Marathon County Courthouse. MWC file photo.
WAUSAU, WI (WSAU) — Marathon County Supervisors could return to virtual attendance for full board meetings next month.
Thursday evening Marathon County’s Executive Committee discussed meeting attendance at monthly voting meetings. In June the committee recommended the County Board return to in-person attendance for its voting meeting on the fourth Tuesday of the month. But with rising COVID-19 case numbers in Marathon County, some supervisors would like to go back to attending those meetings virtually.
District 24 Supervisor Jean Mazsk began the discussion by saying the County Board should be an example to the community when it comes to following COVID-19 protocols and safety measures. “A lot of us lived through polio, chickenpox, measles, mumps, and whooping cough. And because of vaccines for the most part these are now a rare occurrence. Vaccinations have eradicated a lot of diseases and yet there are just way too many people out there who refuse to help make our world safe again.
“With numbers going up, and the threat of more people getting sick or dying, we need to start safety protocol again. We all know what to do and we’ve done it in the past and it works. So my recommendation is no in-person meetings for an indeterminant amount of time and to keep the numbers down and protect all of us.
“Wait to see how this next wave of infections goes before putting us all in a room full of people. I believe we have a moral and a professional obligation to be an example to the rest of our county residents. Numbers are going up and we should not be responsible for adding to them because of a little inconvenience.”
While most supervisors agreed that virtual meeting attendance should be an option, Vice-Chair and District 18 Supervisor Craig McEwan says both virtual and in-person attendance should be an option for supervisors. “If supervisors don’t feel comfortable coming back to in-person meetings we should give them that option. But like I said, leave it open for supervisors that would be willing to come in for meetings at the Courthouse. But I do agree we should give them that option.”
All members of the committee voted in favor of changing the County Board rules to allow virtual meeting attendance for voting meetings on Tuesdays. The change will be discussed by the County Board at their educational meeting on Thursday, August 19th. A 2/3rds majority vote would be required to pass the measure as a rule change.
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