Voter’s Guide: Candidates for Wausau City Council address business-related questions

 

The advocacy committee of the Greater Wausau Chamber of Commerce has invited each of the candidates in the spring Wausau City Council election, which will be held on Tuesday, April 7, to answer this pair of business-related questions:

Question 1: Wausau businesses consistently cite workforce availability as a top constraint to growth. What role should the City of Wausau play in supporting workforce attraction and retention, including housing availability and childcare access?

Question 2: What would you prioritize to ensure Wausau remains a place where businesses can invest and grow with confidence?

Several in these races elected not to respond or did not respond to the request.

District 1: Carol Lukens

Question 1: Wausau businesses consistently cite workforce availability as a top constraint to growth. What role should the City of Wausau play in supporting workforce attraction and retention, including housing availability and childcare access?

Workforce attraction and retention are closely tied to quality of life. Housing, childcare access, and a vibrant community all influence whether people choose to live and work in Wausau.

Expanding workforce housing—homes that are attainable for people who work in the community—is an important step. The City can support this by streamlining zoning and permitting processes and encouraging partnerships with employers and community organizations.

Childcare is another key factor. Access to reliable childcare is essential for working families and for employers trying to retain a stable workforce. The City can support public–private partnerships, promote programs such as Wisconsin Shares and other grant opportunities, and make it easier for childcare providers to open and expand. Working with local organizations like Childcaring, Inc. and the United Way can also help connect families to available resources.

A strong downtown, community events, and quality-of-life investments also play a role in attracting and retaining workers. Partnerships with local school districts further support students and families and help build the kind of community where people choose to live and stay.

By supporting housing, childcare, and community development, the City can help create an environment where both businesses and families can thrive.

Question 2: What would you prioritize to ensure Wausau remains a place where businesses can invest and grow with confidence?

Businesses invest and grow where there is stability, predictability, and a strong local economy. One priority is ensuring that city processes—such as zoning, planning, and permitting—are clear, efficient, and consistent so businesses can plan and invest with confidence.

Economic development is also essential. Creating a vibrant community through public–private partnerships, amenities that attract both families and individuals, and thoughtful planning supports long-term growth. A strong downtown, community events, and quality-of-life investments all contribute to an environment where businesses and workers want to be.

Infrastructure is another key factor. Maintaining streets, utilities, and public services through long-term planning supports both existing businesses and new development.

I also recognize how important financial stewardship is, especially as costs continue to rise. It is essential to pursue outside funding opportunities, including grants and low-interest financing, and to explore ways to diversify revenue streams where possible. These strategies help support infrastructure investments while reducing the burden on local taxpayers.

Strong, collaborative leadership is also critical. Working closely with residents, businesses, and regional partners helps ensure decisions are practical, responsive, and support long-term success.

By focusing on stability, sound planning, and responsible growth, Wausau can remain a community where businesses feel confident investing and growing.

 

District 1: Mary Kowatch

Question 1: Wausau businesses consistently cite workforce availability as a top constraint to growth. What role should the City of Wausau play in supporting workforce attraction and retention, including housing availability and childcare access?

Whatever is fiscally advantageous and is beneficial for its citizens, the city of Wausau should support and i will endeavor to vote and promote in that direction.

Question 2: What would you prioritize to ensure Wausau remains a place where businesses can invest and grow with confidence?

The city of Wausau needs to have a healthy financial standing in order to support business growth.  Debt that isn't planned for or managed well will bring spiraling weakness to our city and hamstring our abilities for growth. The financial health of the city's revenue will be priority one.

 

District 2: Michael J. Martens

Question 1: Wausau businesses consistently cite workforce availability as a top constraint to growth. What role should the City of Wausau play in supporting workforce attraction and retention, including housing availability and childcare access?

