Wausau Alder Deb Ryan. Image courtesy: City of Wausau
WAUSAU, WI (WSAU) — The Wausau Ethics Board has officially closed out the complaint against Deb Ryan, stating that there’s no question the Alder made threatening statements towards employees of Wisconsin Judicare but because she was acting on her own there was no further action they could take.
Board Member Robyn DeVos read from the board’s report on the complaint saying there was no question that Ryan made threatening statements towards Harris and other employees of Wisconsin Judicare. “… Accusing Mr. Harris of engaging in the outside practice of law, asking Executive Director BethAnn Richland to take employment action against Mr. Harris, and threatening the Executive Director by stating she would not be Executive Director of Wisconsin Judicare, INC for very long.”
The report also stated that Ryan failed to properly back up her claims, and did not address the board when given the chance to.
The Board also found “no evidence that the City Council authorized or encouraged Alderperson Ryan to take the actions, say the things that she did. She acted as an individual and without authority from anyone,” therefore no violation of the code took place.
DeVos reads the full statement into the record as part of Monday afternoon’s meeting of the Ethics Board, which you can access in the following video:
The board condemned Ryan’s actions “in the strongest possible sense” earlier this month but said there was nothing they could do because there was no violation of the city’s code of ethics as it is currently written.
RELATED: Ryan Cleared of Ethics Violations, Board Condemns Actions
Also on Monday board member Calvin Dexter re-seated himself after stepping aside while his colleagues worked on the complaint. Dexter read a brief statement explaining his recusal, saying “This was due to my prior association with Mr. Harris. It was necessary, in my opinion, to avoid any appearance of bias in the board’s handling of the complaint.
The board also announced that they may recommend some changes to the code of ethics based on the situation. Those would be forwarded to the City Attorney for review, who then could pass them on to the full Council for consideration.
Ryan has represented District 11 for the last two years and is up for election next week. In a statement released to the media last week, she announced that she is going to ask the city to cover her legal expenses from the case, citing a provision that protects city officials from the burden of legal defense costs from meritless complaints.
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