(The Center Square) – The Town of Palmyra board violated Wisconsin’s Open Meetings Act on five occasions, a Jefferson County judge recently ruled.
The claims ranged from Town Board supervisors Rob Martens and Josh Gajewski discussing town business over email instead of at a board meeting, discussing the lease of a Bobcat to the Town Airport at a meeting without that item appearing on the agenda and going into closed session three times without sufficient notice of the reason, including twice to interview town attorney candidates when those interviews should not have been done in closed session.
The case was brought by the Wisconsin Transparency Fund on behalf of former board member Weenonah Brattset.
“The judge said the Town was ‘categorically noncompliant’ with the Meetings Law,” explained Tom Kamenick, President and Founder of the Wisconsin Transparency Projec. “He said he had ‘no difficulty’ concluding that they broke the law.”
Brattset was awarded $35,000 in attorney fees and court costs while forfeitures were issued against Town Board chair Frank Sauter ($300) and both Martens ($350) and Gajewski ($250).
“As a new Palmyra Town Board member 10 years ago, I too failed to follow Wisconsin’s Open Meetings Law when I requested that an item be placed on the agenda that did not fully apprise the public of the subject of the discussion,” Brattset said in a statement. “I pleaded ‘no contest,’ paid my fine, and paid the court costs at no cost to town taxpayers.
“Through that experience, I learned that meeting laws are clear and not difficult to follow.”
A sixth complaint is set to go to trial where Sauter and Martens allegedly met with the chair of the Airport Commission to discuss the Bobcat in what would be considered an unnoticed meeting of the Town Board.
