New faces

Seats will shift on Building Commission

The makeup of the State Building Commission has been relatively static for the last decade, but there will be at least four new members when the panel convenes in January.

The governor is the commission's chairman, and he gets to select a citizen member to serve on the panel. Since 1987, a Republican, Tommy Thompson or Scott McCallum, has presided over the monthly meetings and charted a course for the building program.

Appointed by Thompson in 1987, Waukesha County developer and builder Bryce Styza is almost certain not to be back in 2003. Several industry observers agreed the position will be an easy one to fill for the incoming governor, Democrat Jim Doyle.

The Legislature's appointees to the commission are also bound to change. Republicans, soon to be the majority party in the Senate, will get a second member on the commission for the first time in eight years. Either state Sens. Fred Risser, D-Madison, or Mark Meyer, D-La Crosse, will have to step aside to make room for the GOP, although Risser, the longest-serving member of the state Senate, said remaining on the Building Commission is his No. 1 priority.

Republicans in the Assembly will also have to name a new member to the commission since former Rep. Tim Hoven retired in August 2002. Rep. Frank Urban, R-Brookfield, has been filling in for Hoven, but Urban didn't seek re-election in November.

The reshuffling of elected officials won't be the only shakeup for the state building program. The administrator of the state Division of Facilities Development - who also serves as the commission's secretary - is an appointed position. It's possible Doyle could replace Robert Cramer, who has led the DFD since June 2001.

— By Jeremy Harrell

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