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Wausau Ethics Board votes unanimously to move into closed session over complaint against Mayor Doug Denny
Summary
On Sept. 12 the Wausau Ethics Board voted to adjourn its open meeting and convene in closed session under Wis. Stat. §19.85(1)(g) to consult with legal counsel about a pending complaint against Mayor Doug Denny; the board discussed recent Common Council action authorizing funds for outside counsel that could affect forthcoming depositions.
The Wausau Ethics Board voted unanimously on Sept. 12 to adjourn its open meeting and convene in closed session under Section 19.85(1)(g) of the Wisconsin Statutes to confer with legal counsel about strategy in the matter of a pending complaint against Mayor Doug Denny.
Board Chair Cody Dexter said the closed-session motion carried after a roll-call vote. "We have our result. The motion carries, and we will now move to closed session," Dexter said.
The vote followed a status update that the respondent had not yet been able to depose the city clerk and the city attorney and that the board, at its Sept. 3 meeting, had previously voted to adjourn the evidentiary hearing to a date no later than Oct. 10. Members discussed that the Common Council on Tuesday had unanimously authorized funding for attorney Sam Hall to serve as legal counsel to represent the city, the city attorney, and the city clerk — a development that could affect whether those officials appear for the depositions the respondent seeks to conduct.
Board members noted a possible mayoral veto of the council's funding authorization. The chair recited the timeline discussed in the meeting: a mayoral veto could be issued within five business days of the council vote (taking the deadline to Sept. 17), and a council veto-override vote could occur at the council's next regular meeting, which the chair identified as Sept. 23.
No evidentiary hearing occurred in open session. Instead the board approved the motion to move into a closed session described in the meeting notice: "pursuant to section 19.85, sub 1 paragraph g of the Wisconsin statutes for conferring with legal counsel for the governmental body who is rendering oral or written advice concerning strategy to be adopted by the body with respect to litigation in which it is or is likely to become involved concerning the respondent's motion for reconsideration, his second motion to dismiss or in the alternative motion to adjourn, and his objection to conducting an evidentiary hearing in a piecemeal fashion in the matter of the pending complaint against Mayor Doug Denny." The motion was moved and seconded on the record; the mover and seconder were not identified by name in the transcript.
The board called a roll-call vote before entering closed session. Board members recorded as voting in favor were Cody Dexter, Hosler, DeVos and Kurtz. The chair announced the motion carried and the board adjourned into closed session.
The meeting record reflects that attorneys Eric Larson and Andrew Erlinson were present remotely. The meeting also referenced the city attorney and the city clerk as parties for whom the Common Council-authorized funding could provide legal representation.
The board planned to address scheduling later in the meeting, including the previously set adjournment date for the hearing (no later than Oct. 10) and potential impacts from the council's funding authorization and any mayoral veto.
No final disposition on the underlying complaint was announced in open session.
