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Ethical dismissal
The city’s ethics board dismissed a complaint against a city council member, but only after strongly condemning her actions
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actions against a county board supervisor has been dismissed, but not without strong words against her actions.
April 3, 2022 | 3:00PM At The Grand Theater
The Messiah: Community Easter Oratorio
Free to the community, this special concert event features the Wausau Symphony Orchestra conducted by Daniel Larson, and a full choir of local voices performing George Frideric Handel’s exhilarating masterpiece, including the powerful Hallelujah chorus. First performed in 1742, Messiah has, over the ages, become connected most often to Christmas. But Handel originally conceived the work for Easter and its 1742 premiere in Dublin occurred in the spring of that year, during Lent.
Entry is free, but advance ticket reservations are strongly
recommended. Tickets may be available at the door. No group/bulk orders over 10 allowed in advance. This free concert is presented by the Chester L. Suski Arts Fund, and organized by Karla Westcott, Daniel Larson, and William Day. 137624
The city’s Ethics Board Monday dismissed the complaint against City Council Member Deb Ryan following a closed session meeting. According to the complaint, Ryan is alleged to have accused County Board Member William Harris of providing “illegal” legal advice to Mayor Katie Rosenberg regarding the city’s version of the A Community for All resolution. And, the complaint accused Ryan of attempting to get Harris fired from his job at Judicare and threatening the job of the director when she refused to take action against Harris.
In a written response to the complaint obtained by City Pages, Ryan’s attorney says that Ryan’s conduct did not violate the code of conduct laid out for city council members and thus did not commit an ethics violation.
According to the response letter, Ryan is alleged to have defamed Harris by saying he provided advice to the mayor regarding the A Community for All resolution, which he says is untrue. The response lays out Rosenberg saying at the beginning of a meeting that the resolution is “is a lot of his work” and thanking Harris for his efforts.
Ryan also disputes the characterization of the phone call with Judicare, saying that she was concerned about the organization remaining non-partisan and denies ever asking that Harris be fired.
The motion, read by Ethics Board member Robyn De Vos, said the Ethics Board “strongly condemns the actions of Alderman Ryan in the strongest terms,” but found that those actions did not violate the city’s code of ethics for city council members. The board voted to dismiss the complaint.
The actions came after one Ethics Board member recused himself and the first chair of the board, Mary Thao, resigned with pointed remarks about the process. She did not clarify those remarks to City Pages.
Emails between Thao and city officials obtained by city officials didn’t shed much light on the matter.
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Marathon County mulling countywide emergency medical services study
Marathon County leaders are considering commissioning a study that would look at the possibility of developing a countywide emergency medical services program.
The county’s public safety committee voted earlier this month to keep looking into adding the study on Administrator Lance Leonhard’s work plan for the year, but elected to deprioritize it. The study would look at the need, costs and feasibility of developing a countywide system for EMS.
No specific proposal is on the table, but programs in other counties range from having their own departments
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with EMS workers as county employees to contracting with other services to provide EMS.
The county is looking into the problem because some rural communities with smaller populations have slow response times. A county-wide program could potentially solve that problem. Waushara County has a countywide EMS system, for example, and Portage County has something similar.
Although the Public Safety Committee elected to not prioritize the study on the administrator’s work plan, work will still continue on studying the issue.
Kronenwetter to hold candidate forum
The village of Kronenwetter will host a candidate forum after seeing the most number of candidates to ever run for office in the village.
The forum will take place 7 pm March 29 at the Kronenwetter Municipal Center at 1582 I-39 Frontage Road.
The forum will see candidates Danielle Bergmann, Tami Bloch, Jason Holmes, Ken Charneski, Jordyn Wadle-Leff and Timothy Shaw face off for three village board seats. The contest initially had eight candidates, two of whom were eliminated in the February primary.
Three will be chosen by voters on April 5.
Petrowski won’t seek reelection
State senator Jerry Petrwoski announced he will not seek reelection to District 29 after serving in the post for roughly a decade.
Petrowski was Petrowski first elected to the State Assembly in 1998 before running and winning the State Senate seat in 2012.
Petrowski in a press release said that while he enjoyed serving the district, he has more he wants to accomplish and wants to spend more time with his family.
Petrowski authored 160 bills in his time in the state legislature, including everything from protecting the state transportation fund to providing North Central Health Care $5 million to address mental health reform to shielding taxpayers from the fallout of the dissolution of the village of Brokaw after the paper mill shut down in 2012.
Petrowski recently made headlines after a bill he worked on in the State Senate that would have raised Wausau’s TIF district limits was nixed after outcry that local leaders hadn’t been consulted. The bill had passed the assembly but didn’t appear to have a path forward as the state senate’s session was set to come to a close.
The state senate seat, which covers a swath of land including the Wausau area and all the way northwest to Sawyer County, is up for reelection in this November.
Mosinee Mayor and County Board Supervisor Brent Jacobson has announced he will run for the seat. Jacobson is not running for reelection to the county board.
SAFER down to five candidates to replace resigned chief
The South Area Fire and Emergency Response District (SAFER) Commission has settled on five final candidates to replace former SAFER chief Matt Savage after previously narrowing applicants down to 10 in a closed session meeting last week.
Savage recently exited the role for undisclosed reasons the commission has declined to reveal. The candidates left are Battalion Chief Benjamin Goodreau of Wisconsin Rapids, SAFER Battalion Chief Eric Lang, Assistant Fire Chief Paramedic Travis Teesch of Kaukauna, former Vesper Fire Department Captain Todd Eckes and SAFER interim chief Josh Finke.
The Weston Village Board almost terminated its contract with SAFER for fire and ambulance services in 2021 before deciding to stay. Village President Mark Maloney said Monday he believes those difficulties are in the past and believes the organization is on better footing.
“We are on a great path right now. The direction is going well,” he said. “A couple of years ago, oh my god, I was done ... We stuck at it and it is a nice joint venture. It has really gone well, not talking about the resignation. We just need to move forward. We have a great group out there and we are doing well and are trying not to compete with other municipalities.”
SAFER will interview candidates March 16 and make a selection afterward. (Evan J. Pretzer for City Pages)
Former Mosinee teacher accused of sexual assault suing school, school officials
A former Mosinee teacher once accused of sexual assault is now suing the school, school officials, the student and Mosinee law enforcement.
Christy Mathis was accused last year of touching a 12-year-old student in class. A judge in August ruled that there was insufficient evidence and dismissed the case.
Named in the suit are the Mosinee School District, School Superintendent David Munoz, school board president Kevin Hermening, middle school principal Brad Grube, the city of Mosinee, the school resource officer and the Mosinee Police Chief. Mathis filed the suit in federal court in late January.
According to the complaint, Mathis demanded the cell phone of a girl who was looking at it in class, the complaint reads. The student and two of her friends went to the principal’s office after class to report an assault, according to the suit.
Mathis lost her job as a result of the accusations.
According to the complaint, Mathis says she was never interviewed about her side of the story prior to being arrested and only the student’s two friends said they saw the assault happen. They later expressed reservations that police didn’t take seriously, the complaint alleges.
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