Chris Wery sits in on a 2024 Green Bay City Council meeting. PC: Fox 11 Online
GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) — Applications to serve as the next District 8 alderperson for the city of Green Bay are now being accepted, as Ald. Chris Wery prepares to step down from his role next Friday.
“It’s one of those decisions where it’s just the right thing to do,” Wery says.
After more than two decades serving Green Bay’s west side, Wery has been open about the fact that he is stepping away from the role in order to provide care to his mother.
“Yeah, it hurt a lot to give up something you love so much, obviously. But it’s easy when it’s something you love more, right?” he says.
Wery’s last official day is May 16, which means the remaining alders are gearing up to hear from those looking to fill his role.
First, those interested in the position need at least 20 valid signatures on a nomination form. That form and the alder application can be found here. You must live in the 8th district to apply.
“And then [you’ll] probably write a couple paragraphs of why you want to be in the office, then you’ll come to that designated council date with the other applicants, probably speak to the council, and they’ll vote,” Wery explains.
The application will be open until June 6, and the common council will hear from applicants June 10. The application process may sound easy, but the job is anything but that.
Wery reflects on what he thought the job would be when he was first elected in 2002.
“I really thought it would just be meetings. You know, couple meetings a month, that’s what you do. I don’t know,” he admits. “Turns out, that’s the small part of the job. The big part of the job, as I found out, is that you’re the father or the mother of the district. Everybody comes to you for everything.”
If you’re a good alderperson, I think you try and help, you try to fix it. You can’t always, and some people understand. Some get pretty mad about it. You do what you can. You’re an alderman, you don’t control government. You do your part.
During his 23 years in the role, Wery says one of his favorite memories as an alder was helping save Fisk (now known as Resch) and Colbourn pools — helping to raise $500,000 and $1,000,000, respectively, for them.
But he emphasizes that a lot of the work is simply helping neighbors.
“I think some people get elected and they’re disappointed in that way. They find out, ‘Woah, that’s a lot of work, I don’t know if I’m ready for that.’ So if you’re running for office, especially at the local level, it’s going to be a lot of customer service,” Wery adds.
He remembers fondly the early days of his alder career.
“I used to keep a ream of notebooks. People would call me and I’d put the date, address and who called, before I got into email. And then I’d follow up and when it was complete, I’d let my kids pick out stickers — Scooby Doo stickers or whatever — so when it was done, they’d put a sticker on that page. So when I page through, if it didn’t have a sticker, I knew it meant I had to follow up.”
Wery shares advice for the person who fills his soon-to-be vacant seat.
“Don’t be a rubber stamp. That doesn’t mean you can’t agree with the mayor and staff on everything. Just always have a healthy dose of skeptical — cynicism about everything. Dig into it,” he says. “Ask questions, be open to changing your mind. Early on, sometimes I would say, ‘This is how I’m voting,’ and then you get to council and you hear arguments and testimony, and then you change your mind, which is good.”
The job has also changed a lot in the years since first being elected — including getting to the job at all.
Wery says in his first 10 years in office, he never had to spend more than $2,000 on his campaigns.
“Then, somebody spent $12,000 against me, and I found I needed to actually raise money to do a little more. Then you start seeing these PACs coming in from parties spending tens of thousands of dollars on campaigns. That’s a tough thing when they’re sending out flyers every day in the mail. But if you’re an incumbent and you do a good job, you can overcome that,” Wery says.
As national politics and parties dig deeper roots in local systems, he says, don’t forget your constituents and neighbors.
“Be open-minded. Whoever is coming in, be open-minded. Left, right, center… I know lately, the last couple years, high politics have saturated the local government, which is terrible. Just serve your citizens and forget the rest,” Wery says.
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