Politics & Government

Didier Says So Long at Her Last Council Meeting

Mayor steps down three months short of a full term to take county economic development job.

She will officially remain in office as mayor until Jan. 3, but Jill Didier bade her goodbye Tuesday night in the last Wauwatosa Common Council meeting of 2011 and the last over which she would preside.

Waiting until all business on the agenda had been conducted, Didier held up adjournment briefly to say a few words.

"I want to extend some thanks and gratitude to my family and constituents," she said. "Wauwatosa has one of the most involved constituencies I've ever seen."

Find out what's happening in Wauwatosawith free, real-time updates from Patch.

She also praised city staff for competency, efficiency and concern for serving citizens during her tenure β€” settling on some examples of the demands most commonly placed upon local government officials.

"The roads got plowed and the leaves got picked up," she said, "and I'm thanking God it hasn't snowed yet. My kids want a snowy Christmas, but when you're mayor, you look at snow a little differently."

Find out what's happening in Wauwatosawith free, real-time updates from Patch.

After a final wish for everyone to enjoy happy holidays, Didier got applause from a standing house before bringing the meeting to a close. Didier began her new job as economic development coordinator for Milwaukee County on Thursday.

Common Council President Eric Meaux will take over the gavel as acting mayor until a new mayor is sworn in after the April 3 election. So far, three candidates have declared their intentions to run: John Pokrandt and Jim Moldenhauer, neither of whom has held elected office before, and Ald. Peter Donegan, who has served on the council for six years representing District 1.

Assuming none drops out, one of those candidates would be eliminated in a Feb. 7 primary. There is still time for more candidates to file before the Jan. 3 deadline.

Pay raises approved

In Tuesday night's business, the council approved pay raises of 3 percent for six supervisors β€” only chief-level officers are not union members in the department β€” and a 2 percent increase for other non-represented city employees.

The second proposal calls for a 1 percent increase Jan. 1 and another 1 percent hike on July 1, effectively making it a 1.5 percent across-the-board increase for the year. Another .5 percent was intended to be earmarked for some kind of merit increases under a performance plan yet to be developed.

Donegan tried unsuccessfully to amend the plan to institute only the January increase now and force the administration to come back with a merit-based plan in place before the council approved the other expenditures sight-unseen.

He also wanted any final plan for the year to offer more than 2 percent increases and hoped that finding greater efficiencies would open up more money for incentive raises.

But City Atttorney Alan Kesner warned that altering the proposal would interfere with provisions in the resolution to negotiate a matching compensation plan with union workers, and City Administrator Jim Archambo said simply that 2 percent was what had been budgeted and there was no prospect of providing more.

The council also approved recommendations to allow a massage therapy clinic at 7332 W. State St., a yoga and aryuveda studio at 10701 W. North Ave., and a Wendy's restaurant at 3140 N. 124th St., as well as a joint request from the and the for hiring a fourth school resource officer.

That approval will place a full-time police officer in each high school and middle school, with the School District paying 75 percent and the city 25 percent of the new position's $100,000 in salary and benefits.


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

More from Wauwatosa