Oshkosh Civility Project marks 15 years, seeks nominations for 'torch bearers'

Members of the Oshkosh Civility Project used the board's public‑comment period on Aug. 19 to mark the group's 15th anniversary and ask supervisors to help promote civil public discourse.

"If you're not aware of it, Oshkosh has the Civility Project," said a project member (identified in the meeting as Supanik), describing the initiative's aim to foster respectful dialogue at public meetings. Supanik told the board that each supervisor had a nomination form to propose community members to serve as one of 15 anniversary "torch bearers of civility."

Julia Salomon, also speaking for the group, outlined a subset of the project's principles and urged residents and officials to listen with the intent to understand, "assume positive intent," seek common ground, and "focus on issues and not personalities." Salomon said the group is available to make presentations to the county board, to orientation sessions for new supervisors, and noted the project's website as a resource for more information.

The presentation was limited to the public‑comment period and the board took no action on the request. Organizers encouraged supervisors and staff to nominate community members and to request a workshop or orientation presentation if desired.

Ending: The civility group left nomination forms with the board and said it would follow up with scheduling if supervisors request a presentation or orientation session.