Making Wausau a great place to live, work, and play requires a combination of government and private investment. A lack of housing at all price points: affordable, workforce, and market rate is a hindrance to workforce attraction and retention. Developments like The Foundry and Westside Commons are a great start and we need more of that type of investment.  During my tenure on council I have consistently supported housing development at all levels and will continue to do so. We need to look at our zoning code and implement changes to bring more variety of housing options into our neighborhoods. Eliminating single family zoning to allow two-flats or duplexes on a single lot and accessory dwelling units has worked well in other communities and I feel this could help alleviate the shortage of housing in the city. Workers require transportation and I support public transit that operates where and when people need it, improving our road infrastructure, and advocating for good bicycle and pedestrian routes. Child care is our toughest nut to crack and I’m not yet sure of an easy solution at the local level. I would support zoning and ordinance changes that make providing quality child care possible and I am receptive to any pilot programs that could move the needle on child care access. I also believe we need more support from the State in order to increase access to quality child care services.

Question 2: What would you prioritize to ensure Wausau remains a place where businesses can invest and grow with confidence?

First, we need to leverage our Tax Increment Financing ability in responsible ways to attract development. Tax Increment Districts are a powerful tool and our best results happen when we work collaboratively with developers and provide incentives based on results. We need a public transit system that operates where and when people need it. This may involve looking at route adjustments or using a micro-transit model of smaller on-demand vehicles to service some areas. Finally, we need investment in our community. Services like properly funded police and fire protection along with public works and parks are what all make our community strong and instill a level of confidence to attract and retain business to our city. Historically, Wausau’s strongest asset has always been its willingness to help others. We need to continue that through compassionate means to address our unhoused population, encourage more affordable housing opportunities, and make investments into our community where it matters most. Community investment will attract more people to live and work in the city and development will increase our tax base to help make the community more affordable.

 

District 2: Nick Nowak

Question 1: Wausau businesses consistently cite workforce availability as a top constraint to growth. What role should the City of Wausau play in supporting workforce attraction and retention, including housing availability and childcare access?

Housing availability, the city should focus on expanding  housing options through targeted development incentives and using CDBG (Community development block grant)funds to support affordable housing.

Childcare. The city council Should streamline permitting, inspections and the licensing process, acting as a partner instead of a road block for childcare providers looking to open our expand.

Attracting a qualified workforce and retaining them relies on three things: Quality of life: prioritizing core services, safe streets, parks, and predictable taxes is essential for retaining families and recruiting talent.

Public and private partnership: Supporting initiatives like Wausome To connect individuals to professional opportunities.

Finally, business support: Utilizing grants and workforce development programs to assist expanding businesses.

Question 2: What would you prioritize to ensure Wausau remains a place where businesses can invest and grow with confidence?

To ensure Wausau remains a competitive environment for business investment through 2026 and the future the city should prioritize, infrastructure stability, targeted financial incentives, and collaborative place making to attract the talent businesses need to grow.

Infrastructure stability includes upgrades to streets and utilities. Various asphalt patches and sidewalk repairing initiatives ensures the city remains accessible and functional. Also included is industrial Park management, The Economic Development Committee must continued proactive management and expansion of city industrial parks to provide buildable sites ready for manufacturing.

Strategic financial incentives, the city, mitigate the risk of expansion by providing gap financing and lowering the barrier to entry for new ventures. Currently the city has nine active TIF districts, the city should  those to fund critical infrastructure and revitalize underutilized areas such as the riverfront and downtown core. The city can offer direct business assistance, promoting Small Business Loan Fund and Revolving Loan Funds (RLF) in partnership with MCDEVCO to support job creation and retention.

Talent attraction through placemaking. Businesses cannot grow without a stable workforce.

Housing diversification is a key factor, by prioritizing mixed-use developments like the Foundry on 3rd and the affordable projects like the 700 Grand Apartments to accommodate workers of all income levels

Another key attraction would be quality of life amenities. Enhancing the riverfront redevelopment with parks and trails to make the city and attractive homebase for high demand professionals..

Supporting Wausau’s innovation ecosystem the Wausau Incubator an the Greater Wausau Prosperity Partnership (GWPP) to transition the local economy towards higher-technology sectors.

Working to improve all of the above would significantly benefit the Wausau workforce.

