CONLEY COMMENTARY (WSAU) – Tonight’s Wausau City Council meeting is worth following.
It will give us an idea of how city government will be during the next two years. We’ll learn a lot about the lay of the land.
After this year’s spring elections, Mayor Doug Diny proposed changes to the city’s committee structure. He’d like to see the city move from six standing committees to four. He says fewer committees will be less of a burden to city staff. It would streamline city government. It would allow more council members to have input at the committee level, where most decisions are made.
Honestly, I don’t have a strong opinion either way about 4 or 6 committees. But I do believe it should be discussed and considered. If the change is approved, fine. If it is rejected, so be it.
Before the elections earlier this month the city council was dismissive of almost all of the mayor’s proposals. Zero-based budgeting? It didn’t happen. Changes to the parks department agreement with the county? No even considered. A city manager? Stuck in neutral. Proposals to lower Wausau’s water rates? Not even a motion to begin debate. A proposal to keep 6 of the unfunded firefighter-paramedics? Inadequate.
The old council’s unspoken attitude was that the mayor is an inexperienced idiot. Doug Diny served only one term on the city council before becoming mayor. So surely he doesn’t know how the city works. His ideas aren’t even worthy of discussion.
That attitude, frankly, is disrespectful of the voters who put Doug Diny into office. They voted for him because city spending is out of control and taxes are forever going up. And the old city council’s message is this: things are the way they are. An inexperienced rube has no business making changes.
But now there are four new faces on the council. And tonight shrinking from 6 committees to 4 is on the agenda. I want to see if we can at least debate new ideas. Does every proposal deserve to go forward? No, of course not. But without discussion and debate, where are we? We’re stuck on autopilot where expenses and property taxes drift ever higher… towards oblivion. Let’s see if that sad narrative changes tonight.
Chris Conley
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