Wausau’s Rules Review Committee Shelves Proposal to Restrict Signage at City Meetings

Wednesday, May 7th, 2025 -- 9:01 AM

(Mike Leischner, WSAU) Wausau’s Rules Review Committee has shelved a proposal to restrict signage at all official city meetings but will continue to craft statements to be attached to agendas and read at the start of all public comment periods.

According to Mike Leischner with WSAU, Alders agreed that restricting signs in the Council Chambers would amount to a restriction of free speech. “I would be hesitant to move forward,” said Committee Chair Gary Gisselman. “I think the legality is not very clear.”

Alder Terry Kilian said she’s ok with signs as long as they aren’t bothering anyone. “I think that unless signage is disruptive, destructive, or dangerous, if they bring it in on a pole and it could hurt someone, a sign sitting quietly in our chamber is just a sense of freedom of speech."

"It’s my understanding that signage is considered an important part of freedom of speech,” added Kilian. “The freedom to have our own beliefs and to be able to express them freely as long as we are not disruptive or disorderly is what makes our country a democracy to be celebrated.”

Gisselman then confirmed that the committee would not move forward with that proposal. None of the Alders objected to that action. City Clerk Kaitlyn Bernarde then presented the Committee with draft statements to be attached to all official agendas and read before public comment sessions, which she modeled after the Wausau School Board’s statements, adding the city’s mission and core values statements.

“We propose that the statement could be mentioned at the start of the meeting or we could add it to the agendas,” said Bernarde. Alder Michael Martens agreed, saying he thinks it would be a reminder to those who attend meetings regularly and an educational opportunity for those who don’t.

“They may want to engage in the workings [at City Hall] but may not always understand how the whole process [works.] They may think behavior like you see in other forums is acceptable in places like this, where we are trying to get the city’s work done.”

The committee is considering changes to fine-tune the wording and reduce redundancies, “worsmithing,” as Gisselman put it, and will finalize the statements at a future meeting.

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