 

District 3: Terry Kilian (unopposed)

 

District 4: Tom Neal

Question 1: Wausau businesses consistently cite workforce availability as a top constraint to growth. What role should the City of Wausau play in supporting workforce attraction and retention, including housing availability and childcare access?

For one, I’ve always felt Wausau should be more aggressive and creative in marketing itself to attract new businesses and new residents. What’s our brand message? How are we spreading it? We simply have not been effective enough in investing and pursuing this strategy. Over the past couple years, the city has effectively put on the brakes in several ways; we’re just not in “go mode.” We have much to convey in outreach messaging, including the recent additions of new housing options across the spectrum of affordability, cultural and quality-of-life amenities, downtown vitality and more. The city should also work with local employers to attract workers with public/private programs like a revolving loan fund for newcomers and first-time home buyers to assist with down payments, along with employee childcare assistance. Businesses should do their best to address our uncompetitive low median income profile; personal prosperity feeds community growth. We need the city and business sector to partner up with clear vision and willingness to invest.

Question 2: What would you prioritize to ensure Wausau remains a place where businesses can invest and grow with confidence?

My top priority, by far, is to address youth flight. We are losing our young people at a very concerning rate. And far too many of those still here are underpaid and struggling. School enrollment is declining. We’re evolving into an aging-population, low-income community and that is simply unsustainable. Too many of our residents … and politicians … express immediate concerns about property taxes and utility costs … and those issues are gradually being addressed to the extent and at the rate that the city can manage them. But, the big picture is the future of our town. How do we convince our young people to stay and raise families? How do we attract new young people to move here? Those questions must be an integral part of every thing we do, every new development partnership, every infrastructure project and every business’s strategic plan. If we continue to drop that ball, then it’s game over for Wausau. I refuse to stand by and watch that happen.

 

District 4: Vylius V.  Leskys

Question 1: Wausau businesses consistently cite workforce availability as a top constraint to growth. What role should the City of Wausau play in supporting workforce attraction and retention, including housing availability and childcare access?

Your two questions are interrelated; the solutions to workforce attraction and retention are intertwined with the necessities to create an environment for businesses to flourish.

The most significant part is taxation. The past decade, surrounding Marathon County communities have experienced steady and significantly larger growth. Wausau’s population stagnated. Why? Tax burden. If people and businesses aren’t willing to live and invest in the city, it will struggle. Wausau does attract people—who then decide they’d rather live in a more affordable surrounding community. We’ve convinced friends to relocate here, but they’re only looking outside city limits. It’s frustrating.

Compared to the rest of the country, Wausau homes are half the national median. But our taxes are double the national average. We start as a more affordable option by far—until taxes figure in.

Additionally, there’s opportunity for a better branding campaign by the city, the River District, and the Chamber, to showcase a vision that Wausau really does have it all—amazing recreation in every season, fabulous restaurants, a quaint downtown, cultural amenities, work opportunities with a top 10% nationally ranked medical complex, and a great community. My wife took pride in welcoming newcomers well as an Army spouse for 20+ years; she was humbled by the reception we received here. The people are amazing.

Lastly, should the city keep Tax Incremental Districts (TIDs) open until expiration or open new ones, we need to think beyond “affordable” housing to draw prospective consumers. Affordable housing only means so much when we don’t attract job creation, and I can attest to a huge number of rental vacancies across District 4 that make me question its necessity, as I’ve knocked on every door. Future TIDs should be reserved for venues that would generate greater revenue and attract individuals to our city.

Question 2: What would you prioritize to ensure Wausau remains a place where businesses can invest and grow with confidence?

Although my personal LLC requires no real estate, I have paid close attention to local leasing and commercial property. The most important thing the city can do to entice development and job creation is reduce property taxes.  That would incentivize commercial property sales, grow our local population, reduce flight to other towns, and increase liquidity to surge local spending.  Lower taxes are good for people and good for business.

