City of Marshfield. MWC file photo.
MARSHFIELD, WI (WSAU-WDLB) — There will not be a new mayor taking over in the city of Marshfield anytime soon after leaders voted to table further discussion on the matter until after a new Council is seated.
WDLB Radio in Marshfield reports the action was part of Tuesday’s regular city council meeting during which some Alders expressed an interest in exploring other forms of government including a City Manager style of Government.
“I’ve heard that tossed around by quite a few people in the community actually,” said Alder Rebecca Spiros. She adds that she’s unfamiliar with that form of Government herself, so she’d like more information to pass along to constituents.
Alder Ed Wagner would like to see an election held as soon as possible, but that comes at a cost because of the technology used by Wood County to tabulate votes. The city would need to pay to keep the results reporting modem running from now until the time of the election according to Clerk Deb Hall.
“We modem all of our results to the county, and because we are the only ones holding out we have to pay the modem charge for all of Wood County. That would be about $250 per month. We can turn the modem off, but it would cost us more to turn it back on,” she said.
The soonest a special election could be held would be in July. Meaning the modem fee would cost the city around $750 in addition to the typical costs associated with an election such as printing ballots, staffing the polls, and tabulating results.
Hall adds that typically by now the County Clerk has already called the company that handles that equipment to have the modem turned off.
As it stands City Council President Tom Witzel will continue to run meetings and sign documents as acting Mayor. Should the council elect a new President during the April 20th organizational meeting, that person would take over those duties.
Further discussion about how the position may be filled permanently will be held during the April 27th City Council meeting.
McManus was removed from office by an 8-2 vote of the City Council over an open records complaint, including the deletion of text messages from the Mayor’s city-issued cell phone.
The Mayor’s position in Marshfield is a part-time gig that’s up for election once every two years.
Comments