About the City Council
Election of Municipal Officials
Local Office Elections are held each Spring. Candidates must be a qualified elector of the city and reside in the jurisdiction at the time of election. More about elected municipal office can be found by viewing the Municipal Elected Office webpage.
Meetings
City Council meetings take place the 1st and 3rd Thursday of the month, beginning at 7:00 PM. The meetings take place in the Council Chambers at City Hall, 136 North Monroe Street, Waterloo, WI. See the Waterloo Municipal Calendar for meeting information and the agendas page.
Agendas
Agendas and the meeting minutes can be viewed on the municipal website.
Council Make-Up
Waterloo's City Council consists of a Mayor and seven Alderpersons. Waterloo operates under a Mayor-Council form of government as authorized by Chapter 62 of the Wisconsin state statutes. The Mayor serves a four-year term of office and is the chief executive of the municipality. Alderpersons also serve four-year terms and act as the legislative branch of city government.
The Mayor and seven Alderpersons are elected for 4-year terms. The terms are staggered. There is one Alderperson elected for each Ward, with the exception of Wards 4 and 5, which due to population, are combined into a single Aldermanic Ward. Three Alderpersons are elected At-Large, meaning they are elected by the entire City.
Terms of Office
- Mayor (2023-2027)
- Ward One (2022-2026)
- Ward Two (2022-2026)
- Ward Three (2023-2027)
- Ward Four & Five (2020-2024)
- At-Large (2020-2024)
- At-Large (2021-2025)
- At-Large (2022-2026)
Decision-Making
The fundamental job of a governing body is to make policy decisions. Unless decisions are based on relevant and accurate information with a clear objective in view, the results may not be optimal.
Identifying and prioritizing community needs, formulating solutions, developing plans and projects, taking formal action, administering policies and procedures and evaluating outcomes are all vital steps to our democratic form of government.
Decision-making aids:
- The budgeting toolkit...
- Elected Official Handbooks - International City/County Management Association Publications available from the Clerk/Treasurer office
- Setting Goals for Action
- Building a Policy-Making Team
- Setting Policies for Service Delivery
- Setting Policies for Internal Management
- Pursuing Personal Effectiveness
Ethics in Local Office; Use of Office for Private Benefit:
[19.59(1)(a) Wis. Stat.]
No local public official may use his or her public position or office to obtain financial gain or anything of substantial value for the private benefit of himself or herself, or his or her immediate family, or for an organization with which the official is associated.
Exceptions:
- Items received on behalf of the local governmental unit and primarily for the benefit of the governmental unit
- Items unrelated to the individual’s holding public office or position.
Influence and Reward:
[19.59(1)(b)Wis. Stat.]
No local public official may solicit or accept anything of value if it could reasonably be expected to influence the official’s judgment or could reasonably be considered a reward for official action.
Annual Compensation
Mayor: $6,000
Alderperson: $2,000
About Filing a Council Vacancy
How is the position filled? ANS. By appointment by the Common Council.
- The Common Council shall oversee the application process to fill aldermanic vacancies.
- Applications to fill any aldermanic vacancy shall include:
- Name, address, home and work telephone numbers and e-mail address.
- Statement on why the applicant wishes to serve.
- Interested parties shall have 30 days to submit an application once a vacancy is announced. At the conclusion of the submittal period, applicants will be invited to the next Common Council meeting to answer any questions from the Common Council members. In accordance with § 19.85(1)(c), Wis. Stats., the Common Council may meet in closed session to review applications.
- The appointed and confirmed candidate shall serve until an Alderperson is elected pursuant to § 17.23(1), Wis. Stats., and is qualified.