Wausau Ethics Board orders witness statements and documents in complaint against Mayor Doug Denny

The Wausau Ethics Board on a June meeting voted to issue orders requiring statements and documents from a set of potential witnesses as part of its investigation into a complaint alleging Mayor Doug Denny violated “section 2.03 0.03, paragraph j” of the city code in connection with an absentee ballot drop box.

The action—initially approved as a motion to proceed with further orders for investigation—was unanimously adopted. The board later set a 21-day deadline for responses to the orders and approved sending the orders to the identified list of potential witnesses by a 3–1 vote. The board also scheduled a follow-up meeting for July 29 at 4 p.m. and named Aug. 25 as a tentative hearing date.

The orders the board approved direct recipients to provide two things for a limited timeframe: (1) a statement describing any contacts the subject had from Sept. 19, 2024, through Sept. 29, 2024, with or from the respondent relating to a box that was or could be used as an absentee ballot drop box for the 2024 general election in Wausau; and (2) copies of any documentation, including emails, from the same date range relating to the box. The chair read the proposed order aloud to the meeting: “It is ordered that the subject provide a statement giving the subject's account of any contacts the subject may have had from 09/19/2024 through 09/29/2024 with or from the respondent relating to a box that was or could be deployed as an absentee ballot drop box for the 2024 general election in Wausau.”

Outside counsel Eric Larson cautioned that the written responses would not replace testimony at a hearing. “Remember that we are going to schedule a hearing, and we are going to have testimony and and cross examination at a hearing,” Larson said, adding the board should not assume the investigatory responses substitute for hearing testimony.

Board members and counsel discussed scope and recipients. Potential recipients identified by the city attorney and confirmed for the board include: Matthew Barnes (chief of police); Eric Lindman (director of public works); Leo Gau (facilities manager); Mary Anne Groot (finance director); Gerard Klein (consulting IT director); Cody Hart (deputy clerk); Ashley Kline (customer service, clerk's office); Todd Baeten (deputy police chief); Jeremy Copp (fire chief); Justin Pleuss (deputy fire chief); and Lisa Rasmussen (president, common council). The list also included an unidentified contractor who applied wrap to the box; the clerk’s office agreed to try to identify that contractor.

Deputy Clerk Cody Hart said staff would try to identify the contractor and that procurement records such as a purchase order should exist if a contractor had been engaged: “We can certainly try,” Hart said when asked whether the clerk’s office could identify the contractor.

Board members discussed the value of statements even if recipients reported they had no contacts or documents. One board member asked how someone should respond if they had nothing to report; the chair replied they should simply state they had no contact and no documentation for the specified time period.

The board amended the orders to set a deadline of 21 days after the order is signed for recipients to file statements and documents with the city clerk. The amendment to set the 21-day deadline passed unanimously. A separate amendment to send the order to everyone on the identified list passed 3–1; the meeting record does not list individual roll-call votes by name for that 3–1 tally.

On related matters the board noted two developments that had affected scheduling: the Wisconsin Elections Commission on May 27 dismissed a separate complaint filed by two Wausau residents against City Clerk Caitlin Bernardi, Deputy Clerk Cody Hart and Finance Director Mary Anne Groot about use of a commingled absentee ballot drop box for the November election; and the Wausau Common Council approved hiring outside legal counsel to represent the city and unelected officials in connection with the ethics-board proceedings, a measure the mayor vetoed and the council later overrode. The chair said the board delayed some scheduling while those matters developed.

The board directed counsel to finalize and distribute the order in its amended form; the chair said he would email the motion as amended to staff and Attorney Larson so it could be formatted, have names added, and be issued promptly. The board set a working meeting for July 29 at 4 p.m. to review responses and asked Attorney Larson to propose a scheduling order (discovery, motion deadlines, and rulings) at that meeting to guide prehearing steps. The board unanimously named Aug. 25 as a tentative hearing date, with a time to be set later to accommodate witnesses and counsel schedules.

The meeting record shows the board repeatedly distinguished investigatory orders from formal hearing testimony and emphasized the orders’ limited temporal scope (Sept. 19–29, 2024). The board also discussed that some recipients might respond that they had no contacts or documents and that such negative responses would still be useful to corroborate or refute assertions made in submitted materials.

The meeting ended after routine scheduling items; the board adjourned following a unanimous vote to adjourn.