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Marshfield mayor’s committee assignments approved after heated council debate
Summary
Marshfield Mayor Teastrich’s reworking of aldermanic committee assignments drew criticism over process and the timing of changes to the Community Development Authority; the council approved the slate in a roll-call vote.
Marshfield Mayor Teastrich’s list of aldermanic committee, board and commission assignments won council approval after a contentious discussion about process and timing.
The Common Council voted to accept the mayor’s appointments after a motion from Alderman Rebecca Spiro and a second from Alderman Mike O’Reilly. The vote was recorded in the meeting transcript as "That motion passes 5 2 4." Two aldermen—Alderman Derek Worman and Alderman Andrew Bridal—voted no on the motion.
The dispute centered on the mayor’s decision to change the selection process this year. Historically, aldermen said, candidates completed a questionnaire indicating committee preferences; Mayor Teastrich told the council she tried a different method this year. "I wanna try something different this year to see how things go again," Teastrich said, adding that she attended many meetings and had tried to balance experience and schedules when making assignments.
Alderman Andrew Bridal framed his objection around consultation and predictability. "We're changing a process randomly, but we're not doing it for everyone," Bridal said, and concluded, "So I'm gonna vote no on this until we go back and fix the process." Alderman Derek Worman said he had been removed from the Fair Board without prior notice and opposed the way the changes were made.
Several council members pushed back on that criticism. Alderman Rebecca Spiro said appointment decisions are the mayor’s prerogative and urged colleagues to treat the changes as opportunities to serve different committees.
A separate strand of the debate focused on the Community Development Authority (CDA). Alderman Fire warned that the CDA is in the middle of a federal financing transition from HUD to RAD and argued the committee should remain unchanged so experienced members can see the process through. "We don't have time to bring Mr. O'Reilly up," Fire said, adding that federal and state processes tied to Parkview and Cedar Rail renovations make continuity important.
In addition to aldermanic assignments, the mayor read aloud citizen appointments to multiple city boards and commissions. The mayor presented candidates for the airport, zoning board of appeals, business improvement district, plan commission, committee on aging, communications committee, CDA and others.
The council confirmed one citizen appointment at the meeting: Bonnie Andress as chair of the Zoning Board of Appeals. The motion to confirm Andress was made by Alderman Spiro, seconded by Alderman Curran, and carried on the recorded vote.
The mayor said the year’s appointments reflected both the need to fill many open slots and efforts to attract new volunteers. "This year was very, very different than any other year with this. I had to find 4 people. Otherwise there was only 1 person that stepped up on each committee," Teastrich said.
Council members asked that the mayor include more consultation in future years and urged staff to track committee tenure and availability so assignments better match schedules.
Ending: The council moved on to other agenda items after voting on the appointments. The mayor said additional confirmations and the appointment of an ethics board member would be addressed at the council’s April 22 meeting.
