Wausau City Council Votes to Schedule Future Committee of the Whole Meeting on Homelessness

Friday, May 17th, 2024 -- 9:01 AM

(Mike Leischner, WSAU) The Wausau City Council voted to schedule a future Committee of the Whole meeting on homelessness in the city.

According to Mike Leischner with WSAU, Alders Gary Gisselman and Terry Kilian petitioned to put the matter on Tuesday’s agenda Monday afternoon, with Gisselman saying he wants an update on how the issue has been handled.

“I think it would be good for this City Council to get educated with regard to the status of the homeless population,” said Gisselman. “Possible agenda items would include reviewing [data] from Marathon County Administration or North Central Health Care.”

Alder Sarah Watson says she knows that a Committee of the Whole can’t make policy decisions or spend money, but she does want the meeting to create ideas that can be brought to future agendas and potentially turn into action.

“We need to have action points. We know a lot of the aspects [around] the magnitude of the issue, and I do think it’s nice to hear from our partners or potential partners, but we need to come out of this with action. Something we are going to do. I hope future action items will be added to the agenda.”

A Committee of the Whole meeting involves all 11 Alders meeting in a discussion format. It includes no action and the Alders can’t approve spending. They can refer items to the appropriate city committee for discussion and action at a later date.

This will be the second time in two years that the City Council has held a committee meeting on homelessness. Gisselman was also part of a group that requested a meeting on the issue in January 2023.

It also comes after the Wausau Police Department got approval to add two officers to their ranks dedicated to working on issues created by homelessness, particularly in the downtown area.

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