Additionally, City Council can adopt concrete actions to spur small business development. First, streamline and expedite the application and permitting process for new businesses. Then simplify public notice requirements for minor changes to existing businesses. We met a small bar owner last year who lost significant revenue because he couldn’t transfer his liquor license to a new location easily. As a result, he couldn’t sell any liquor, the cornerstone of his business, because the city committee charged with reviewing decisions like these couldn’t meet. This should be something accomplished through an online portal rather than waiting months for approval from committee without a quorum. Update the bureaucracy to make it easier for businesses to thrive.

A cursory SWOT analysis leads to the most significant threat – taxes that make our city a less attractive place to live and invest. We can’t think of this as an overnight process, but a long strategic plan of 7-10 years of pruning the tax burden to foster growth and development of the city, which will flourish as a result.  But until we focus on this necessary center of gravity, of pruning and budgetary discipline now, we run the risk of continued stagnation and financial calamity, which will cause more people and business to flee.  This is the core of my campaign, and I want our city to prosper for the success of our great community.

 

District 5: Aaron Griner

Question 1: Wausau businesses consistently cite workforce availability as a top constraint to growth. What role should the City of Wausau play in supporting workforce attraction and retention, including housing availability and childcare access?

Housing costs and availability are some of the most frequently cited concerns we hear from residents. With an aging housing stock, reduced turnover due to an older population choosing to stay in their homes longer, and rising real estate values, workers are being priced out of the market, and are forced to either rent (and lose the potential equity), or move to neighboring communities. Young families just starting out are often required to choose between working full time and owning a home, or paying the high cost of childcare, furthering our worker shortage.

The only way for us as a community to address our affordable housing shortage is to build our way out of it. Given the fact that Wausau is rapidly becoming landlocked, the city needs to do a better job of incentivizing the use of all of our available spaces. We can do this by making changes to ordinances that would make the construction of smaller, more affordable homes and ADU’s possible, and pursuing outside state and federal funding to help make this development a reality.

Our home was built in the 1800s, and while relatively small, it addresses our family’s needs very well. If built today, our house would never pass zoning due to square footage limitations. This needs to change. We need more first-time home owners to be able build, live, work, and gain equity in Wausau, thereby expanding our tax base, and allowing us to reinvest in our community.

Question 2: What would you prioritize to ensure Wausau remains a place where businesses can invest and grow with confidence?

We must continue to invest in the infrastructure and services that bring people to our community and that have allowed our city to grow into the regional leader that it is today: fully staffed first responders, clean water, excellent schools, reliable public transportation connected to a thriving downtown, safe/drivable roads, a beautiful parks system, and consistent events and activities throughout the city.

While accomplishing these goals we must prioritize the people and businesses that have built this great city. We need a local government that meets the needs of its residents and is able to function efficiently, transparently, and most importantly affordably. Given our stagnant population growth and tax levy limits, we need local leaders that are able to do more with less. We have to balance the budget, pay down our ever-expanding debt, and continue to provide necessary services without asking more from local businesses and residents.

 

District 5: Andrew Wiskowski

Question 1: Wausau businesses consistently cite workforce availability as a top constraint to growth. What role should the City of Wausau play in supporting workforce attraction and retention, including housing availability and childcare access?

Wausau is not in decline—but we are competing and quality workforce availability is a constraint. The city’s responsibility is to plan and implement conditions where people choose to live, work, and stay. How to do this?

1. Housing. Housing costs here are still relatively good compared with other parts of the country; but there is a serious inventory lack. There is not enough housing (for people already here let alone people Wausau’s trying to attract). We need predictable zoning, efficient and relevant permitting, and targeted, performance-based incentives that expand attainable housing with long-term fiscal stability. Also, when development occurs we should prioritize local contractors, developers, and suppliers wherever feasible so that growth directly strengthens Wausau’s own economy.
2. Quality of life. Recreation, cultural vitality, arts, and community spaces are huge economic and lifestyle assets. People want to live where local arts organizations, public events, downtown vibrancy, and neighborhood identities are strong, fun, available, and balance worldly and local interests. Strategy and planning should intentionally support these efforts. People relocate to and stay in places where they see these kinds of self-growth opportunities and community.
3. More engaged governance. We urgently need to communicate more with people. Local government is a tool of the people. It exists to listen, respond, and ensure accountability. I would push to implement regular working sessions with the Chamber of Commerce, childcare & education providers, local employers, and residents to ensure policy directions reflect real-time needs and to use the varied insights, expertise, and knowledge already in Wausau; a city council cannot necessarily hold all these itself. Public forum at council/committee meetings is not sufficient.

