Appleton District 6

  Good afternoon District 6, We began the new term of the Common Council this week with the swearing in of the newly elected and re-elected alderpersons in the odd districts at Houdini Plaza on Tuesday evening. This was a change made to allow friends and family to attend safely by not having to congregate inside, but I really liked it and hope that it is something we will continue when life is back to “normal”. I told some colleagues that it was definitely an improvement over last year when I took my oath of office via Zoom and had to go by City Hall later in the week to sign it. After the swearing in, we held an informal organizational meeting where we reviewed the Council rules, committee functions and the code of conduct. On Wednesday evening before the regular council meeting, we held the formal organizational meeting where we voted to approve the mayor’s assignments to standing committees and boards. I was appointed chair of the Human Resources and Information Technology C...

  Good afternoon District 6, During the Common Council meeting last Wednesday, we said goodbye our colleagues who will not be back on the Council for the next term. Corey Otis and Patti Coenen chose not to run for re-election this spring, and, barring any changes in the Municipal Board of Canvassers meeting on Monday morning, Council President Kyle Lobner was defeated in his bid for his fifth term on the council by two votes. The election was initially called for Alderperson Lobner by eight votes, but ten additional votes for challenger Sheri Hartzheim were found after the initial report, changing the outcome of the election. Any politics aside, Kyle will be missed greatly. His ability to understand the issues before the Common Council and ask the right questions of city staff helped us all and his communication with his constituents has been a model for myself and other colleagues on the Council. These elections really illustrate the importance of voting – this was a very low tu...