Damakant Jayshi
Emails obtained through an open records request raise questions about a quote used by a Marathon County Supervisor in his campaign materials that prompted a complaint by his opponent.
Baker distributed a door hanger prominently using a quote from the county administrator that was part of a September 23, 2023 email. Some recipients told Wausau Pilot the quote appeared to imply an endorsement from Leonhard, who is prohibited from endorsing candidates. Baker denies he was implying any such endorsement.
Leonhard said the quote was on an “unrelated matter… and lacks the context of the communication in which it was offered.” The county administrator told Wausau Pilot that he did not give Baker permission to use the quote on his campaign materials and was not contacted regarding its inclusion.
The actual email, obtained by Wausau Pilot, shows Leonhard was not complimenting Baker’s leadership qualities in any manner. Rather, it appears the administrator was cautioning Baker about the supervisor’s choice of words on county staff.
The quote used is actually part of an email responding to a complaint by Baker about a joint website project with the city of Wausau. Baker complained that the removal hampered transparency and made the work of supervisors more difficult.
“Please understand that our staff take tremendous pride in their work and aim to deliver high-quality service to the public and certainly to county board members,” Leonhard’s email response reads. “As a leader on the board, your words carry significant weight. Simply put, I do not believe the implication that the team’s intent in the project was to reduce transparency and impair the functioning of the Board of Supervisors and the City Council is accurate. That said, I understand that we need to find an answer for this issue.”
In his materials, Baker used the line “as a leader on the board, your words carry significant weight” to promote his candidacy and did not explain that the quote was unrelated to his board performance.
Leonhard declined to comment further, and said the email itself provided enough context. In a prior response for this story, Leonhard said his “commitment to abstaining from activities that may impact the election of my employing body (i.e., the County Board of Supervisors) may limit my ability to provide further comment.” The spring election is April 2.
When contacted for comment, Baker sent a word document attacking Wausau Pilot for its “continued focus on and coverage of my use of an exact quote.” He complained that the Pilot ignored “inaccurate statements made by my opponent and other County Board candidates.”
However, he also provided his understanding of what Leonhard’s email does not mean.
“It seems apparent that the additional context would not change the meaning of the statement from Administrator Leonhard from ‘As a Leader on the Board …’ to you are not a Leader on the Board,” Baker said. “It seems apparent that the additional context would not change the meaning of the statement from Administrator Leonhard from ‘… your words carry significant weight.’ to your words carry no weight.”
The emails, sent in September, focused on a decision to remove a GoodReader feature on the Marathon County website when it was upgraded in July 2023, along with the City of Wausau website. This feature was impacted during the upgrade but, county officials point out, “that at all times during the brief period that the direct-update functionality was impaired, board and committee meeting agendas and packets were posted, accessible, and downloadable via the county’s new website.” The direct-update functionality was restored on Sept. 6.
According to the county administrator, the email string provided was “in reference to the efforts of County, City, and City/County Information Technology staff to address these issues.”
Baker strongly disagreed with the assertion that his campaign literature is misleading.
The WEC does not confirm or deny complaints as they are filed, but will only comment on complaints that have been investigated.
See the email chain, below.
