Should Wausau hire a city administrator? Talk of position reemerges.

Wausau Mayor Doug Diny renewed debate over whether the city should hire a professional administrator, holding a town hall Sept. 15. About 40 residents attended the meeting in City Hall’s Council Chambers to hear presentations from Michael Ford, a professor of public administration at the University of Wisconsin–Oshkosh, and Jay Shambeau of Innovative Public Advisors. Diny has previously included a study of the role in the city’s 2026 budget, and residents were reminded that an interim mayor, Jim Schaefer, launched a similar study in 1998. In April 2015, voters rejected a referendum by 3,248–3,527, a margin of 279 votes. Wisconsin statutes outline two administrator-type structures: city administrator (Chapter 62) and city manager (Chapter 64).