WAUPUN — The Waupun City Council passed increases to the mayoral and alderman salaries this week at the Common Council meeting held September 9, 2025.
The topic had been tabled since the Committee of the Whole meeting on March 25, where the Council discussed increasing compensation for both City Council and Mayor positions. Alderman Dan Siebers brought the item back as Alderman Jason Westphal requested it be tabled at the time.
Alderman Siebers proposed maintaining the alderman salary as is and to increase the mayoral salary to $18,000 per year. He went on to describe the responsibilities of the role, that while there isn’t a specific job description, there are considerably more responsibilities for the mayor in comparison to aldermen. But all that said, Sieber thinks the mayoral position should be about a ten hour a week role.
“That’s not just meeting attendance, that’s phone calls, that’s texts, that’s late night botherings in the restaurant—all of that,” Siebers said. “With the onset of social media, that pressure has changed, and I don’t know that we’re current to that at this time.”
Siebers said he has challenged Mayor Bishop before for doing too much for his position, citing his monthly senior center visits that Siebers thinks could be once a quarter instead.
“[Mayor Bishop] does what he does for the same reason we do what we do, because we want to serve Waupun,” Sieber said. “His method for doing it is probably different from the next mayor, or the next mayor. Each mayor brings their own style and own deliverables to it.”
Alderman Siebers also said he had looked at other cities with comparable populations, and determined that the biggest factor for mayoral salary was whether the city had a city administrator or not. He argued that the most healthy mayoral salary considering these factors put it at $18,000.
He then ceded the floor to Alderman Pete Kaczmarski.
Alderman Kaczmarski said he had spoken with constituents and at least one business owner on the topic. In comparison to other mayors—using Beaver Dam as an example whose mayor is paid $30,000—Waupun probably has about half the responsibility so recommends an increase only to $15,000.
Alderman Siebers noted he had brought the item back against the Mayor’s wishes.
Mayor Bishop pushed back against Kaczmarski’s assertion on the comparison with Beaver Dam, saying Waupun is the only city in America with three prisons in its city limits. Mayor Bishop said that while our population may be lower, the Mayor of Waupun has more responsibility than a typical mayor, citing his attendance at a disturbance response meeting for Waupun Correctional Institution with other city leadership that morning.
Mayor Bishop said that if anything happens with the prisons, he would be the one expected to attend corrections meetings and speak at press conferences held here—which would likely take place in the Waupun City Hall Auditorium. The Mayor is expected to attend quarterly corrections meetings and also has to deal with many other public relations questions related to prisons even from out of town.
Alderman Kaczmarski pointed out that an increase from $12,000 to $15,000 is a 25% increase, while to $18,000 is 50% increase—saying such large increases are unprecedented for the City of Waupun.
Alderman Mike Matoushek pointed out it has been too long of a time since the last salary change about 15 years ago, and that most salaries increase 2-4% annually.
Mayor Bishop said that framing the amount in percentages doesn’t tell the whole story.
Alderman Siebers pointed out that the next change will lock for the duration of the elected term after the next election.
“I just think that whoever takes this job from me should get paid more,” Bishop said. “It’s a lot, it’s freaking a lot. I even put it on Facebook Thursday morning that I was out of town for a funeral, I’m in the church and my phone buzzes, some guy is mad at me that his electric bill was high last month. It doesn’t stop. I’m not lying, I’m not exaggerating, it’s constant.”
Alderman Ryan Mielke said he liked the salary proposal with a 10 hour per week expectation.
Alderman Siebers said there’s a lot of responsibilities for the position. He pointed out the ambassador role and lobbying role of the mayor at the State and Federal levels—especially with the connections that Mayor Bishop had cultivated in the State Legislature. Siebers said that grants and lobbying is a critical piece of the mayoral position, and working with the City Administrator.
Alderman Matoushek said he agrees that Mayor Bishop might spend too much time, but appreciates his passion for the city and points out that people in the community also appreciate everything he does.
Alderman Kaczmarski pointed out that the census changed his district to remove much of the population of the prison from his district.
Alderman Matoushek recommended increasing the alderman salary from $6,000 to $7,200.
Alderman Westphal cautioned that whatever number they set they have to be comfortable with for the next mayor, regardless of who it is and how much effort they put into the position.
Mayor Bishop pointed out that elected positions generally don’t have a job description, and the only requirement for sheriff is to show up one day a year.
Alderman Westphal suggested setting a list of expectations that the voters should be able to expect the mayor to measure up to, saying that the salary would apply to any potential electoral victor.
When it comes to votes on salary changes for elected officials, the law requires the vote to succeed with more than two-thirds majority, meaning at least five votes in favor.
Alderman Matoushek made a motion to increase the mayor to $20,000 per year, and $7,200 per year—seconded by Kunz.
Siebers nay,
Matoushek aye,
Westphal nay,
Kunz aye,
Mielke nay,
Kaczmarski nay.
This motion failed 2-4.
Alderman Dan Siebers made a motion for the mayoral salary to increase to $18,000 and alderman salary to $7,200—seconded by Alderwoman Bobbi Jo Kunz.
Kaczmarksi nay,
Westphal nay,
Matoushek aye,
Mielke aye,
Kunz aye,
Siebers aye.
This left the vote at 4-2, one vote short of the required votes. Mayor Bishop asked if he was able to cast a vote here, which City Attorney Dan VandeZande confirmed he could. He then cast the final vote in favor, passing the salary increase with a final vote of 5-2.
The salary increases will go into effect after the next election for each position.
Additionally, the mayoral term had been increased from two years to three years, due to a recommendation at the March 25 meeting. The reasoning for this change was to extend administrational continuity and allow residents of alternating election years to vote for the mayor during their own alderman elections, which will remain two year terms.
The next election on April 7, 2026 will include the Mayor and Aldermanic Districts 2, 4, and 6—currently held by Alderman Pete Kaczmarski, Alderman Mike Matoushek, and Alderwoman Bobbi Jo Kunz, respectively.