Question 2: What would you prioritize to ensure Wausau remains a place where businesses can invest and grow with confidence?

Wausau is competing—with other cities and regions—for capital, talent, and investments. To remain competitive, growth must be intentional and coordinated. The City Council is supposed to ensure that policy reflects business & lifestyle conditions and adapts when conditions change. We need durable confidence in this area from clear and equal rules, financial discipline, local-first investments, and consistent civic engagement. We should be studying other cities/communities, see how they achieved and developed, then adapt and replicate successful work that has already been tested elsewhere.

1. Fiscal discipline. The city’s budgeting, debt management, and incentive programs need greater public exposure with clearer articulation and more long-term urgency. Many tools for this, TIFs and grants for instance, are not clear to people, well understood, or explained. Make them so. City council should more clearly expand and utilize the tax base and reinforce core services. Prioritize local builders, trades, and suppliers. This multiplies local economic impact.
2. Regulatory clarity and timeliness. We need to implement predictable zoning, streamlined approvals, and consistent communication to signal competence, reduce investment risk, and minimize collapsing contracts/projects.
3. Quality of place. Talent follows lifestyle. As above people want to live in culturally thriving ecosystems: strong arts & cultural programming, affordable recreation, and vibrant public spaces strengthen Wausau’s competitive position. Grow and develop them! Economic development and cultural development are not separate strategies—they reinforce one another. We need more innovation and programing.
4. Accountability. City Council is not a distant authority, but the voice of constituents framed through policy and regulation. We need regular town halls and structured, exposed, and publicized roundtables with stakeholders like Chamber of Commerce, neighborhood groups, and employers—they have the skills and knowledge and the city should use it. Establish a PLAN-IMPLEMENT-EVALUATE cycle with continuous, actionable feedback to which the council responds.

District 6: Keene Winters

Question 1: Wausau businesses consistently cite workforce availability as a top constraint to growth. What role should the City of Wausau play in supporting workforce attraction and retention, including housing availability and childcare access?

I found premise that underlies this question to be disturbing. It paints a picture of Wausau populated by low-wage workers who do not make enough to get by and require municipally subsidized housing and child care. Is that our vision of the future?

The core role for municipal government is to provide police protection, fire protection, good roads, trash pick-up and the like. Additionally, it should provide those services efficiently enough for us to have a business-friendly tax and regulatory climate. A city government that stays focused on core mission will not outgrow the local private sector that supports it.

Here is the fundamental problem that Wausau faces. Years of high tax and spend policies are driving people and wealth to the suburbs where there is a substantially lower municipal tax burden. Of the sixteen cities and villages in Marathon County, Wausau has the ninth highest income per tax return.

With an average income of $68,000, it is hard to see how a family of four with a mortgage and two cars can get by. This policy is most acutely felt by the Wausau School District, whose declining enrollment problem is exacerbated by flight to the suburbs.

We should be concerned about that $68,000 number ($5,667 per month gross before taxes). The city's economic development programs should be laser focused on bringing more good-paying jobs to town.

We have a worker shortage. In a free-market economy, the correct response is for employers to pay more—not to cajole local government to subsidize them or the living costs of their workforce. We all should know by now that subsidizing the few at the expense of the many is not a workable formula for growth.

Question 2: What would you prioritize to ensure Wausau remains a place where businesses can invest and grow with confidence?

I would prioritize roads, water rates, and property taxes. What are people talking about? It is bad roads and high water rates. Adjusted for inflation, Wausau spends less on roads than it did a decade ago. Besides money, a comprehensive review of materials used and procedures for sealing and repairing roads is needed. Road conditions are among the first impressions that a community makes, and Wausau's is not good.

