What happened when we had Katie Rosenberg and Doug Diny debate

Plus, a note about some attack ads and a major endorsement coup

The Wausonian tried something different for the mayor’s race coming up April 2. We’d already interviewed both candidates separately for a preview during the primary. So we tried something different. We invited both candidates to a livestream debate on YouTube.

Like anything technical, it wasn’t perfect. Mayor Katie Rosenberg got bumped from the video a couple of times toward the end; at one point my cohost was breathing into the mic without realizing it (Devon!); and because I was using a new-to-me streaming platform, transitioning between the candidates for their closing statements wasn’t exactly smooth.

But overall I think it was interesting because it gave the candidates a chance to talk to each other, and push back on each others’ points - something we don’t see very much. And what they had to say was pretty interesting. ¹

Here are some of the things candidates clashed on:

City debt: Doug Diny hit Rosenberg on debt, citing Rosenberg’s attacks on then-Mayor Robert Mielke over his debt increase. Diny pointed out that debt had doubled since Rosenberg took office despite vows to reduce debt. Rosenberg pointed out that the city has had 60+ Finance Committee meetings, including six on the budget, and that those discussions should have happened before a mayoral debate. Diny suggested that the mayor ought to set the tone because she “has the first crack at it” since they bring a draft budget to the council. Rosenberg pointed out that the budget is a complicated process with many factors to consider from department to community needs. But Diny said finances need to be in order first.

Pilot payment: It might seem obscure to some people, but the city’s water utility makes a payment to the city in lieu of taxes every year. Ratepayers pay more for their water bill because of it. Diny said he liked the idea of “whittling it down” roughly $100,000 per year, so there isn’t a shock to the system. Rosenberg didn’t necessarily disagree but said it needed to be part of a thoughtful discussion, not brought as a last-minute amendment right before the budget is approved. (District 3 Alder Tom Kilian is the one who suggested removing it.)

PFAS slush fund?: Rosenberg brought up her view four years ago when running against Mielke that she wasn’t so sure about the new drinking water and sewer plants; but in discussions with DNR officials, she now understands they’re absolutely necessary. But those increased water rates, which is something residents currently aren’t too thrilled with. Rosenberg said the point of the PFAS lawsuits was to help recover some of the funds spent combating PFAS, which cost roughly $17.5 million that was passed on to rate payers. Rosenberg likened it to the Holtz-Krause landfill fund that ended up paying for a lot of environmental cleanup in the city. But recent attack ads have called it a slush fund. Diny (who said that’s not a term he would use) argued that the city ought to commit that money now to a segregated fund in order to retire city debt. But Rosenberg says it’s not committed to a segregated fund because the city doesn’t have the money yet; the lawsuits are still working their way through courts.

Developer incentives: Rosenberg pointed out that tax increment financing is one of the few tools cities have to spur development, and recently the city council chose to keep one open an extra year in order to fund affordable housing projects. But Diny argued that the city has been offering incentives but keeps coming up with failures, particularly focusing on the RiverLife area (which has had one completed project and several fall through in 8 years). He particularly questioned what happened with Swiderski’s recent pulling the plug on its RiverLife project. Rosenberg shot back that the city has used reverse TIF so developers don’t see a dime until they have a completed project; and on Swiderski she said she wouldn’t comment except to say the company did their due diligence and realized it wouldn’t work, coming to the city early in the process before any ground was broken. Diny countered that even reverse TIF is still, at the end of the day, taxpayer money. Diny says the city currently has 15% of its value locked in TIF districts, and state regulations cap that percentage at 12% (which means you need to get an exemption from the state in order to open a new district). Rosenberg says that’s a question for the city council to weigh.

UniverCITY program: One of the unexpected clashes came in a discussion around the UniverCITY program, which pairs students from UW-Madison with cities to help them develop plans. Diny mentioned the city had participated in the program, and that the reports had been turned in last December, but city council members hadn’t seen them. Rosenberg countered that city staff will review them first, because once a student floated the idea of a roundabout in the middle of downtown and it didn’t go over well. Diny alleged that it was the city “farming out its planning” but Rosenberg rejected that characterization.

How to attract people/young professionals: The candidates had differing views on this question. Diny emphasized a “work where you play” motto and thought targeting young professionals in their late 30s and 40s made sense. He also emphasized a desire to focus on keeping people here. Rosenberg echoed something she said in our earlier interview about Wausau being well-poised for in-migration as a response to climate change. She mentioned someone she met from Colorado who moved here and called themselves a climate refugee because of all the wildfires in that state. Rosenberg also said the number one thing she hears from employers is there is a lack of housing options for people they hire from outside the area. Diny says he doesn’t think Wausau would compete with warmer climates, but for those who want four seasons, Wausau would have a lot to offer someone. One interesting conflict: Diny said the city needed more jobs, but Rosenberg said Marathon County has 10,000 unfilled jobs, and it’s something that makes employers think twice about locating here.

Extras

A note about an attack ad: An ad received in the mail from the Wisconsinites for Liberty Fund has made a number of false claims about Rosenberg. The ad alleged Rosenberg’s terrible economic policies drove several businesses out of town, including Wausau Paper and Wausau Insurance (a brand that was retired by Liberty Mutual in 2009 after being bought by the company in 1999), which happened long before Rosenberg entered politics. Her own footlocker.com was mentioned, but its exit to Florida began before she was mayor. Perhaps the strangest claim on the ad is that Amazon “left Wausau to build their new distribution center in Weston.” Amazon never had a distribution center in Wausau. I hadn’t heard anything about them ever considering Wausau. I reached out to the city’s Community Development Director to ask if Amazon had ever reached out to the city about locating its distribution center in Wausau. It had not, she said.

Three former mayors endorse Diny: We learned Monday that three former mayors have endorsed Doug Diny for mayor. Former mayors Jim Tipple, Robert Mielke and Linda Lawrence are endorsing Diny, saying Rosenberg focused too much on social issues and that she was responsible for alerting the New York Times to the Community for All story that they say defamed Wausau. Rosenberg said she wasn’t even interviewed for that story and was as horrified by it as anyone (as I wrote in my piece about it, many liberals in Wausau were just as upset as conservatives about the story), and told The Wausonian that the three have been slamming her during her four years in office because she approaches the job differently. She notes former mayor John Robinson has endorsed her.

1. One thing my cohost Devon and I talked about afterward: why aren’t the TV stations already doing something like this? They certainly have more professional gear than we do, and the capacity for a much stronger reach. Plus, they have the personnel. I recall them doing statewide races but not local ones. Even streaming over the web, I would imagine it would get a lot of attention.