The Village Board Of Ashwaubenon rejected what would have been the biggest junk ordinance of 2025 in Northeast Wisconsin this week, by turning away a measure that would have punished homeless people for being homeless (story HERE).

The “camping ordinance” was a monstrosity that would have punished homeless veterans, and the working families that are an integral part of the many low income jobs that keeps the village’s retail and hospitality hub moving (story HERE).

You may have noticed that I took a half step back on the title of this post. This is because the entirety of the board was not convinced at how much damage they were trying to do. I’m talking about the trustees and staff that championed this measure at the committee level (story HERE). So, yeah, there were still some bad policy makers trying to push forward some bad policy.

However, its very important that we do acknowledge that the majority of the board was trying to do the right thing. And the lenses of local goverment that they’re staring through in Ashwaubenon may look a little different than the surrounding municipalities.

It’s my hope that Ashwaubenon jumps into the regional fight against homelessness with the rest of us. There are some good people in the villages (outside of the vanity-first trustees) that fall more in line with the fabric of decency with the rest of the culture in Northeast Wisconsin.

We need to examine actions that look for a way into the fight against defeating our challenges. Not a way out.

This was certainly a step in the right direction.