Wausau is a community that is blessed with abundant, clean water. One of the key problems with water rates is that the city taxes its own water utility, taking 12.5% of user fees off the top. That should stop. Where will we get the money? The city owns a tremendous amount of property for development, and it keeps Tax Incremental Districts (TID) open too long. Sell the land, and close the TIDs.

Milwaukee has positioned itself as a strategic water technology. Years of brewing collected the expertise in moving, storing, cleaning and preserving liquids, and they now sell that technology to the world. Let's partner with Milwaukee. They can sell the water technology, and we can offer those same clients a location with abundant water.

Wausau is one of the highest taxed cities in Wisconsin. It ranks 19th highest out of 604 cities and villages in Wisconsin for tax rate per thousand dollars of valuation It makes homes unaffordable. It jacks up the costs of every commercial activity that takes place on land the city taxes. Inefficient local government is our biggest handicap.

Otherwise, Wausau is a gem. It has short commutes and great schools. Marathon County is now a premier destination for active sports tourism. It is a wonderful place to have a home and raise children. We need a city government that does not shoot us in the foot.

 

District 6: Kristin Slonski

Question 1: Wausau businesses consistently cite workforce availability as a top constraint to growth. What role should the City of Wausau play in supporting workforce attraction and retention, including housing availability and childcare access?

I’ve been directly involved in employee recruitment and retention efforts, and I know firsthand that Wausau has a lot to offer. Our quality of life, beautiful public spaces, vibrant community events, and excellent schools make this a place where people want to live and work.

However, we also have real challenges to address. Much of the housing that young workers can afford—whether they’re renting or hoping to buy their first home—is aging and often in need of significant repair. At the same time, too many workers who keep our community running are struggling to afford to live in Wausau.

Local government has an important role to play in addressing this challenge by expanding safe, stable, and affordable housing. That could include exploring tools like a municipal land trust, ensuring a portion of new rental housing is affordable to people earning the area’s median income, strengthening partnerships with organizations like Habitat for Humanity, and helping homeowners afford needed repairs that keep housing safe and livable.

Childcare is closely connected to this issue. Childcare providers, teachers, and youth development professionals are essential to our local economy. If families cannot find or afford reliable childcare, many parents simply cannot remain in the workforce. Ensuring that childcare workers themselves can afford to live in Wausau is part of the solution.

When we invest in affordable housing, we strengthen our workforce, support families, and help ensure that businesses have the employees they need to grow.

Question 2: What would you prioritize to ensure Wausau remains a place where businesses can invest and grow with confidence?

A safe, securely housed, and well-supported workforce is one of the most important factors in a healthy local economy. Businesses can offer competitive wages and benefits, but if workers cannot find housing they can afford or get to work reliably, it becomes much harder for businesses to attract and retain employees.

My priority will be increasing the supply of safe, affordable housing while strengthening the neighborhoods that make Wausau a great place to live. That means encouraging housing development in areas that are intentionally connected to jobs, schools, and childcare.

It also means improving public transportation and making our neighborhoods more walkable and accessible. When people can reliably get to work, school, and services without depending entirely on a private vehicle, it lowers household costs and strengthens workforce participation.

Housing and transportation are foundational investments that support families, strengthen neighborhoods, and give businesses the confidence that Wausau will remain a stable and growing community.

 

District 7: Lisa Rasmussen

Question 1: Wausau businesses consistently cite workforce availability as a top constraint to growth. What role should the City of Wausau play in supporting workforce attraction and retention, including housing availability and childcare access?

