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Committee asks staff to study anonymous complaint process for housing inspections
Summary
Alder DeLee asked staff to review the city's Request for Service system to limit anonymous submissions in some cases; staff and the law department cautioned about retaliation and public-records disclosure and were asked to return with a proposal.
GREEN BAY, Wis. — The Protection & Policy Committee on Monday, June 16, 2025, voted to refer to staff a request to change the city’s Request for Service system so that some housing-inspection complaints would require the complainant’s name and address while preserving anonymity for certain sensitive categories.
Alder DeLee introduced the item after a constituent raised repeated complaints that appeared intended to harass neighbors. "I get calls time after time of individuals that are being targeted by their neighbors," Alder DeLee said, arguing the system can be used to harass and that anonymous reports offer no way to track or communicate with the complainant.
The Director for inspections said the department processes roughly "3,500 to maybe 4,000 complaints a year" and that removing anonymity completely could chill legitimate reports and raise the risk of retaliation. The director proposed that staff explore targeted fixes — for example, retaining anonymity for certain complaint categories while allowing staff to investigate patterns of suspected harassment.
The law department cautioned that once a name is collected it generally becomes a public record and may need to be disclosed unless a balancing test or redaction is applied for safety concerns. "For the most part once we have the information outside of the balancing test, there's no ... authority to absolutely withhold the information," the attorney said.
Committee members asked staff to return with a proposal and timeline; one staff member estimated a draft could be ready in about a month. The motion to refer the matter to staff for recommendations passed by voice vote.
