Hello, Star Journal readers, and welcome to my new blog!
I am excited to start writing here, where I will try to keep you all up to
date on what’s happening in the City of Rhinelander and specifically with
your city government. Now and again I’ll probably also write a bit about
some of the things going on with Downtown Rhinelander, Inc, our Main Street
downtown revitalization group here in the city. Speaking of Downtown
Rhinelander, you’re all coming down to the Taste of Chocolate event
downtown, right? If you need tickets, I have some, a number places around
town have them, and you can also call the DRI office at 362-7374 for info
on how to get tickets.
For my first post, I’ll give you a little background on me and how the city
functions: I have served on the Rhinelander City Council since 2004, and
now serve as the President of the City Council. A little over a year ago I
also became the President of Downtown Rhinelander, Inc., Rhinelander’s
downtown Main Street organization that works to promote development
downtown. On the city council, I serve on the Finance Committee, the Parks,
Buildings, and Grounds committee, the Board of Review (which hears appeals
from property tax assessments), the Golf Course Commission, and am the
chairman of the Protection of Persons and Property committee, which
oversees many things related to safety including liquor and bartender
licenses, various things related to the police and fire departments, the
inspection department and so on. I’ve also served as one of the City’s
representatives to the Rhinelander District Library Board of Trustees and
as an alternate to the Parking Advisory Board, which is a partnership
between the City, Downtown Rhinelander, Inc, and a private foundation and
manages the city’s parking lots downtown.
Every member of the City Council serves on different committees that
oversee different areas of the city. After the April local elections that
we see every two years – there is one coming up this April – the city
council holds a special meeting where we are sworn in, and the Mayor
presents to the Council his committee appointments and the Council votes to
confirm them. Many times we keep the same committee assignments we had the
previous time, but there is some change every time it comes around, and
depending on elections and so forth we may have new members that need to be
assigned to committees and places that were held by departing members that
need to be filled. Also as a part of the appointment process, the Mayor
appoints the chairpersons of most committees, although there are some
committees that the law requires another method such as having the chairman
be elected by the committee.
I’ve kept many of the same committee assignments over the almost eight
years I’ve been on the council, although I did at one time switch off of
the Library Board and picked up an assignment to the Finance Committee, and
over last summer when one member of the Water/Wastewater committee was
unable to make the meetings due to a scheduling conflict I temporarily was
appointed to that committee just for the summer months. I enjoyed that, as
Water/Wastewater was one committee that I haven’t served on – Public Works
is another that I haven’t served on – so I felt it was a good opportunity
to learn more in-depth some of the things the city has going on in that
regard.
Ultimately, in most cases the city’s committees must refer their
recommendations to the full city council for approval, so all council
members have some level of knowledge about the overall operations of the
city, but the committee structure allows the work to be divided up to some
extent and allows those committee members to really get more in-depth with
their specific areas.
Most local, state, and federal governments operate their legislative bodies
similarly, with committees getting more focus on their areas of
jurisdiction and ultimately presenting their recommendations to the full
body for approval. A typical city issue on it’s path towards being approved
by the city will first go to the staff member responsible for that area,
who will then often come to the committee that oversees that department for
a recommendation of approval, and ultimately that issue will come to the
full city council with the committee’s recommended action – the committee’s
chairman will present that issue to the council and ask for some action,
the council will then vote on the motion made, and the issue is decided.
Over the next months, I will write about some of the issues that are coming
before the Council, and to the committees on which I sit, and hopefully it
will serve to provide a greater understanding of how your city government
is functioning and what is happening at City Hall.
Until next time,
Alex
Leave a reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.