The city and it’s elected leaders have a key role in promoting Wausau as a place to live, work, raise a family, own and open a business or grow an existing business. Wausau has the tools needed to spur development growth to attract employers. It has, and continues to invest in quality of life amenities along with market rate and affordable housing options to attract and retain a talented workforce.  Wausau must partner with the business community and Visit Wausau to widen it’s outreach to visitors and prospective new residents to increase awareness of what our community has to offer.  Remote work has made it possible for workers to live almost anywhere in many industries.  We should be promoting the Wausau area as a residence destination of choice for remote workers and at the same time highlighting why our community should also be on the radar of site selectors for businesses, including manufacturers, seeking to partner on new or expanded facilities where in person work is required too.  Wausau’s development team and elected leaders must be present when childcare access and affordability is discussed.  Most of the key solutions seem to require ongoing and increased cooperation with county, state and federal government partners.  The city should be advocating at those upper levels of government to pursue funding solutions and partnerships.  It should be working alongside business advocates to pursue training, job creation or funding possibilities.  We should be supportive of programs that increase the number of childcare providers and provide them a way to offer a competitive wage to their staff to address the current shortage.

Question 2: What would you prioritize to ensure Wausau remains a place where businesses can invest and grow with confidence?

First, I would increase promotion and outreach.  I feel Wausau’s development team should be encouraged to more aggressively pursue opportunities to grow our local tax base and create jobs where possible.  They should be active at business and trade association gatherings so that people learn where Wausau is and why we should be on their short list of possible expansion areas.  We cannot sit and wait for people to come to our front door.  We must go out and find them because our competitors are.  There are a dozen positive things we can highlight about our city and we need to have a clear, positive message.  Our current mayor has a sales background, and I’d love to see him and our staff team reel in some new opportunities and bring them to council for action.  Second, I would encourage the mayor, staff and council to find a set of common goals and set a to-do list for work in the committees to achieve them.  It’s true that we all really agree on more than we disagree on, but the disagreements make the headlines.  The group dynamics don’t need to be chaotic and negative. We need to put aside old conflicts and re-focus our energy outward.  That effort will go a long way to repair the city’s reputation.   When a person looks up Wausau WI on Google, they need to see progress, not negative headlines.  Most of that is avoidable and we need to work to avoid it.

 

District 7: Matt Hoenecke (no response)

 

District 8: Sarah Watson

Question 1: Wausau businesses consistently cite workforce availability as a top constraint to growth. What role should the City of Wausau play in supporting workforce attraction and retention, including housing availability and childcare access?

Workforce challenges are not just a labor issue, they are a systems issue. As an economist and educator, I see workforce availability as directly tied to whether people can afford to live here and participate fully in the local economy.

The City of Wausau has a clear role in removing structural barriers. Housing is foundational. When workers cannot find affordable, quality housing near where they work, businesses struggle to attract and retain talent. The city should continue supporting diverse housing development, including missing middle housing, strategic rezoning, and partnerships that increase supply without displacing current residents.

Childcare is another key economic driver that is often overlooked. Lack of access limits workforce participation, especially for women and young families. While the city does not directly provide childcare, it can support providers through zoning flexibility, partnerships, and incentives that reduce startup and operational barriers.

Quality of life also matters. Investments in parks, transportation, and community spaces help move people from visiting Wausau to choosing it as home. People choose places where they feel they can build a life, not just earn a paycheck.

A strong workforce strategy means aligning housing, childcare, and community development so people can live, work, and stay in Wausau.

Question 2: What would you prioritize to ensure Wausau remains a place where businesses can invest and grow with confidence?

I would focus on creating a stable and predictable environment where businesses can plan, invest, and grow with confidence.

Clear and consistent processes are a big part of that. Permitting, zoning, and development approvals should be transparent and efficient, so businesses understand expectations and timelines. Reducing unnecessary complexity helps lower costs and builds trust.

Infrastructure is also essential. Through my work on the Infrastructure and Facilities Committee, I have seen how critical reliable roads, utilities, and systems are to day-to-day operations and long-term growth. Continued investment in these areas supports both existing businesses and future development.

Workforce and housing remain closely connected to economic development. As chair of the Affordable Housing Task Force, I have worked on strategies to expand housing options, knowing that businesses are more likely to invest in communities where employees can find stable, affordable places to live.

