Wausau Mayor Katie Rosenberg in front of City Hall. MWC photo by Mike Leischner.
CONLEY COMMENTARY (WSAU) – Wausau Mayor Katie Rosenberg co-wrote an Op Ed for USA Today last week. Her topic was about the state Supreme Court’s efforts to re-draw Wisconsin’s electoral maps. Of course, Mayor Katie claims the state is gerrymandered. And, of course, everyone knows how the state’s newly liberal court will rule.
But her writing gives us clues about Katie Rosenberg’s vision for the city she governs. And it’s disturbing.
The last time we got a look inside the mayor’s head was when she attended a progressive urban planning conference in Germany. She took part in a panel discussion on building up instead of building out. Her vision: a city of condominiums, townhouses and apartments over single family homes. Never mind that I like having my own yard, and not sharing a wall with neighbors who may argue or have loud parties. Why should city policy favor one over the other? This is really a matter of individual choice and personal finances.
So now Mayor Rosenberg writes that a Republican-majority legislature blocks Democrat-majority cities from all types of local regulations. Thank God, it’s true. The GOP legislature has stopped cities from setting their own local minimum wages. Correct. Why should a fast-food restaurant in Milwaukee have labor costs that are twice-as-high as a competitor one town over? Local rules that woud impact landlords are blocked. Higher costs would be passed on to renters. Cities are stymied from enacting stricter gun laws. Of course – in an open-carry state like Wisconsin, the People’s Republic of Madison doesn’t get to take away fundamental gun rights. Wausau’s mayor even laments that local ordinances banning plastic grocery bags are blocked, as if “paper or plastic” is a government, not an individual, choice.
As I’ve said, the case over redrawing Wisconsin’s voting lines is a foregone conclusion. Perhaps the ruling will be slapped down by the U.S. Supreme Court.
What we see now is how Katie Rosenberg would like to see new political clout used. She envisions a highly regulated environment, where the government makes an ever-growing number of choices for you.
A better question for the Mayor is this: the stingy, illegitimate Republicans in the state house gave your city a $1.1-million increase in state aid. And yet property taxes in your city still went up. How much more do you need?
Chris Conley
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