CONLEY COMMENTARY (WSAU) – Wausau Alderman Lou Larson has a big idea. He says… after thinking about this for a looong time… that maybe the City Council should adopt a rule that prevents members from going on radio programs like this one. He says that alders don’t run as Democrats or Republicans; local elections are non-partisan. So maybe council members shouldn’t go on “the most partisan radio program in the area” – this one.
Well, Alderman Larson did not spend a lot of time thinking about fundamental constitutional rights, like freedom of speech. Someone who is elected to the city council doesn’t forfeit their free speech rights. They’re free to express themselves on any issue of the day. Of course, they speak as individuals. They don’t speak on behalf of the city, or the city council as a whole.
And the city attorney and Mayor Katie Rosenberg got it right: There’s no way such a law could stand.
But here is an important distinction. What about city employees?
It’s been widely reported that the Mayor’s office has told city employees not to speak about PFAS or forever chemicals in the water supply. And, within limits, this is legal. A city employee – say, a secretary at the Department of Public Works – isn’t a spokesperson for the city and isn’t an expert on water quality. So the city does have the right to control what they say… but only in the narrow area of speaking on behalf of the city in an official capacity.
And even that is problematic. Wausau’s Public Works Director Eric Lindman appeared on this broadcast. He emphatically stated what city water is safe to drink. Suppose someone else in the city, hypothetically the Mayor’s office, has a different view and wants to silence him. Well, you can imagine the problem. He’s an expert. Others at City Hall aren’t. He’s a department head. You’d expect someone at that level to be able to speak freely about their area of the city. Firing him would look like a silencing or a cover-up. That would undermine public trust and confidence and would be counterproductive.
The lesson from all of this is that more speech, not less speech, leads to a more informed public and will ultimately guide us to the right decisions.
-Chris Conley
Comments