I also serve on the Finance Committee, where I have gained experience understanding the city’s financial tools, including the importance of using TIF strategically to support growth while maintaining long-term fiscal responsibility.

Overall, supporting business growth means being consistent, thoughtful, and focused on long-term sustainability.

 

District 9: Vicki Tierney (unopposed)

 

District 10: Lou Larson (unopposed)

 

District 11: Timothy P Howe

Question 1: Wausau businesses consistently cite workforce availability as a top constraint to growth. What role should the City of Wausau play in supporting workforce attraction and retention, including housing availability and childcare access?

Question 2: What would you prioritize to ensure Wausau remains a place where businesses can invest and grow with confidence?

In response to your questions, Question 1 and 2 go hand in hand.

To attract people to Wausau we need to address affordability. And the biggest part of that is how the city spends the tax payers money. Wausau needs to get out of the financing of private projects. Why has Wausau become a bank for developers to tap for citizen funded money. The number one issue I hear is that Wausau is not affordable to live in. Taxes are way to high, tax increases are out pacing seniors income.

When it comes to childcare that is a personal choice and not a issue for the city of be involved in it's just that simple. The Wausau base is an aging population as seen in the decline in out school population. How do you justify taxing a senior citizen for childcare when they paid to raise their own children?

 

District 11: Bruce Trueblood

Question 1: Wausau businesses consistently cite workforce availability as a top constraint to growth. What role should the City of Wausau play in supporting workforce attraction and retention, including housing availability and childcare access?

Wausau can best support local businesses by first ensuring the city’s own policies are working effectively. The discussion around intermediate or “missing middle” housing should be part of a broader review of our zoning policies, with the goal of making housing in Wausau more available as well as more affordable.

As part of that review, the city should examine whether Wausau’s building permit process is more complex or time-consuming than in surrounding communities. If it is, we should work to streamline the process so that responsible development is encouraged rather than delayed.

Affordability also extends beyond the purchase price of a home. The ongoing costs of property ownership—such as water bills and property taxes—are areas where the city has direct influence. Housing costs, water costs, and taxes all affect residents and local businesses alike, and they should be carefully managed to keep Wausau competitive and attractive.

The city should also take a thoughtful look at how Tax Increment Financing (TIF) districts are used. While TIF can be a valuable development tool, it must be applied responsibly, particularly given its impact on funding for the school district.

Finally, Wausau should continue to expand public-private partnerships that support working families. Increased collaboration in this area could help grow the availability of childcare, an essential service that supports both employees and employers in our community.

Question 2: What would you prioritize to ensure Wausau remains a place where businesses can invest and grow with confidence?

Wausau has a long history of clear, forward-looking leadership. That progress has come from people across the community—businesses, organizations, and residents—working together for both their own success and the good of the city as a whole. By making smart use of the natural resources around us, Wausau grew from a trading post into a lumber town, from a lumber town into a mill town, and later into an insurance hub.

Today, Wausau is recognized as a regional leader in health care. Throughout these transitions, a strong manufacturing base has remained an important part of the city’s economic foundation.

City government has always played an important role in that progress. Its core responsibility is to provide order, maintain infrastructure, and ensure the freedom of movement that allows businesses and residents to thrive. At the same time, the city has embraced the broader responsibility of helping make Wausau a desirable place to live.

The challenge—and the balance we must continue to manage—is keeping our city vibrant while also keeping it affordable.

Looking ahead, Wausau must continue working in partnership with local businesses, civic groups, and community organizations to strengthen and promote the many qualities that make our city a great place to live and work. Doing so will help us attract and retain the high-quality workforce that our local employers need.

Maintaining Wausau as a safe and welcoming community also requires continued investment in well-maintained infrastructure and responsive city services, including strong police and fire protection. At the same time, city government must remain flexible and forward-thinking so it can adapt to the changing needs of both residents and businesses.

Finally, civic and religious organizations have historically played a vital role in supporting our community. City government should encourage and support these efforts wherever possible. At the very least, it should ensure that the people and organizations willing to work for the betterment of Wausau are not hindered in their efforts.