We sat down with Mayor Doug Diny - here are five takeaways from the interview
And, you can watch the video of the whole interview
On Friday The Wausonian sat down with newly elected Mayor Doug Diny.
Diny had already laid out his goals for his first 100 days. But The Wausonian wanted to know more. We wanted to ask more about those items, and what actions he and the city would take to accomplish them.
That’s especially important to talk about, because the mayor isn’t a dictator — the city council has a lot of influence in the decision-making process, and frankly when it comes to policy, they’re the body that sets it. Already on Tuesday there was a proposal to designate two official newspapers, something that would have doubled expenses. (That proposal isn’t legal and it won’t happen, Diny explained, and The Wausonian will be receiving a legal opinion from Attorney Anne Jacobson on the official newspaper situation soon.)
I filmed the interview and you can watch the entire interview below. But otherwise, here are five key takeaways from my interview with new Mayor Doug Diny.
Roads will be a priority: When I interviewed Diny for our primary election previews, Diny had in his apartment a huge map of the city’s roads that delineated their PACER ratings (a 1-5 ranking based on road quality). Fixing the roads is a top priority for Diny — beyond just for their own sake, he highlights their impact on economic development. When they’re driving around showing off the city to potential developers, Diny says, it’s not a great look to be running over potholes. Two quick fixes Diny proposed — buying equipment that allows city staff to do more of the work themselves and putting more money into asphalt overlay.
Directors will have in-person meetings: Diny hadn’t shared it with his staff yet, but he plans to hold in-person meetings with staff (I hadn’t realized they weren’t in person). Diny says he thinks that will help staff better communicate and understand problems together.
Six-day rule: One of Doug’s new initiatives — agendas will come out six days before the meeting. That will give council members, staff and the media a good heads up on what is coming down the road, and that will also help the media inform the public on what items might be of public interest. The county recently rejected something similar, but that was a little different: A county board proposal would have “locked” the agenda the Friday before a meeting to give members the weekend to digest it and not allow new information to be included at the last minute. That proposal did not pass last week.
Diny is focusing on the budget: Diny wants to make tweaks to the budget process and he’s already talking about zero-based budgeting. He knows the city council will have the ultimate say on the budget but that he and staff can help shape that process and philosophy on the budget in how they present it initially. “Hopefully we get on the same page,” Diny says.
A rededication toward records request responsiveness: Diny says he has already drafted a memo on public records responsiveness, based on current state statutes. He also says they are planning to add new tracking software that will track how quickly they’re responding to requests. “If you put in a request and it’s three weeks old, I will get involved to find out what is holding it up,” Diny says. The goal is to be able to look at it and say they reduced response time by a certain percentage. “We’ll start with the statutes, and then work on reducing those response times further.” It’ll be executive memo No. 1, Diny says.
Bonus: What about WOZ?
T. Wall mall call?: T. Wall Enterprises is supposed to begin construction next month (boy time flies) on the first apartment complex on the former Wausau Center mall site. But we’ve heard that before. What happens if they don’t deliver? Diny says one of the first things he spoke to Liz Brodek about is the mall site, and he has plans to meet with the T. Wall and Wausau Opportunity Zone leaders soon to make sure the project is on track. “I think things are looking positive,” Diny said.
The Wausonian will be monitoring the site, so you know when (if) work begins there. It’s a crucial project for Wausau and the conversation around what happens if T. Wall fails to deliver will be interesting, to say the least.
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Great reporting and in-depth detail. You can't find this kind of information anywhere else! Keep up the good work!
When are going to have somebody at City Hall who knows how to communicate with the community? Who does not fear or disparage the press? Who understands if you close a street you should let people on that block know about it? When?