Experienced leader or fresh perspective in Wausau District 7
The race features a contest between long-time incumbent Lisa Rasmussen and political newcomer Matt Hoenecke
District No. 7 has long been represented by Lisa Rasmussen, who has served on the city council since 2008 and served as council president four times during her tenure. She is the current council president.
Rasmussen this year is being challenged by a political newcomer, Matt Hoenecke, who wants to challenge the status quo and bring fresh thinking to the city council.
Central to the conflict between them: How the city handled the hiring of 12 firefighters, necessitating a referendum to ask voters to raise taxes in order to pay for their salaries as grants ran out. Hoenecke doesn’t agree with how it was handled at the council.
The Wausonian interviewed both candidates to hear their pitches to voters ahead of the April 7 election.
Lisa Rasmussen (I)
Rasmussen is no stranger to the Wausau City Council, seeking her 10th term in office. She’s has been a powerful force on the city council, having been elected as the council president four different times during her political career. But she also highlights the behind-the-scenes work that council members do, handling citizen complaints and helping them get what they need from the city.
She cites her work helping to save the Schulenburg Swimming Pool, preserving interstate access at highways K and U, developing the River’s Edge Trail and finding a home for The Women’s Community shelter that didn’t conflict with neighbors.
Rasmussen’s top priorities this time around start with infrastructure - including addressing city roads that were worsened by one of the toughest freeze/thaw cycles the city has seen; pushing past the city’s currently stagnant economic growth and getting the city more proactive in attracting development; and diversifying the city’s revenue sources in order for the city’s finances to be more sustainable.
Rasmussen hopes to serve on the Finance and Infrastructure committees this time around, but also would like to see work spread out more evenly amongst city council members this next cycle.
As far as things Rasmussen says she likes about what the city has done recently, she cites the formation WMC shelter, in which the police department collaborated with community leaders in order to fill a gap in housing options for Wausau’s homeless.
Rasmussen cites her experience with so many years on council and her responsiveness to residents as to why she’s the best bet to get things done for the people of her district and of Wausau.
Matt Hoenecke
By contrast, Hoenecke says he is running for city council in order to bring a fresh perspective to the city council. The 31-year-old Learning Commons Manager at Northcentral Technical College says he sees a lot of groupthink on the city council and wants to shake that up while bringing new ideas and fiscal responsibility to the council.
Hoenecke is especially critical of the way funding 12 new firefighters in the city was handled, along with the referendum itself. Hoenecke said the city is using “fear tactics” in its messaging around why the city should pass the referendum, saying that if current leaders considered public safety a priority, they never would have let it go to a referendum in the first place.
What’s the top priority for Hoenecke? First, he wants to see a full, detailed audit done of the city’s finances. And reducing debt is a major priority, as Hoenecke says 15% of city spending goes toward paying down debt. And, he would like to scale back TIF District usage in the city, taking a more targeted approach. That includes holding developers to stricter metrics in order to ensure the city is getting its money’s worth. Making sure TIF funding goes toward projects that pay a living wage is one factor, Hoenecke told The Wausonian.
Hoenecke declined to name specific committees he would want to serve on, but said any committees that would offer him budgetary oversight would be preferable.
Hoenecke says the city has failed to address resident concerns for the past five years, and he says it’s time for that to change. He says he would bring a fresh voice to the city council and represent a demographic that has struggled more than generations that have come before.
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