CULTURAL RESET? A proposed resolution related to downtown Business Improvement Districts was met by tense public comment at this week's Feb. 10 City Council meeting. At the following evening's meeting, it was amended and passed, 10-1. Shown above, left to right, are City Council President Emily Berge, City Council Vice President Emily Anderson, and Deputy City Manager Dave Solberg.

The Eau Claire City Council’s latest public meeting, held on Tuesday, Feb. 11, included the passage of a resolution about the Eau Claire Business Improvement Districts. (The resolution and the contention it revealed has been covered by Volume One with articles on Feb. 7 and Feb. 11.)

The resolution, sponsored by Council members Kate Felton and Aaron Brewster, was potentially confusing to the public without additional context. That cloudiness translated to the public comment portion of Monday, Feb. 10’s council meeting, where a number of speakers addressed the apparently strained relationship between city leaders and the BIDs.

The Feb. 11 council meeting ultimately resulted in a twice-amended resolution, which was voted on and passed in a vote of 10-1 after nearly two hours of discussion. Council President Emily Berge and Felton opened the discussion, and Felton pointed to the tough conversations from the previous evening.

“I think my goal with this resolution is to give us an opportunity to discuss those feelings that we‘ve been hearing for years, and that we heard about last night in this room.”

KATE FELTON

eau claire CITY COUNCIL MEMBER

“I think that the discomfort that we felt last night was a result of the fact that we haven’t addressed those concerns that we’ve been hearing from the community,” Felton said. “I think my goal with this resolution is to give us an opportunity to discuss those feelings that we’ve been hearing for years, and that we heard about last night in this room.”

She also spoke about a city staff report that was shared with city employees by Deputy City Manager Dave Solberg before the Feb. 11 council meeting. Felton stated there was information about individual staff members having experienced “basically, a toxic culture” through their work with community groups.

“For me, that report just strengthens the case that we need a cultural reset (for) our volunteers, the people investing in our community, and for our staff,” Felton said. “I think we put forward a resolution as a way to start that conversation. I don’t believe it’s the perfect resolution and I encourage amendments if anyone has any, and I also encourage other ideas as far as a way to jumpstart a new culture.”

Some BID members who spoke during the Feb. 10 hearing said the past few years have been marked by miscommunication between BIDs and the city, and some BID members feel that city leadership have pointedly scrutinized their meetings and were working against the BIDs’ efforts. Specific instances included threats of legal action from the city attorney's office against the BIDs for potential violation of Open Meetings laws, lack of communication about topics such as downtown parking, and more.

When asked what the primary source of distrust between the city and the BIDs could be, Solberg said several small situations had festered the relationship in recent years. "I think, frankly, there's personalities involved (with it)," he said. "I think there were ... unintentional missteps that were perhaps taken the wrong way."

City Attorney Stephen Nick at the Feb. 11 City Council meeting.

After discussion between council members and city staff, including Solberg – during which he expressed understanding toward both BID members and city staff, and agreed with Felton that a “cultural reset” was needed – Council Member Jessica Schoen put forth an amended resolution.

Additional discussion resulted in an amendment to the initial amended resolution, which clarified how BIDs developed their budget plans; how BID board members are appointed; how BID board meetings are staffed; and the removal of the original resolution’s clause allowing BIDs to hire legal counsel outside of the City Attorney’s Office. (The final resolution is included in full at the end of this article.)

City Attorney Stephen Nick further explained why Eau Claire BIDs cannot have outside legal counsel. “The situation we have is that we have legal counsel that represents the entire city, and that includes (all city commissions, committees, and boards),” he said. “BIDs are not a separate entity, and responsibility for their compliance with (state statues and city policy) are the responsibility of the entire city. The legal responsibility for that representation … is the city attorney, and the responsibility and liability for it rests with the City of Eau Claire.”

Nick noted he had reached out to other Wisconsin cities including Appleton, Madison, and Milwaukee about their BIDs’ legal representation, which are also only allowed to be represented by the city, per state statute.

“An amazing thing happened: We are a bunch of people in Wisconsin who talked about feelings for, like, an entire hour. This is incredible,” Council Vice President Emily Anderson said after the resolution’s passing, eliciting some laughter from the chamber.

Though the resolution was ultimately amended – and amended again – and passed, Council Member Clara Serrano reiterated the need for a cultural reset.

Council members, left to right: Clara Serrano, Andrew Werthmann, and Aaron Brewster.

“We have, I think, a pretty significant problem because so much of what happens in an organization, especially (both) public and private, can’t be legislated down to every sentence and every legality,” Serrano said. “So, I’m quite troubled with the situation because I feel like, you know, people asked last night, ‘Who’s in charge? Where’s the leadership? How are things going to actually change?’ ”

Council member Roderick Jones called for accountability on both sides of the equation: BID board members and the city. “There’s impetus here for us as a council, as the city, to do our part,” he said. “But BIDs must also do their parts in decorum as well, and we haven’t talked about that.”

While Brewster, one of the original resolution’s sponsors, was the lone council member to ultimately vote against the twice-amended resolution, Felton said the resolution did something bigger – it started a public conversation. “It’s my personal view that this conversation has much more power than any resolution that we pass,” she said.

The final resolution:

You can watch the full City Council meetings from Feb. 10 and Feb. 11 via video • Learn more about the Eau Claire City Council at www.eauclairewi.gov/government/city-council.