Wauwatosa City Administrator Jim Archambo sent a memo to employees last week clarifying that an earlier email telling employees to refrain from putting up Christmas decorations was not a policy, nor was he trying to ban Christmas decorations.
The backlash aimed at city officials was swift when the city manager’s office sent a November 9th email to employees urging them to refrain from putting Christmas decorations in their workspaces, going as far as to oppose red and green lights.
After receiving a demand letter from Liberty Counsel, Archambo contends in his memo that the earlier email was meant to “ask our employees to consider all members of our community before deciding how to decorate public spaces in city-owned government buildings.”
Archambo stressed that employees “are free to decorate in the manner they have historically decorated or alter their decorations to be more inclusive at their discretion.”
Liberty Counsel released a statement celebrating the decision saying that “Wauwatosa officials have now backtracked.”
The original message garnered denunciations from multiple groups, including the conservative website Wisconsin Right Now and the popular social media account Libs of TikTok.
Liberty Counsel argues that any rule prohibiting employees from putting up Christmas decorations violates the U.S. Constitution.