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Wauwatosa, Wisconsin deputy city administrator Melissa Cantarero Weiss got relentlessly trolled on X after sending her employees a memo about Christmas decorations. The leader announced that departments were banned from using offensive décor like red and green colors as they strive to be “more equitable and inclusive.” The announcement has also led to a meme competition online.
Popular liberal critique social media page Libs of TikTok recently took to their official X (formerly known as Twitter) account to put Melissa Cantarero Weiss on blast. The account shared a screenshot of the now infamous email which read:
“While we understand the significance of this holiday for many, it is important to recognize that not all Wauwatosa employees, residents, or business owners celebrate Christmas. In our ongoing efforts to foster a more equitable and inclusive community, we believe it is crucial to be considerate of how we decorate public spaces during this season.”
The email went on to ask departments to “refrain from using religious decorations or decorations solely associated with Christmas (such as red and green colors).” They also asked employees to decorate their buildings with “more neutral and inclusive decorations.” While stating examples, they cited a “winter wonderlands,” “lights and greenery” and “northern lights” theme.
Melissa Cantarero Weiss also referred to snowmen as “snow people,” which caused an uproar online.
Where did Melissa Cantarero Weiss study revealed as deputy city administer gets put on blast online
Melissa Cantarero is responsible for overseeing tourism, communications and contributing to city management. Prior to becoming a city leader in Wisconsin, she worked as the Assistant Village Administration and Director of Public Works at Sussex.
Weiss holds a master’s degree in public affairs from Indiana University.
Several netizens were displeased with Weiss’ announcement. Many felt that the Christmas rules were absurd and put the deputy administrator on blast. A few tweets read:
At the time of writing this article, Melissa Cantarero Weiss had not addressed the backlash.
Wisconsin Right Now hosts meme competition
On November 12, the Wisconsin Right Now publication hosted a meme competition for people to choose the best “snow people” and Christmas meme. They stated that the creator of the best memes would be given a prize.
Netizens were asked to choose the best of 36 memes. Some memes referred to Melissa Cantarero Weiss as a Christmas grinch. One person created a meme which referred to Rudolph as the “gender neutral reindeer.” In another meme, a typical snowman was designed as a drag queen. Some other memes the website shared read:
The website claimed that several city workers believed that the deputy city administrator should focus on other pressing concerns. One anonymous employee shared that Jim Armchambo, the city administrator, agreed with Weiss’ concerns.
