Resolution defeated

Community for All measure fails in 18-18 tie

Once again, the Marathon County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday proved an exquisite barometer of public opinion.

Moments after county board chairman Kurt Gibbs, town of Cassel, announced that he had received in recent days over 300 e-mails, equally split for and against a controversial Community For All resolution, the board deadlocked 18-18 on the measure, sending it to defeat.

The resolution, which has been amended several times over the past 15 months, calls for non-dis- crimination, diversity and inclusion, and welcoming people of all races, genders, sexual orientations, nationalities, religions and socio-economic statuses.

Board members voted down a compromise Version B of the resolution which had been crafted by supervisors Matt Bootz, town of Texas, Chris Dickinson, Stratford, and Yee Leng Xiong, Bruce Lamont, and William Harris, all of Wausau.

While Bootz, Xiong and Harris supported the compromise, Lamont and Dickinson did not. In explaining their votes, Lamont said Version B contained objectionable language and was unneeded, while Dickinson said the Diversity Affairs Commission, which has shepherded the measure, had consistently rejected his attempts at compromise.

Supervisors debated the resolution for two hours. Harris, the county board’s lone black member, said the resolution importantly would send a signal to youth who know about the county’s intolerance and, instead of fleeing the county, help them return to put down roots.

“We can create more technical schools, pass job incentives, tout our low cost of living and build more housing, but if we can’t express that all are welcome here, how can we hope to have them come back here and raise a family?” he asked.

Supervisor Jeff Johnson, Wausau, agreed, arguing that the long fight over the Community For All resolution had earned the county “a ton of negative press” across the nation and the county needed to pass the resolution to help companies recruit young professionals. “It’s a statement that needs to be made,” he said. Xiong, chairman of the Diversity Affairs Commission, argued that the Community For All resolution had been unfairly criticised. He said charges that the resolution was Marxist, opposed to the U.S. Constitution and would violate free speech were patently false. He said the LIFE report, supported by area businesses and the county, documented an increase in intolerance in the county. He recounted that Asians in the county were subject to unfair accusations that they were responsible for the COVID-19 virus.

Supervisor Arnie Schlie, town of Easton, however, said he didn’t agree with the Community For All resolution, but, more importantly, neither did his constituents. “The people I rep­resent put me in office not because I was smarter than them, but to represent them,” he said.

Supervisor Jean Maszk, Mosinee, said the resolution was unneeded because county citizens cared for the less fortunate. “We have good church groups, good teachers, good people who step up,” she said. Maszk added that the resolution was not a cure for racism or intolerance. “Words on paper don’t change how people feel,” she said.

Supervisor Becky Buch, Wausau, said arguments for the resolution were only a “house of straw” and that passing the resolution would be only a “baby step” that would lead to further divisive resolutions.

Gibbs said that debate over the resolution had been clouded by national political politics such that much of the public held false understandings about the measure. He said he could support a literal reading of the compromise resolution. He said fears that the resolution would prove to be a slippery slope for further policies were overblown. “We will discuss further actions as they come up as this board has always done,” he said.

Board members voted on the measure after an exhausting Thursday educational meeting where over 50 people spent two hours providing public comment in two minute speeches.

The outpouring of public sentiment repeated many themes asserted by the public over the last several months. Opponents said the resolution, despite careful editing to make it palatable to conservatives, was Marxist inspired, a waste of time and money and unneeded in a county that already welcomed minorities. Supporters said Marathon County was bigoted and racist and the resolution was needed to support people subject to daily acts of discrimination.

“This is a part of a big government, socialist agenda,” said Tanya Riehle, Wausau, an opponent, in a fiery two-minute blast. “It is a colossal waste of tax money.”

Megan Marohl, a 17-year-old supporter who attends Wausau East, said she and her friends looked forward to leaving the community because of racist attitudes. “People my age can’t wait to get out of Wausau because of the racism,” she said. “This isn’t something that should be argued about” referring to the Community For All resolution.