Curmudgeon's Corner

Village Buzz - March 4th

Posted by Al Campbell on March 4, 2010

Germantown, Political, Quality of Life, Village Board, Village Buzz

The final report regarding “leaks” of information has been issued after some fifteen or more separate interviews by the lead investigator and a review of the results by Washington County District Attorney, Todd Martens.

Village intrigue or dysfunctional government?

That seemed the overriding question as I read through the 43 single-spaced pages of the final report made by Captain Dan Buntrock of the Mequon Police Department.  This, as I have written, is the first investigation of a total of five that were/are active, meaning that four more are still ongoing.  This investigation stemmed from a blog I wrote following a closed door session of the Village Board in conjunction with its review of the performance of our Village Administrator.  The blog caused two people to file a complaint alleging violations of Wisconsin’s Open Meetings laws by passing information discussed behind closed doors to outsiders.

You will have to decide if I started all this hoopla by writing about the issue, or if Board members started it by their actions and their anger at the audacity that anyone would bring their motives and the process being followed into question.  I concluded at the time of that writing that it was the proper thing for a ‘citizen journalist’ (that drives ‘real journalists’ nuts) that lives in the village to write about.

The two people who filed the complaint were President Thomas Kempinski and Trustee Art Zabel.  The complaint is time/date-stamped at 2:00PM on November 4, 2009.  They filed the formal complaint with Chief Pete Hoell who, given the potential for local political sensitivities, requested ‘mutual aid’ from the Mequon Police Department.

There were twenty-two people that were indicated to be potential persons of interest.  Those included current village officials, past village officials, village employees and several citizens.

In addition to what is probably a normal “he said/she said” array of statements and responses to questions posed, there is the nagging issue of government dysfunction that permeates the report.  It suggests a hostile work environment.  It suggests politicians taking umbrage that others might question their decisions, and even their motives.  It suggests that old wounds, whether real or perceived, don’t ever completely heal.

It includes the attempts to restrict personal freedoms on the part of government officials asserting their “authority” over those who work for you and me here in our village.  This report also establishes that there is no law against public disclosure of information of this nature whether or not discussed behind closed doors.

There is more on this subject to come.

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The Curmudgeon Blog today is titled "Right Direction Or Wrong Direction?".