Grace Kirchner, Leader Correspondent
With Mayor Judith Magee not communicating with city staff, the Clintonville Common Council this week named District 4 Alderperson Lois Bressette as acting mayor.
Magee, who is the target of a complaint filed last year alleging misconduct in office and other charges, has not attended a council meeting since June and has rarely communicated with interim City Administrator Chuck Kell or staff, Kell said Tuesday.
She has continued to be paid her mayor salary, however, and has attended some community activities.
“It is extremely difficult,” Kell said. “Some committee appointments have not been made and they remain unfilled. … There are documents to be signed. There are a lot of things. I have had no communication with her the last six weeks. She stopped at the office one or two times.”
“This is an embarrassment,” Alderman Jim Krause said. “This is a total disregard for respect for the community. We have to remove her from office. We don’t need more negative publicity. We don’t have a mayor. She does what she wants to do. This is insanity.”
Magee, who also is on the Clintonville School Board, has not attended a School Board meeting since June 22, according to the board’s minutes.
In June, reports indicated Magee had been out of town for health reasons.
The Leader could not reach Magee for comment.
Tricia Rose, a local newspaper publisher who ran a write-in campaign against Magee in 2014, filed a complaint in December against Magee citing misconduct in office, abuse of power, theft of property, willfully destroying public property, releasing confidential information and concealing a crime.
Rose’s filing is termed a Chapter 17 complaint, referring to the Wisconsin state statute that deals with removing elected officials from office. The procedure, which can be initiated by a resident taxpayer, includes written charges and a speedy public hearing at which the accused official can present a defense.
Attorney Jim Kalny was retained by the city to handle the case, and the public hearing was scheduled for June 15. However, the hearing was postponed and then never rescheduled. Kalny has indicated a settlement between Magee and Rose could be near.
Rose filed her initial complaint Dec. 5. In an amended complaint filed Dec. 30, Rose accused Magee of lying on several occasions, alleged that Magee helped get her kicked out of the Clintonville Rotary Club, said Magee’s city cellphone was wiped clean and charged that Magee released confidential information.
On Dec. 9, city attorney April Dunlavy told the council that Magee had illegally authorized a $203,000 check, which the council voided, for improvements in a TIF district. Council President Jeannie Schley also said Magee approved stop signs, not OK’d by the council, costing nearly $10,000.
Magee’s feud with the council began long before then, however. The divide became clear when the council voted to suspend then-City Administrator Lisa Kotter in May 2014. The council voted 6-4 two weeks later to extend Kotter’s suspension and refer allegations of misconduct to the city’s labor attorney. Magee vetoed that vote, and Kotter returned to work.
Just over a week later, the council, with a 6-4 vote, failed to override Magee’s veto, falling one vote short of the required supermajority. Council members then passed, again 6-4, a no-confidence vote against Magee.
Kotter resigned in September 2014, just eight days after her 17-year anniversary as the city administrator. The city agreed to pay Kotter’s salary, which was $80,200 annually, through May 15, 2015, and Kotter agreed not to file any complaints against the city. She denied any wrongdoing.
Magee took a medical leave of absence from her mayoral duties Oct. 1. In a statement released to the media, she said she was honored to be elected by city voters to the position but needed time away from the turmoil that had enveloped the city since the 2014 election.
She returned to work Nov. 26.
The Kotter controversy helped spark the successful recall effort — the first in city history — against Greg Rose, District 4 alderman and husband of Tricia Rose. Bressette defeated Rose, 108-93, in the vote.
Three council members involved in the 2014 turmoil opted not to seek re-election in April. A fourth was defeated.