MERRILL, WI (WSAU) — Merrill Mayor Derek Woellner says that relations between himself and City Administrator David Johnson have been improving since Woellner publicly called for Johnson to either resign or be fired last month.
“I don’t want to say it’s like nothing happens, but I don’t think that it’s majorly affected our working relationship. Things seem like how they were from the beginning,” said Woellner as part of this week’s Mayor’s Monday interview.
Woellner says the lengthy closed-door meeting on August 6th was likely a good thing so that both sides could have their concerns aired in the open. “I had talked about those grievances before the election, and I made it part of my platform. It just felt like the time to get it over with and move past this.”
Woellner said he wanted to wait six months before bringing the request forward, but instead made the announcement early because he felt the timing was right.
RELATED: Merrill Administrator, Mayor promising to “move forward”
Woellner had cited several concerns including Johnson’s demeanor during city council meetings and with the public along with a list of unmet city goals as reasons for calling the meeting. In the end both Johnson and Woellner left saying they hope to work together to move the city forward and make the incident water under the bridge.
Other topics that Woellner and WSAU’s Mike Leischner discussed as part of this week’s Mayors Monday include:
Start of video: Repairing the relationship between Woellner and David Johnson and moving forward
2:20: Status of a new skate park proposal
6:20: Information on a non-binding referendum regarding Wisconsin’s dark store laws
12:45: Woellner’s self-assessment of his first few months and explanation of why he only plans to serve one term
16:00: Status of potentially implementing a city flag for Merrill
