Leader Staff
The state Government Accountability Board on Thursday ordered the Clintonville Common Council “to promptly convene to call the recall election” targeting District 4 Alderman Greg Rose.
The council had voted 4-2 Tuesday not to accept the certification of sufficiency issued Sept. 22 by City Clerk Peggy Johnson.
No council members disputed the validity of the recall petition Tuesday, but some said they did not think it was warranted.
Michael Haas, the GAB’s elections division administrator, told the Leader it is the council’s mandatory duty to call the election upon certification of the petition. He said similar situations have arisen in other communities, where council or board members thought calling the election meant they were supporting the recall. It does not.
Failure to call the election, as the order issued by Kevin J. Kennedy, GAB director and general counsel, stated, “would constitute willful neglect or refusal by an election official to perform a duty prescribed by Wisconsin election laws.”
Alderpersons Mary Beth Kuester, Gloria Dunlavy, Jim Krause and Jeannie Schley voted against accepting the certification of sufficiency. Bill Zeinert and Phil Rath voted to accept it. Rose abstained. Mark Doornink and John Wilson were absent.
Rose, who had submitted a written challenge to the validity of the recall petition, said he wondered whether the residents who signed the recall petition knew the election would cost $2,500. He said he had done nothing wrong.
Resident William VanDaalwyk launched the recall effort against Rose in July. The campaign collected 87 signatures; 56 were required.
Johnson had 31 days from the filing date in August to determine whether the signatures are valid. Rose, who was elected to a two-year term in April 2013, had 10 days after that to challenge the decision.
Johnson said the recall election could not be held with the regular election on Nov. 4 because Waupaca County already had the ballots printed. And with Nov. 11 a holiday, she asked that the election be held Nov. 18.
Nomination papers for the recall election will be due by 5 p.m. of the fourth Tuesday preceding the election. Former Alderperson Lois Bressette has already indicated she will oppose Rose in the special election. If more than two candidates emerge, the Nov. 18 vote would become a primary election.
VanDaalwyk said Rose’s actions have proved to be hostile to business and industry in Clintonville, and have incited divisiveness within the community. He also said Rose breached his fiduciary duty by voting to replace a competent municipal attorney with an inexperienced relative of two council members.
The recall effort coincided with the council’s decision to suspend then-City Administrator Lisa Kotter for unspecified allegations of misconduct. Kotter resigned Sept. 10. She and the city issued a news release saying her departure was not based on any misconduct but rather on “philosophical and stylistic differences.”
The city will continue paying Kotter through May 15, 2015, and through August had spent more than $17,000 on legal fees for the investigation and subsequent negotiations with Kotter.