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Watertown board elects Laurie Hoffman president and Sam Owynhil vice president, then enters closed session
Summary
At tonight's reorganization meeting, the Watertown Unified School District board elected Laurie Hoffman as board president (5–2–2 ballot count), Sam Owynhil as vice president (7–2), confirmed several officer appointments and moved into closed session to discuss a personnel matter under Wisconsin statute.
The Watertown Unified School District board completed its planned reorganization and officer elections before moving into closed session to discuss a personnel matter.
The board’s presiding officer opened the meeting and said the body would focus on reorganization, followed by a closed session. The Chair told members the ballot for president would be anonymous and that Lynn would tally votes.
Nominations for board president produced three named candidates: Laurie Hoffman, Craig Wortman and Julian Apley. Committee member Sam Owynhil declined an earlier nomination, saying, “I appreciate the nomination… but at this time, I'm going to decline.” After ballots were cast, the Chair reported 5 votes for Laurie Hoffman, 2 for Craig Wortman and 2 for Julian Apley and declared Hoffman elected by a majority. Hoffman accepted the post and moved to the board table.
The board then nominated and voted for vice president. The Chair reported a count of 7 votes for Sam Owynhil and 2 for David Handyside and declared Owynhil elected vice president.
The board also filled additional officer roles. Tammy Fournier was nominated and confirmed in a roll-call vote for the secretary/board-court position. Carl Schworzey was nominated and confirmed for treasurer. Lynn was nominated, seconded and approved as deputy clerk. Roll-call confirmations for these appointments were recorded by the Clerk.
Following officer elections, the board voted to enter a closed session to discuss a personnel matter “pursuant to Wisconsin statutes 19.851 f,” as read aloud during the meeting. A motion to go into closed session was moved and seconded; a roll-call vote recorded all present members voting yes and the board entered the closed session. The board later reconvened to open session and adjourned the meeting.
Why it matters: Board leadership sets meeting direction and committee assignments that affect district governance. The closed-session personnel discussion was invoked under state law; the board did not take public action on that topic while in closed session.
