Bonduel trustees seek damage control

Embroiled in political strife, Bonduel Village Board members are taking the symbolic step of not paying themselves for meetings necessary to manage the upheaval.

The action approved Monday by a divided board will save taxpayers about $600 in payments as members cope with the departures of the police chief and other village officials.

Trustee Luka Zischka proposed the suspension of board compensation protocol, citing the unusual circumstances in which staff resignations have been blamed on the village board’s dysfunction.

“I’m embarrassed that I’m going to get paid,” Zischka said.

He proposed that board members forgo their usual $30-per-meeting stipend for board meetings to deal with the recent resignations of Police Chief Todd Chaney, Deputy Village Clerk Katrina Schroeder and Village Trustee Shawn Thorne. All three cited turmoil within the village board as a reason for their stepping down.

Zischka’s proposal was narrowly approved, with support from Trustees Margie Qualheim and Mary Barney and opposition from Village President Sharon Wussow and Trustee Dick Sibert. Trustee Joan Kamps abstained on the vote, and Thorne was absent.

Wussow agreed that the spate of resignations was unfortunate, but she added, “Not all of us were the reason.”

Qualheim, Barney and Kamps have been at the center of much criticism surrounding the sudden onset of political tensions within the village government since the current board was seated following the April municipal elections.

While the outgoing deputy village clerk mentioned those three trustees by name, the police chief and Thorne cited three unidentified trustees in describing an atmosphere of hostility and negativity on the village board. The resignations all came within the past month.

Qualheim, the newest village trustee, said in an interview that she has been the target of a hostile environment, not the perpetrator. Qualheim said her fellow board members — except for Barney and Kamps — have treated her like an outsider whose questions and suggestions are not welcome.

Even at her very first meeting, Qualheim said, she was scolded for sitting in the wrong seat.

“There was control in the atmosphere,” she said. “They just would shut me down.”

In recent weeks, village board members have exchanged sharp words while discussing a variety of issues, including the village’s code of ethics, committee appointments and liquor license procedures. Chaney announced his retirement after a pointed debate about how his department screened liquor license applicants, and Schroeder resigned after being questioned about how she handled a monetary donation Kamps made to the village.

Thorne followed by announcing his midterm resignation, effective Thursday, which he blamed on “name calling and personal attacks” from three trustees he later identified as Qualheim, Barney and Kamps.

The seven-member village board has since scheduled several meetings to begin reviewing applicants for police chief and to make plans for filling the other vacancies.

In his proposal to waive village trustee stipends, Zischka cited three meetings where board members were scheduled to consider the resignations. Without mentioning any specific trustee, he said taxpayers should not have to pay for board members to spend time repairing damage done by the board itself.

Zischka acknowledged that turning down pay would not solve the underlying issues, but he said it might help the village’s tarnished public image.

“Our PR for the village is at an all-time low,” he said. “This would be a good-faith effort to try to fix something that is broken.”