Wausau Mayor Doug Diny moving an absentee ballot dropbox. Image courtesy: Doug Diny
WAUSAU, WI (WSAU) — The Wausau Ethics Board has determined that Mayor Doug Diny did violate the city’s ethics code when he moved a municipal dropbox last September, though it provided no clear punishment when the findings were announced.
Chair Calvin Dexter made the announcement on Wednesday, saying there was “clear and convincing evidence” that Diny violated the city’s code of ethics for public officials and employees by moving a locked, unsecured municipal dropbox that had been left outside City Hall over a weekend last September into his office. City Clerk Kaitlyn Bernarde intended to have the box secured to the sidewalk and opened to receive completed absentee ballots ahead of the 2024 Presidential Election, leading her to file an election irregularity with the District Attorney.
“Mayor Diny is ordered to conform his conduct to the requirements of the City of Wausau’s Ethics Code,” noted Dexter while reading the decision. He later confirmed that Mayor Diny would receive a copy of the findings as well.
The board cited section 2.03.030 paragraph J of the city’s code, which reads:
No official/employee shall in his or her official capacity do any act or use his or her official title in performing any act, which he or she knows is in excess of his or her lawful authority or which he or she knows he or she is forbidden by law to do in his or her official capacity.
The complaint was signed by a handful of residents and announced in a press release from the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign in mid-January. None of the residents, referred to as complainants, provided testimony or addressed the board.
Diny has long defended his actions, saying he moved the box into his office for safekeeping because anyone could have walked off with it. His opponents believe the move violated election laws because the box was intended for use as an absentee ballot dropbox, meaning Bernarde had sole authority over it.
The issue is still the subject of an investigation by the state Department of Justice.
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