Dane County Executive Joe Parisi announced in a press release today that he intends to retire next year from the position he was first elected to over a dozen years ago. Parisi’s upcoming retirement caps decades of public service.
Parisi was first elected county executive in April 2011 in a special election to fill out the remainder of a term started by former County Executive Kathleen Falk. Parisi was subsequently elected to full terms as executive in 2013, 2017, and 2021. He ran unopposed in 2013 and 2017 and received nearly 79% of the vote in the 2021 campaign. Prior to his service as county executive, Parisi served as Dane County clerk from 1996 to 2004 and represented the east side of Madison, Monona, McFarland, and the towns of Dunn and Blooming Grove in the Wisconsin State Assembly from 2005 until his election to his current role as county executive.
Parisi is planning to retire in May 2024, allowing several months for progress on key initiatives he is spearheading, including beginning implementation of the county’s recently completed roadmap to becoming carbon neutral, expanding access to critical mental health services, and jumpstarting the next round of initiatives focused on improved water quality and lake clean-up efforts.
