Damakant Jayshi

Heeding a request from the Ethics Board, city leaders on Tuesday added an alternate member to the group, which is currently investigating a complaint filed against a Wausau City Council member by a Marathon County supervisor.

The council approved the appointment of Kay Palmer to the Ethics Board. With this addition, the Ethics Board will now be able to conduct every aspect of its investigation, including a hearing, should that be necessary. The council amended the ordinance related to the formation of the board by inserting a provision of adding two alternate members. The alternate members will have the same authority “when a member of the board or other alternate member is absent or abstains from voting or acting under this chapter because of a conflict of interest.”

The appointment of another potential member, Charles Peters, who was to replace Mary Thao as a permanent member to the Ethics Board was put off. Mayor Katie Rosenberg later told Wausau Pilot & Review that Peters “moved or is in the process of moving.”

“We had several people out of the office over the last few days so we didn’t get the packet updated to reflect it,” she said.

The Ethics Board is investigating a complaint filed by Marathon County Supervisor William Harris (Dist. 3) against City Council member Debra Ryan (Dist. 11), in which he accused her of making defamatory statements against him and trying to get him fired from his job.

On Feb. 2, the Board chose to ask Ryan to submit a sworn, written response to them with regard to Harris’ Dec. 7 complaint Harris filed the complaint sending an August letter that asked Ryan to make a public apology on the council floor. In his complaint to the Ethics Board, Harris said Ryan accused him of being “inappropriately engaged in the outside practice of law”and allegedly tried to get him fired from his law firm, Wisconsin Judicare, Inc. Ryan will have three weeks to reply.

The board is currently limited to three members for consideration of this matter, one less than is required if a formal hearing is held. Thao, who was chair of the Board, resigned after the first meeting for reasons that are unclear and a second member, Calvin Dexter, recused himself to avoid a conflict of interest. Dexter circulated nomination papers for Harris in the Marathon County Circuit Court judgeship race. 

The Ethics Board is scheduled to meet on March 14.

(To read the amended ordinance on the Ethics Board, click here, and go to page 28.)