For more information, contact: Jerry Deschane, League Executive Director, 608-267-2380
Tammy Bockhorst, Village of Shorewood Trustee and League of Wisconsin Municipalities Board President, 608-772-0106
Lake Delton, WI – Tammy Bockhorst, Village of Shorewood Trustee was elected the League of Wisconsin Municipalities Board of Directors President at the League’s 120th Annual Conference in Lake Delton. The League serves Wisconsin’s cities and villages, providing advocacy, training and legal services.
Bockhorst is the 101st League President, and the 8th woman to be in that role. She will lead the League board of directors, appoint new board members as vacancies arise, and work closely with the League staff to implement the League’s priorities. Although both the League & Shorewood Boards are now majority female, a personal priority for her is to continue to diversify representation. Her first board appointment nominee, Tomika Vukovich, Glendale Alderwoman and School Board Member, will be the second African American female to serve on the League’s Board of Directors.
Bockhorst is fascinated by the League’s rapid evolution. “I was recruited to serve on the League board by other municipal leaders who told me that we were going to change things; that we were going to look at everything the League does and see how we can do it better.” She credits prior board members for setting high expectations; expectations that the League staff have met. “We have real momentum at the League, in our advocacy efforts, in education, and in communication with the cities and villages of this state. My role as President is to fuel that momentum; to keep us moving forward.”
Bockhorst will lead the League at an important time. The Governor and Legislature will consider several issues of importance to the future of Wisconsin’s cities and villages in the 2019-20 Legislative Session. The League’s legislative agenda includes transportation aids, legislation to close the Dark Store Loopholes and policy that would provide communities with the ability to set their own priorities.
Bockhorst says she’s excited to serve. She’s a five-year veteran on the Shorewood Village Board. She’s a health care finance professional, a former Sergeant in the Army National Guard, a high school and college teacher. In one way or another, Bockhorst says she has been working in public service all her life.
“This new role with the League is a natural extension of my entire career. All of my work, both professional and volunteer, has been aimed at making a difference; at making things better. The Shorewood Village Board does that on a daily basis. We touch people’s lives every day in some very straightforward and practical ways.” The League’s focus on serving its members through state and federal advocacy, education and building networks among Wisconsin’s 602 cities and villages, “is a logical next step in that process.”
