Wausau City Hall. MWC file photo.
WAUSAU, WI (WSAU) — Those that would like to listen to City meetings by phone in Wausau will now have to request the option.
The pandemic brought many changes to municipal governments including different ways to attend meetings virtually. But with pandemic restrictions easing around Central Wisconsin, governmental bodies are looking to return to running meetings as normal, including having members attend meetings in person.
Part of that return to normal included eliminating some temporary rules that allowed additional virtual options to attend meetings. Wednesday evening Wausau’s Rules Review Committee removed a rule that required City staff and those responsible for creating and noticing agendas to ensure a dial-in option is available on agendas for every Wausau meeting.
A dial-in option is still available for meetings, but residents that would like to monitor meetings over the phone will need to request the dial-in number. District 4 Alder Tom Neal said the dial-in option isn’t needed now that there isn’t a capacity limit in the Council Chambers at City Hall. “It’s an unreasonable onus on staff.
“You know we make every other accommodation through our presence on the web through video and whatnot. And in person here that I just think it’s more than we need to do and it’s just not convenient.”
District 6 Alder Becky McElhaney also noted that the dial-in options for meetings can be disruptive with the noises the program makes as people enter and leave the meeting call. But District 8 Alder Sarah Watson said she’d like to have the dial-in option on agendas because “I really like the idea of the transparency. And if it’s not a huge labor to get that link out on the agenda, I definitely want to see it still there.”
The rule to included a dial-in option on agendas was removed on a 4-1 vote. Watson was the only Alder on the Committee to vote against removing the dial-in option from agendas. The dial-in option is now only available by request, but all city meetings in the Council Chambers are streamed live on YouTube at the City’s meeting YouTube page.
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