Wausau ethics board hears testimony on mayor’s removal of absentee ballot drop box

The Wausau Ethics Board opened a hearing on a complaint against Mayor Doug Denny, receiving sworn testimony from city staff who said an absentee ballot drop box that had been positioned outside City Hall was removed and later located inside the mayor’s office.

Chief Matthew Barnes of the Wausau Police Department told the board he was shown the box in the mayor’s office and that he notified finance staff so they knew its location. "I was shown it in his office," Barnes said, adding he had daily contact with the mayor during the relevant period and heard concerns that the box was unsecured outside City Hall.

Gerard Klein, director of the City-County IT Commission, said the box resembled a five-foot mailbox and that two exterior cameras provided coverage of the box’s location. Klein said he had discussed the possibility of a live feed but did not pursue it because the box was removed the next day.

Eric Lindman, director of public works and utilities, identified an email from facilities manager Leo Gao (admitted as exhibit 2) notifying him at 10:07 a.m. on Sept. 23 that the city had located the box. Gao testified he had been asked to remove the box and later to return it to a secured location, that his team was the only group with keys, and that the box had a locked obstruction in the slot so nothing could be deposited. "I was the only one with the keys on it," Gao said, and he described covering the unit with a bag or paper marked "out of order" while a wrapping company was to rewrap and return it for bolting to the concrete.

Council President Lisa Rasmussen read into the record an email she sent to Mayor Denny the evening she learned the box had been removed. In that message she wrote that "security video" showed the mayor removing the box and that "tampering with the box is likely illegal," urging him to return it and issue a public apology. Rasmussen told the board the Wisconsin Supreme Court decisions (including Priorities USA) and local practice made clear that ballot receptacles must be handled by the clerk and, when deployed to accept ballots, must be secured.

Defense counsel elicited testimony that the mayor had responded, saying the outdoor box "was relocated to a safe indoor location due to certain issues the clerk is aware of," and that media attention and an open-records request for video had already followed. Witnesses generally agreed the box was not operable while it was locked and in the mayor’s possession.

The board admitted multiple exhibits into evidence, including the Gao email (exhibit 2) and Rasmussen's email (exhibit 4). Earlier in the session, the board also took and passed a procedural motion to defer approval of several sets of minutes by unanimous consent.

The hearing recessed for lunch by unanimous consent and is scheduled to resume at the announced time. The board has not reached a finding; testimony and documentary evidence from multiple city employees are now part of the public record and will inform the board’s deliberations.