WAUPUN — Mayor of Waupun Rohn Bishop held a reelection campaign kick-off event Saturday morning, officially announcing his second run for mayor.
The campaign kick-off event was held at The Other Bar in downtown Waupun. By the time the Mayor was set to speak the bar was packed, with many of those in attendance wearing the yellow “#Rohn4Waupun” t-shirts. One free drink from the bar was also provided to attendees.
Before speaking, Mayor Bishop was introduced at the event by Cory Buchholz, who is one of his neighbors down the street.
“Over the last two years the Mayor, with the Council, has done a great job,” Buchholz said. “Lot of successes, we got the new railroad tracks, our downtown is doing great, businesses are flourishing, the youth sports facilities are all getting upgrades, and that’s going to be a whole thing for the generation to come.”
“But the job’s not finished, there’s a lot more work to do in our city. We’re looking to the future, and our hope is to see that man [Rohn Bishop] to continue his journey,” he said. “But this is not an easy journey for this man—I don’t know how he does it—he can be sitting on the porch watching the Cubs game having a Bud Lite and he has people coming up to him giving him their opinion all day long. He’s got people chirping him on Facebook all the time.”
“With all that said, he still talks to his constituents every single day to listen to their opinions, meet them in the middle, and that’s the person Rohn is. And that’s the leadership this city needs. So it is my privilege and honor to introduce the heartbeat of Waupun, our mayor, Rohn Bishop.”
Following Buchholz’s speech, Mayor Bishop remarked that it was the “best introduction he’s ever gotten.” He then thanked the owners and staff of The Other Bar for their support and for opening early to host the campaign event.
Before starting, Bishop gave a little bit of a story about how he and his family were getting heckled while eating dinner. He did not specify what it was about, but said that he and his family ended up leaving the restaurant because of it. In light of this, he thanked his wife and family for putting up with it and always standing by his side through everything.
He also thanked the Waupun Police Department for their vigilance in keeping watch over the community and himself.
“Less than two years ago, Waupun wasn’t being Waupun,” Mayor Bishop said, beginning his speech. “We had a terrible railroad crossing, we had terrible garbage service, and the City was trying to push through a Transportation Utility Fee, which would have charged more for roads we already pay taxes for.”
“Waupun was turning our backs on our history and our heritage, and we were trying to be something we aren’t,” he said. “We were removing references to the sculptures, and the End of the Trail, was being removed from city logo, city signage, and city benches—replaced with the infamous ‘corn people’ logo. And nobody knew we had a city flag, because it only flew in two places and it had been removed from the council chambers.”
He also mentioned that the importance of the local correctional institutions was being downplayed, and that Waupun was “turning its back on Waupun’s 173 year history as Wisconsin’s Prison City.”
“Our relationship with the State of Wisconsin was terrible, both with the Department of Corrections and with our local legislatures,” he continued. “Our communications with the DOC was inarticulate at best, and we only talked to our legislators to whine and complain and say ‘you guys suck,’ and sit back and wonder why they never did anything to help Waupun.”
“That was the state of our City two years ago. Two years later, Waupun is on a totally different trajectory. Thanks to all of your support we’ve tackled these issues head on.”
He went on to discuss how they resolved the stated issues under his leadership, particularly the railroad, the garbage service, and city branding.
“Today we are bringing back Waupun’s identity as Wisconsin’s sculpture City,” he said. “My first act as mayor was ordering the city flag to be flown at all city buildings and that it be hung back up in the council chambers. Today, I hold photo-ops and press conferences in front of our flag, showing it the proper respect that it deserves.”
One of the biggest “fights” that Mayor Bishop managed to win was over the city wayfinding signs, where silhouettes of city sculptures replaced the previous abstract city logo on signs found all across Waupun. City letterhead now once again features the End of the Trail.
“And we just celebrated the centennial for the Recording Angel, an anniversary that I think Waupun would have likely missed if I had not made an issue on it,” Bishop said. “Waupun Fine Arts is now joining forces with me to raise funds to add to our sculpture collection. This time with a sculpture of the sculptor—a sculpture of Mister Shaler to be placed in Harris Mill Park overlooking the pond, and two of his most famous sculptures gifted to Waupun.”
Mayor Bishop also mentioned the new winter event Icefest, which will feature 56 ice sculptures to be placed downtown on February 17th and 18th, as well as a variety of other winter events and entertainment.
“Today, Waupun has a new, and very much improved working relationship with the State, both at the Department of Corrections and in the State Legislature,” he said. “I have a longstanding friendship with our legislators, especially Senator [Dan] Feyen and Representative [Michael] Schraa. And yes, sometimes I have to be a pain in their butt, but I try to be a respectful pain in their butt. Yes, I will always lobby and fight for the City of Waupun, but now instead of yelling at them I explain where I’m coming from. We don’t always agree, and they can’t do what I want, but this relationship is paying off.”
“Thanks in large part to the work of these two gentlemen [Senator Feyen and Rep. Schraa], Waupun did receive a boost of Shared Revenue of over $600,000 from this budget. They’re still fighting for MSP payments, but now we are no longer blindsided because our lines of communication are now open.”
“Waupun is open for business. You can’t buy a house here because people want to live here,” he said. “We’re the seventh safest city in Wisconsin, we have the best drinking water, and now we have the cleanest wastewater discharge in all of America. We’ve really become Wisconsin’s ‘clean water city.’”
“We have good schools, quant shops, and an historic downtown that we are investing in. While some want to abandon City Hall for a new municipal building, I said no. And we’re going to save and invest in our historic City Hall.”
Mayor Bishop went on to give several more examples of the progress made in the city, concluding with the phrase, “Waupun has really got it going on.”
“For all these reasons, I’m hopeful to keep momentum going and that’s why today I’m announcing to all of you that I am running for reelection and humbly ask for your vote,” he said.
In total the speeches lasted about 15 minutes. Notably at the event were Fond du Lac County Executive Sam Kaufman and County Supervisor Jon Venhuizen.
