Racine council passes ordinance after boycott tied to agendas

RACINE, Wis. - The Racine Common Council on Tuesday night passed a communication ordinance that restores its agenda-setting power after a number of members boycotted meetings over the issue.

Six of the city's typical 15 Common Council members were involved in the boycotts. Melissa Kaprelian, one of those six, said the protest arose over concerns about what they called "an imbalance of power" between the council and Mayor Cory Mason. 

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The boycotting group said an ordinance, passed in 2019, gave Mason the ability to block certain items from appearing on the council's agenda. In August, the Committee of the Whole passed an ordinance to discuss its concerns over that 2019 ruling – but it had yet to be put on the full council's agenda.

"We can’t come to this council body and just sit here and warm a seat. That’s not why we are elected, I’ll fail my constituents," Kaprelian said. "A third of the council body has started a boycott, and that was in response to the loss of legislative power."

Racine Mayor Cory Mason

On Tuesday, the communication ordinance that passed restores the council's ability to set its own meeting agendas. It will take effect within 60 days, which Kaprelian said will allow the city to update its recording system.

Earlier this month, Mason said there are "legal ramifications" for council members who don't attend the open meetings.

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"We have a process in place on how to change ordinances, we are following that process," he said. "We can have a debate about that, but we can’t have a debate if they don’t show up to do their job."

The Common Council said Mason was not present for Tuesday's meeting. FOX6 reached out to the mayor's office for comment on Wednesday, but did not hear back by the deadline for this story.