(The Center Square) – State Rep. Sylvia Ortiz-Velez, D-Milwaukee, agreed to plea guilty to a misdemeanor charge of disorderly conduct and will pay a $300 fine after she was charged following a Sept. 2 phone call where she reportedly threatened another member of the Assembly that she would “tell the press negative personal information” if she was not included in writing a Joint Resolution honoring Latino veterans.
Ortiz-Velez’s late husband was a Latino veteran.
She said in a Friday statement that that she broke directives from her party’s leaders when she voted for maps proposed by Gov. Tony Evers and his budget and that was later held against her.
“My voting choices caused a rift that has turned ugly and bitter,” Ortiz-Velez wrote. “My constituents did not send me to Madison to litigate internal caucus disputes or to be distracted by the personal feuds – they sent me to deliver results. I continue to focus 100% of my efforts for the people of the 8th Assembly district.”
She went on to say that she will continue to be an “independent voice in the Capitol.”
Ortiz-Velez left the Democratic caucus after the incident.
The complaint states that Ortiz-Velez felt she was intentionally left out of writing the resolution despite the fact that her late husband was a Latino veteran.
The complaint was filed in Milwaukee because both representatives live in Milwaukee and both were in Milwaukee when the phone call occurred.
“These were personal attacks regarding Witness 1 that were outside the bounds of political response,” the complaint said. “The statements were indecent and tended to disrupt the good public order.”
