Racine council members boycott; 'imbalance of power'
RACINE, Wis. - Six of Racine's Common Council members are now boycotting meetings.
Their demands are targeted at Mayor Cory Mason.
Tuesday night's Common Council meeting lasted 23 seconds. The number of absences was not unexpected.
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Melissa Kaprelian is one of the six alders now boycotting the Common Council meetings. She said the protest comes over concerns of what they say is "an imbalance of power."
Racine Common Council Chambers
The group said an ordinance passed in 2019 gives Mason the ability to block certain items from appearing on the 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."
In August, the committee of the whole passed an ordinance to discuss its concerns over this previous 2019 ruling, but it has yet to be put on the full council's agenda.
Racine Common Council Chambers
"He is consolidating the checks and balances, and they are all within his own office," Kaprelian said.
The Council is typically made up of 15 members total. Six of these chairs in the Common Council chambers will remain empty until those alders boycotting feel their demands are heard.
"We can’t do our jobs effectively if we can’t get this stuff moving forward," Alderman Jeff Coe said.
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Mason said there are "legal ramifications" for alderpeople not attending the open meetings.
Racine Common Council Chambers
"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 next meeting is scheduled for Monday, Oct. 21. If the boycott is still going on, the mayor will be forced to cancel it.