Wausau council rejects mayor’s ethics-board appointees amid concern over timing and optics

The Wausau Common Council voted 0-10 Tuesday night to reject four appointments to the city’s Ethics Board that Mayor Doug Denny had submitted, after council members raised concerns the nominations would create an appearance of partisanship while an investigation is pending.

Council members said the appointments — to fill multiple seats that the mayor described as having been improperly staggered — should wait while an active ethics matter before the board is unresolved. Members also cited legal guidance the council had received that warned of organizational risk if a single set of nominees created a majority on the five-member panel.

The mayor defended making the appointments as his duty under the municipal code and Wisconsin law and said staggered terms should be restored. “The mayor appoints, the council deliberates, and confirms based on qualifications, not politics,” Doug Denny said when introducing the nominees. He argued holding vacancies because of “unrelated political speculation” undermined the charter and the board’s function.

Council members from across the chamber said circumstances had changed since the council previously delayed action: the Ethics Board set a hearing for the coming days and, during Tuesday’s meeting, one board member announced a resignation that left the board with fewer sitting members. Several alderpersons said that combination meant it would be irresponsible to install four new members now.

Alder Rasmussen, who voted against confirmation, said the city attorney had emailed the council warning that approving four candidates could create the appearance of partisan control of the ethics panel. “We now have time to go out and find objective people who don't have the appearance of having any dog in this fight,” she said.

During the meeting Carrie Morole of Everest Boulevard used public comment to say she had been approached and berated by the mayor after a March council meeting and that she felt bullied. Morole said she had received an apology email from the mayor but that she was concerned the mayor was seeking to appoint allies to the Ethics Board, and she told the council one appointee had donated $5,000 to a GoFundMe set up to support the mayor’s legal defense. The mayor and council members discussed the public comment but did not reach an agreement on it; the complaint Morole described is on the public record, she said.

Councilors took a separate procedural step earlier in the meeting to separate the ethics appointments from other mayoral appointments so the ethics nominees could be handled alone. After debate and multiple speakers on both sides, the council voted down the ethics appointments.

The four nominees read into the record before the vote were Lon Roberts, Thomas Garver, Deborah Hadley and Kevin Hermenning. The council also heard that Brian Mason had announced a resignation that created an open seat on the Ethics Board.

The council’s vote rejects these confirmations; the mayor may re-nominate candidates or propose other nominees at a later date. Council members said they expected to use the four-month window the Ethics Board provided when it adjourned to solicit and vet additional nominees.

What’s next: The Ethics Board announced it had adjourned for four months and set a hearing schedule; council members said that interval should be used to find nominees who avoid any appearance of partiality. The mayor and council did not indicate a new timetable for returning nominees to the council for confirmation.