Tell the council before the November budget vote

Alders pay attention to short, polite notes from people in their own district, especially before a budget vote.

Write your alder

The city’s website lists the alder for each district and how to reach them. There’s a note below to start from. It works better if you add your own reason.

City of Wausau: Council Alderpersons

Speak at a meeting

Common Council meetings include public comment. Two minutes is plenty. Say where you live, ask for the Flock line to come out of the 2027 budget, and give one reason.

City of Wausau: City Council

Look up your own plate

The Wausau Pilot & Review’s Watch Ledger lets you check your own plate against published search logs. It also shows which agencies can search Wausau’s cameras.

The Watch Ledger

A note to start from

Dear Alder [last name],

I live at [your address], in your district. Please leave the $50,000 Flock camera payment out of the 2027 budget, and have the city attorney send notice of termination under Section 11.16 of the contract, which lets the city end it on 30 days' written notice "without penalty or other cost."

[One or two sentences, in your own words, about why this matters to you.]

I'd also like the council to require a public hearing and a vote before the city buys surveillance technology in the future.

Thank you,
[Your name]

If you’re not sure what to put in the middle, here are some reasons you could mention:

The contract lets Flock keep using data from Wausau’s cameras in its other products. What the contract says
About 205 Wisconsin agencies can search the cameras, and the audit looks at 10 searches every six months. Who can search
The research doesn’t show plate readers reducing crime. The evidence
Other Wisconsin communities have already left. Who has left
$50,000 a year could go to something with better evidence behind it. Alternatives

Let us know you wrote, or that you can help

If you wrote your alder, plan to speak, or have a question or a correction, tell us here. Your note goes to the people organizing this.

Every field is optional. We only use what you send to reply to you and to count support, and we don’t share it.