The Appleton Public Arts Committee is planning a a mid-year-2026 change to the photos on the Houdini Plaza Welcome Tower. They may hold another community photo contest, or they may use public domain art/photos of Harry Houdini to help celebrate 2026 as the "Year of Houdini."  Leaders of Creative Downtown Appleton, Inc. proposed this second option and would pay for the printed panels and gift them to the city.

Fox Valley Initiative (FVI) held its monthly public forum on January 5, 2026 at Freedom Project Academy in Appleton, discussing the Damascus Road Project and trafficking. The main speakers at the Jan. 5 forum were Kelly Olson with Damascus and an investigator with the Oshkosh Police Department.

All four candidates for the Appleton Area School District board will participate in a candidate forum, sponsored by the League of Women Voters of Appleton-Fox Cities, on Thursday, March 5, at 6:30 p.m. at the Appleton Public Library. Taxpayers and voters are encouraged to attend.

On October 21, 2025, several representatives of Appleton Concerned Taxpayers (ACT) met with Appleton Mayor Jake Woodford. We discussed several items of concern with respect to the city budget, including questions about wastewater and stormwater expenses in the 2026 budget and debt service increases. We also discussed the "Stop the Noise" project and other non-budget-related matters.

In the end, we agreed that we had different political views and that they wouldn’t sign my paperwork. We wished each other a Merry Christmas and shook hands. I left the conversation stating that this was why I had a Charlie Kirk sign. We were able to have a frank exchange of ideas, not get upset with each other and still part on good terms.

Fox Valley Initiative (FVI) held its monthly public forum on March 2, 2026 at Freedom Project Academy in Appleton. The focus of the forum was to encourage conservative voters to turn out for the spring election, April 7, and to be involved in get-out-the-vote (GOTV) efforts of the local county GOP, such as through door-knocking, phone calls, and filling out postcards.