Council members are Roberta Gassman, Ada Deer, Alma Rose Gonzales, Rep. Marjorie Miller, Susan Hobart and Katherine Claren-bach, all Madison; Kathleen Soderbloom, Stoughton (a Madison suburb); Tresa Malone and Barbara Notestein, both Milwaukee; Sarah Harder, Eau Claire; Susan DuBois, Rhinelander; Mary Kay Wagner, Kenosha; Rep. Patricia Goodrich, R-Berlin; Sen. Barbara Lorman, R-Fort Atkinson, and Sen. Timothy Cullen, D-Janesville.When Earl first said he would appoint a council, Lorman said the money would be better spent directly aiding women.Earl drew some lifted eyebrows and laughter from council members when he diverted from his written text and ad-libbed while describing the makeup of the council.“Some (council members) have been homemakers and some have always worked for a living,” Earl said.The text read, “Some have been homemakers and some have always worked for a paycheck.”Noticing his mistake, Earl quipped, “Have I told you the one about the long cloth.”The agenda of the council, he said, could be very large.“Even though Wisconsin has made legislative progress in the areas of equal employment, sexual harassment, affirmative action, sexual assault, divorce reform, domestic abuse and displaced homemakers, there still remains much to be done.”“Despite all the progress, the most discouraging fact is more women than ever before are poor. This is true whether they are young or old, black or white, rural or urban. A disproportionate burden of poverty falls on women.”
Newspaper Details
Kenosha News
Kenosha, Wisconsin, US
Wed, Aug 24, 1983
Page 27
Full Page
Clipped by
Anonymous
USA 21 Oct 2019
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