The city of Green Bay wants presidential campaigns that visit the community to pay for the additional public safety expenses they incur.
Mayor Eric Genrich issued a press release in early July saying while they welcome the visits, the costs are substantial.
In the release, he said a visit by Donald Trump in April cost an additional $33,400. The Trump campaign has told the city in the past that it is not responsible for those costs.
The release said a visit by First Lady Jill Biden cost the city an additional $7,000 for public safety. That amount has been reimbursed by the Biden campaign, officials said.
“Green Bay residents are frugal people who pay their bills, and they expect presidential candidates to do the same,” Mayor Genrich emphasized. “It is a matter of fairness and fiscal responsibility — our residents should not bear the burden of these expenses.”
The city lists expenses incurred during 2016 campaigns stops that have not been reimbursed including $12,500 from the Hillary Clinton campaign, $2,000 from the Bernie Sanders campaign and $9,300 from the Trump campaign.
Wisconsin Watch reported that other Wisconsin cities also have incurred costs from presidential campaign visits, but not all have sought reimbursement.
The city of Oshkosh incurred costs related to a 2020 Trump rally and a campaign visit from Chelsea Clinton in 2016, but the city hasn’t aggressively sought reimbursement, City Manager Mark Rohloff told Wisconsin Watch.
Rohloff, who worked decades ago in California local government, recalled trying to bill former President Bill Clinton’s 1992 campaign to no avail.
“Campaigns ignore municipalities, thinking that they should be happy that a presidential candidate chooses to come and visit their town,” Rohloff said. “Unless the campaigns are going to publicly commit and be held accountable for paying or not paying their bills, it’s going to be very difficult.”
