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Wausau rules committee discusses edits to Rule 5 on order of business, will return revised language
Summary
The City of Wausau Rules Review Committee discussed proposed edits to Rule 5 (order of business), including whether to keep a mayoral communications item and how to list proclamations, but took no formal vote and asked staff to return revised wording at the next meeting.
The City of Wausau Rules Review Committee discussed possible edits to Rule 5, the council’s order of business, and directed staff to reword the draft and bring it back for further review rather than taking final action.
Committee members debated whether to retain an item listing “communications and recommendations from the mayor” and how specific the agenda should be when noting proclamations or mayoral remarks. Alderperson Tierney cited state guidance during the discussion, noting "Wisconsin statute 68 o 9 sub 8 b says ... the mayor shall, from time to time, give the council such information and recommend such measures as the mayor may may deem advantageous to the city," and said she would "ask that our mayor provide some specificity about what he would be talking about." Tierney said if the committee requires specificity for one agenda item it should be applied consistently to others.
Committee chair (name not provided) said the body is revising "the order of business, not items of business," and the committee’s work is intended to reflect current practice while complying with open-meetings requirements. The city attorney reiterated that Rule 5 sets only the sequence of business, while agenda wording must satisfy open-meeting law.
Members noted that the current list evolved from a 2008 standing-rules resolution and guidance from the League of Wisconsin Municipalities. The draft will be word‑smithed and returned to the Rules Review Committee at a future meeting; no ordinance or formal rule change was adopted at this session.
The committee approved minutes from previous meetings at the start of the session. The chair said revised Rule 5 language "will come back, again at the next meeting," signaling more work ahead.
Background: Committee members discussed retaining a place on the agenda for mayoral comments and for proclamations; they raised the practical question of how much specificity should appear on an agenda and whether agendas should list the exact nature of proclamations or simply include a generic line for proclamations. The committee did not adopt final text and requested a subsequent draft that incorporates the committee’s direction.
The item will return to the committee for additional editing and possible referral to the committee of the whole and full council as required by the resolution that created the Rules Review Committee.
Ending note: Committee members agreed to meet again after the June economic development meeting to continue work on Rule 5 language and other standing-rule edits.
