WAUSAU, WI (WSAU) — Wausau’s Mayor-Elect Doug Diny is already talking with leaders at City Hall regarding changes he’d like to implement, but don’t expect sweeping change in his first few months.
That includes the possibility of a City Administrator.
“It is not a first 100 days item at all,” said Diny. “We have so many other things to focus on. I think [the discussion] needs to be more organic if it does come out. It is worthy of discussion.”
Diny is no stranger to the discussion. He brought an amendment forward as part of the 2023 budget process for an Administrator using $129,000 from the city’s surplus. He says he didn’t expect the measure to pass at the time, it wasn’t even considered because no one seconded the motion, but he did want to put the idea on the table.
RELATED: Wausau City Council Adopts 2023 Budget, Last-Minute Administrator Proposal Fails
“There’s reasons why a guy asks a question. Either you don’t know the answer and you just want to know, you know the answer and want to test the theory, or you know the answer and you want to put it on the record. If you don’t, and you sit on it, [it may not] go anywhere. Did I think it would pass? No. Did I think we could at least discuss it? Yes,” said Diny.
Diny adds that he’s open to starting the discussion, possibly in a committee of the whole format, but wouldn’t commit to putting a timeline on when that discussion will happen. “We’ll see. Once I get a few things in place and we see how this looks.”
He’s also considering modifying the city’s budget process to have some departments build their budgets from $0, instead of the “cost to continue” services and projects. He expects that change to be implemented slowly, possibly with one or two departments each year.
Diny defeated incumbent Katie Rosenberg with 52% of the vote last Tuesday. He says he got hundreds of phone calls in the last week about the results including some from other Mayors in the area. One of his first networking events will be with Stevens Point Mayor Mike Wiza, who invited him to an upcoming Mayor’s conference.
Other topics Diny discussed with WSAU’s Mike Leischner include:
Start of video- Token “how are you feeling about the results?” discussion
4:20- First “100 days” agenda
6:40- PILOT payment between the water utility and the city
12:30- Thoughts on a City Administrator position
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