Wausau City Hall. MWC file photo
WAUSAU, WI (WSAU) — After voting to close the investigation, Wausau’s Ethics Board has scheduled a September 5th hearing for the citizen complaint against Mayor Doug Diny.
The Board met on Tuesday to go over responses from potential witnesses, some of whom provided documentation and statements regarding their interactions with the Mayor. Others provided no comment, which Chair Calvin Dexter said could lead them to be subpoenaed for the hearing. “The board, if we so choose, can subpoena any subjects who failed or refused to respond to appear in person at the hearing and answer questions,” said Dexter. “We had five subjects who seemed to have no difficulty providing what the board asked for.”
The Board did not issue subpoenas during the meeting. Those could come on August 7th. They also scheduled an August 25th meeting to handle final housekeeping measures ahead of the September hearing.
They also instructed all legal teams involved to negotiate a stipulation of facts, or facts both sides agree on. Dexter and others said that would make their job much easier during the hearing. “It seems to me that our investigation didn’t uncover much disagreement between those responding to our investigative orders. It’s not so much about what happened, it’s a question of what [the law requires.]
“There should be a lot of room for agreement,” added Dexter. “A lot of the facts that have been provided to us come from [Diny] and I haven’t seen a dispute over them.”
Jesse Kearns agreed, saying agreed facts don’t need to be argued or disputed at a hearing. “Those are uncontested. We agree this is true. The things we don’t agree about, we can discuss further. It would definitely hasten the process.”
Without a stipulation of facts, Dexter noted that the September 5th hearing could become an all-day event.
Of course, the complaint centers on Diny’s handling of a locked, unsecured municipal dropbox that was left outside City Hall over a weekend in late September. City Clerk Kaitlyn Bernarde had intended to have the box installed and opened to receive completed absentee ballots ahead of the 2024 Presidential Election. Mayor Diny moved it into his office, saying he did so for safekeeping. The box was returned to the Clerk a few days later, secured, and opened for use.
Opponents of the move say the Mayor overstepped his authority in doing so. The matter is also the subject of an open investigation by the Wisconsin Department of Justice.
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