Mayor’s Column December 12, 2025
Rohn Bishop, Mayor of Waupun
Hello Waupun,
At this past Tuesday’s Common Council meeting we had a moment of silence for Hank Snyder, who passed away late last week. Hank was an interesting guy, to say the least! For a long time, Hank covered Waupun news and government for the Beaver Dam Daily Citizen and the Neighbors newspapers. Over the years Hank and I became friends, and he was a strong supporter of mine. Every time I saw him, he’d tell me he prayed for me and our city every day. He truly loved Waupun; and will be missed by all of us who knew him.
Also, at the Tuesday meeting, we began the process of creating a childcare Revolving Loan Fund, where daycare centers can borrow money at a super low interest rate, pay it back to the city, and the fund grows to hopefully be used for daycare expansion moving forward. As you know, supporting local childcare has been a top priority of mine, because if parents don’t have a place for their kids to go, they can’t go to work. When it comes to childcare, the business model and regulations have it all messed up, and that’s above my paygrade, but as Mayor, I am committed to helping the local daycare, and any new daycares, be successful and most importantly AFFORDABLE for Waupun’s families. The kids are our most important asset; they’re our future, and I’ll do whatever I can to make sure Waupun is a great place to raise kids.
With all this snow we’ve been getting, Alderman Pete Kaczmarski asked me to remind folks that when you roll your garbage carts out, please make sure they’re on the street side of the snowbanks. The garbage truck’s arm isn’t long enough to grab the cart if it’s up on the sidewalk.
This week I signed, along with the local town chairmen, the new Waupun Fire Service Agreement, that will provide fire services to the City of Waupun and the local townships for years to come. The agreement means the city maintains control of the fire department through the Fire and Police Commission, and that members will be appointed by the mayor. It also brings up the town’s contribution to the cost of offering fire protection, and more equally, and fairly, divides the cost. This agreement took years to hammer out. My thanks to Fire Chief DeMaa, Administrator Kathy Schlieve and Aldermen Dan Siebers and Pete Kaczmarski for their work on the ad-hoc committee that brought this agreement to fruition. This is a good long term solution that will benefit our city for a long time!
Now that the fire services agreement is settled, my next goal with the towns is to clean up all the town islands located within the city. We have several, and they cause issues when it comes to enforcement and addresses receiving city services without paying for them. These islands are also why we don’t repave Young Street, Wilcox Street, Woodland Drive, Doty Street, and others, because sections aren’t in the city, and I don’t feel city taxpayers should be paying for township roads we don’t own. We as a city are already plowing and salting them, but as cost continue to rise, the city can’t just keep offering these services to non-city residents.
Thank you, Waupun! Keep warm and God Bless,
Mayor Rohn
