Wausau Council Holds Off On Action Against Mayor

The Wausau City Council didn’t move forward with a proposed reprimand for the city’s mayor over his handling of staff pay raises.

During a meeting late Monday, Council members took no action against Mayor Jim Tipple following a closed door session about a new merit pay plan that some of them felt raised pay too quickly while they were kept in the dark. Council President Romey Wagner said he doesn’t think a reprimand is warranted.

“I personally don’t think there’s any reason to discipline Mayor Tipple on any of the actions he’s done,” said Wagner. “The pay raise program, he didn’t have any control over.”

Tipple said the raises were handled by the staff, and he denies he willfully misled the Council.

“I don’t know why there’s a vendetta. It’s pretty clear with all the notes of what happened. And it was implemented by the (Human Resources Department), not the mayor,” Tipple said.

Wagner said the Council is still divided, and could bring the matter up again.