Appleton Common Council District 6 Update for September 3, 2025

 

Greetings, District 6 Neighbors,

I hope everyone had a relaxing (or exciting if that’s your preference) holiday weekend. For me, Labor Day is what feels like the beginning of the new year, even though I’ve been out of school a million years. School starts, football season begins, cooler mornings appear – January just ends the holiday season and brings more winter.

    We head into another council week with a full agenda, but with only a couple of items that should generate a great deal of discussion. Mayor Woodford is issuing five proclamations this week:


Hispanic Heritage Month

Day of Peace

Childhood Cancer Awareness Month

Literacy Week

Suicide Prevention Awareness Month 

·        I expect a couple of items to be separated for individual discussion and voting. The first is the alcohol license revocation for Rivera Restaurants, LLC (Mr. Frogs on College Avenue). The business racked up 265 demerit points within a year of opening – an establishment is subject to license revocation with 200 demerit points in a 24-month period. The complaint lists the demerit points, along with a charge that the license holder “keeps or maintains a disorderly or riotous, indecent or improper house” per the state statute. The demerit point violations alone (admitting underage patrons, being open after hours, multiple fights in the bar spilling out into the streets) were enough to convince me and the other members of the Safety and Licensing Committee that the license should be revoked. The license holder appeared with an attorney, and the proceedings were somewhat contentious. I expect that they will appear again before the full council to contest the recommendation.

The renaming process for Veterans Park is also likely to generate some discussion. This is the small park off Memorial Drive just south of the river. It needs to be renamed now that the former Appleton Memorial Park has been renamed Veterans Memorial Park. The city policy for naming parks (adopted in 1997) listed these criteria:

1. The name of a significant local, state, or national historical figure that is deceased, or a significant local, state, or national historical event.

2. The name of an adjacent street.

3. The name of a unique geologic or geographic feature or other natural attribute that characterizes the park, e.g., a dominant tree species.

4. The name of a major donor instrumental in the acquisition or development of the park.

5. The commonly accepted name of the surrounding neighborhood which comprises a significant portion of the service area of the park.

6. An individual who has performed an outstanding service for the community (preferably in the area of parks and recreation).

The Parks and Recreation Committee approved by a 4-0 vote (Committee chair Hayden was excused) an amendment to the Veterans Park renaming process to “also consider ideas and concepts that don't technically fall within the Naming of Public Parklands policy.”

There have been several ideas proposed on social media about potential names to the park, and some insistence that it should not be renamed. I believe it’s pretty clear that we need to rename the small park to avoid confusion – the whole point of the original renaming request from veterans’ groups was that this small park with few facilities and no parking was not adequate for events honoring veterans, so I don’t think we are doing those groups a disservice with the renaming. I hope the process doesn’t become divisive, but I am often surprised by the issues that generate particularly heated responses.

The process would still involve seeking public input and a November vote by the Common Council.

We might have a discussion of the Appleton Police Department’s request to transfer two lieutenant positions for professional development in light of the findings of the staffing matrix study. The study was presented as an information item at the Safety and Licensing Committee and the Human Resources and Information Technology Committee, where Chief Olson discussed some of the findings and the plans for APD to address those findings.

We generally separate items for which members of the public attend to offer input, so we might have separate votes on the special event permit for the World Peace Festival, which I’m happy to say was recommended for approval unanimously by the Safety and Licensing Committee, and for the Appleton Downtown Business Improvement District 2026 Operating Plan.

I was happy to see a good turnout at the presentation I attended for Plan Appleton last Thursday. I would guess that the 5:00 session had similar numbers. The updated comprehensive plan will provide a roadmap for our city’s future and it’s important that citizens provide their input. If you didn’t get a chance to attend one of the sessions last week, you can read the draft plan and share your thoughts here: Appleton Comprehensive Plan. People who fill out the worksheet will be entered to win some Appleton-themed swag!

Have a great week – it’s going to be tough to choose between the great outdoors and lots of sports on what looks to be a beautiful weekend.

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