What you may not know: Week of December 5

Before I get to this week's council update, I have a bit of housekeeping to take care of:

Nominations for council positions in the city's odd numbered districts (including mine, the 13th) are open and I'm planning on seeking re-election this April. This week I'll be looking for signatures on my nomination petition to get back on the ballot to seek my third term. If you live in the 13th aldermanic district and would be willing to sign, please contact me via my Facebook page, call me at (920)574-2092 or leave a comment on one of our neighborhood social media pages to let me know. Thank you in advance.

The Appleton Common Council has a regularly scheduled full council meeting on Wednesday night, but it will likely be brief as we have very few committee recommendations from the Thanksgiving committee week to take care of. However, I was still busy during our scheduled council off week last week, and here are a couple of issues I'm currently working on behind the scenes:

• Over the last year I've heard an increasing number of concerns regarding parking issues around USA Youth Soccer Complex on the days of tournaments and other large events. I'm currently working to set up a meeting between stakeholders on this issue (three city departments, myself, USA Youth Inc. and the Appleton Soccer Club) to discuss any changes that can be made to improve this situation before the season kicks off again in the spring. It's my understanding that this item will be on the USA Youth board meeting agenda on 12/21, so I'm hopeful we can get to work on this after the first of the new year.
• Additionally, as part of my role as chair of the city's Safety & Licensing Committee, I've been asked to help with revisions and suggestions for an upcoming (and long-needed) update to the city's Towing Ordinances. Last week I met with two of our city attorneys and a representative from the Appleton Police Department to review and suggest potential changes to this proposal, which is scheduled to go before the committee next week.

No official action will be taken on either of these items this week. However, both items are likely to come up in future updates in the weeks and months to come.

You can see agendas for all of this week's meetings and the full schedule at the city's Legistar page.

Keeping you informed on issues that may impact you around the city is one of my primary goals as an alderman. Good governance happens in the open, and I remain committed to raising awareness on the issues coming before us.