Wausau City Hall. MWC file photo.
WAUSAU, WI (WSAU) — Wausau’s finest will be heading to Milwaukee to help secure the 2024 Republican National Convention.
Both the Finance Committee and City Council approved an intergovernmental services agreement with the City of Milwaukee for the event. Chief Matt Barnes says eight to ten members of his force will put their special training in crowd control and any potential civil unrest to work during the event in mid-July.
“Several years ago [the state] recognized that no individual agency has the staff [appropriately trained] to deal with that,” said Barnes. “[The Wausau PD] was identified as a location [for that training.]”
Barnes adds that it’s part of a statewide intergovernmental services agreement. “When needed, we will travel throughout the state whenever necessary. And when the time comes that [we need help,] they come serve us.”
Salaries and travel expenses for the officers will be covered by the City of Milwaukee. Barnes notes that there will also be some Marathon County Sheriff’s Officers called in to help with the event.
The RNC is scheduled for July 15th-18th and will be held in and around Fiserv Forum. The city had a similar agreement in place with organizers of the 2020 Democratic National Convention, which was also scheduled to be held in Milwaukee, but that agreement was canceled when the event shifted to a virtual format originating from the Wisconsin Center.
COUNCIL CALLS FOR COMMITTEE MEETING ON HOMELESSNESS
The council also voted to schedule a future Committee of the Whole meeting on homelessness in the city. 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.
RELATED: Wausau City Council Approves Two Additional Police Officers for Homelessness Task Force
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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