Interoperability Council

The Interoperability Council was established under Wis. Stats. 15.107 and 16.9645 in March 2008 to develop strategies and recommend standards and guidelines for achieving statewide communications interoperability for Wisconsin's public safety community. The Council advises the Office of Justice Assistance on the allocation of homeland security grants and other funding available for the Wisconsin Interoperability Initiative. The current council replaces its predecessor, the State Interoperability Executive Council, which was created by executive order in 2004.

As the main statewide planning and governance body for communications interoperability in Wisconsin, the Council has chartered numerous other subcommittees and working groups to address particular communications issues. Members are appointed by the Governor and represent key state and local stakeholders. 

Name	Title	Organization/Agency
Mindy Allen	Executive Director	Wisconsin EMS Association
Tom Czaja, Vice Chair	Chief of Police	City of Fox Point Police Department
Stephen Fitzgerald	Superintendent	Wisconsin State Patrol
Jon Freund	Local official	FAC Consulting Group
Steve Hansen	Fire Chief	Racine Fire Department
Matt Joski, Chair	Sheriff	Kewaunee County Sheriffs Department
James Koleas	Retired	Public member
John Murray	Executive Director	Office of Justice Assistance
Brian Satula	Regional Director	WEM, Northeast Region
Lynn Shubert	Manager	Aurora Health Care
Randy Stark	Chief Warden	Department of Natural Resources
William Stolte	Director	Waukesha County Emergency Management
Richard Van Boxtel	Police Chief	Oneida Tribal Police Dept.
Markley Wahl	Policy Advisor	Division of Enterprise Technology

MOU with Feds signed
Will increase local access to emergency frequencies

The U.S. Department of Interior and the state of Wisconsin have signed a memorandum of understanding that will create a partnership between the the state and federal government as Wisconsin moves forward with WISCOM, a shared statewide system that will allow responders across the state to seamlessly communicate during a major disaster.

The partnership will assist the state in acquiring the necessary frequencies for WISCOM, while improving the ability of DOI personnel to communicate with Wisconsin responders. The MOU will enable Wisconsin to negotiate with DOI to use WISCOM at no cost in exchange for the use of DOI frequencies. It is one of only a handful of MOUs that have been signed across the country, and the first of its kind in the midwest.

Members of the Interoperability Council (Left) looked on as Dave Steingraber, OJA Executive Director (seated far left) and Tim Quinn, US Department of the Interior (seated center) sign the MOU in 2009. Council members include: (Standing) Dave Mahoney, Dane Co Sheriff; Mark Wahl, Department of Administration; Ben Schliesman, Kenosha Co Emergency Management Director; Neil Cameron, Appleton Fire Chief (ret.); Rob Rude, Wisconsin Emergency Management; Tom Czaja, Chief, Fox Point Police Department; and Dave Spenner, State Interoperability Coordinator. (Seated far right) Sue Riseling, UW Madison Police Chief.

2010
September 16, 2010 Agenda | Minutes
July 22, 2010 (Meeting canceled - tentatively rescheduled for 9/16/10)
March 25, 2010
January 14, 2010

2009
October 13, 2009
July 21, 2009 (joint meeting with SSMG)
April 9, 2009
January 13, 2009

2008
September 18, 2008 

2007
November 13, 2007
June 25, 2007
February 13, 2007

2006
November 21, 2006
September 19, 2006
February 28, 2006

2005
November 17, 2005
October 4, 2005
May 25, 2005
April 28, 2005
March 29, 2005