MONROE - City employees will be allowed to carry a concealed weapon to work, provided they are properly permitted under the new Wisconsin concealed carry weapons law.
The city's Salary and Personnel Committee on Tuesday directed City Administrator Phil Rath to update the city's workplace policy and include the concealed carry permit allowance in alignment with state law.
Once completed, Rath will send the policy changes back to committee for final approval. The Salary and Personnel Committee has the power to set workplace policy, but it could ask for full council approval.
Five members of the council fill the Salary and Personnel Committee: Charles Koch, Tyler Schultz, Neal Hunter, Brooke Bauman and Jan Lefevre. Chris Beer is an alternate on the committee. All were at the meeting Tuesday.
While committee members spent more than a half hour discussing the issue, none offered hard objections to allowing the city employees the same privilege as the city afforded the public in January.
The city's Judiciary and Ordinance Review Committee voted Jan. 9 to delay indefinitely any action on posting a ban on concealed weapons in city-controlled buildings, in effect, allowing weapons into the buildings according to state law.
Current city policy does not allow employees to have a weapon at work. But results of an internal city government survey late last year showed city employees responded 45 to 8 that they should be allowed to carry concealed weapons at work, if the public is allowed to carry concealed weapons into city buildings. They had responded 40 to 13 against the Common Council allowing any concealed weapons to be carried into public buildings.
In conjunction with providing security for employees working in city buildings, the IT Committee is looking at installing electronic surveillance cameras and law enforcement alert buttons. Department supervisors have begun surveying their areas for security needs and will make recommendations on how the city could proceed with security measures.
The city's Salary and Personnel Committee on Tuesday directed City Administrator Phil Rath to update the city's workplace policy and include the concealed carry permit allowance in alignment with state law.
Once completed, Rath will send the policy changes back to committee for final approval. The Salary and Personnel Committee has the power to set workplace policy, but it could ask for full council approval.
Five members of the council fill the Salary and Personnel Committee: Charles Koch, Tyler Schultz, Neal Hunter, Brooke Bauman and Jan Lefevre. Chris Beer is an alternate on the committee. All were at the meeting Tuesday.
While committee members spent more than a half hour discussing the issue, none offered hard objections to allowing the city employees the same privilege as the city afforded the public in January.
The city's Judiciary and Ordinance Review Committee voted Jan. 9 to delay indefinitely any action on posting a ban on concealed weapons in city-controlled buildings, in effect, allowing weapons into the buildings according to state law.
Current city policy does not allow employees to have a weapon at work. But results of an internal city government survey late last year showed city employees responded 45 to 8 that they should be allowed to carry concealed weapons at work, if the public is allowed to carry concealed weapons into city buildings. They had responded 40 to 13 against the Common Council allowing any concealed weapons to be carried into public buildings.
In conjunction with providing security for employees working in city buildings, the IT Committee is looking at installing electronic surveillance cameras and law enforcement alert buttons. Department supervisors have begun surveying their areas for security needs and will make recommendations on how the city could proceed with security measures.