Wausau City Hall. MWC file photo
CONLEY COMMENTARY (WSAU) – I expect a three-ring circus at tonight’s Wausau City Council meeting. It will start with public comment – where people can sign up and speak to the council about anything. There will be a parade of speakers who will criticize Mayor Doug Diny for removing the city’s unsecured absentee ballot drop box. They will be unencumbered by facts; that the dropbox had a lock on it and that early voting had not yet started. They will claim our mayor is anti-democratic and wanted to keep people from voting.
At the end of the meeting, the Mayor had added to the agenda a discussion about the ballot drop box. The city council, anxious to show-up the mayor, will vote in favor of drop box use. They are also being asked to decide on $3,000 for drop box security; a spotlight and a security camera to be trained on the box.
There are other steps to this story. Wisconsin’s partisan attorney general is almost certain to file felony election interference charges against the mayor. The case will go nowhere, but it will be a talking point for the rest of Doug Diny’s term. The city council will open an ethics investigation into the mayor, where the untrue election interference charges will be amplified. And the council will look to protect City Clerk Kaitlyn Bernarde, who, in her judgment, thought it was proper to go against the Mayor’s wishes and wheel an unbolted drop box onto city hall plaza. And then, in a breathtaking case of poor judgment, referred its removal to the District Attorney’s office.
To point out the obvious, Bernarde is not an elected official. When she unilaterally makes decisions on city policy, voters who disagree with her have no recourse. She can’t be replaced on election day. Mayor Diny should remind her that unelected staff do not make policy for the city. If she is unclear on that point, the ‘help wanted’ sign should go up for a new city clerk.
Enjoy the show at tonight’s City Council meeting.
Chris Conley
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