January 30, 2019 at 4:28 p.m.
Council president questions administrator office remodel
Kirby: 'None of us knew anything about this project'
Council president questions administrator office remodel
With the council down to seven members due to a vacancy in District 3, and with two members absent, the panel found itself in a quandary. Without Kirby, the group could not legally conduct business as no quorum was present.
When the city clerk Val Foley called the roll Kirby did not respond or take his seat at the council table.
When mayor Chris Frederickson asked Kirby to join the council, he announced that he intended to speak "as a resident and as a taxpayer."
"On Friday I tried, and was unsuccessful in convincing our city administrator to place invoices unknown to the council on an agenda item I wanted to discuss for our approval," Kirby explained. "These bills pertained to the remodeling and furniture in Daniel's office and none of us knew anything about this project."
Kirby then asked why the invoices were not brought to the council and was told that the matter could not be discussed Monday because it was not on the agenda. Hearing that, Kirby left the council chamber, waving to the media as he left.
In response to an open records request, the River News received a copy of the invoices in question. They show that the city paid for the following: $1,253.09 from Office Enterprises Incorporated for a "deluxe LCD monitor arm (support 2 screens up to 27" monitor)" along with assorted hardware for a desk; a total of $10,406.43 to Emmons Business Interiors for a desk, file cabinet, bookcase, desk chair and two additional sitting chairs, along with other assorted accessories, including a second dual monitor arm in an invoice that totaled seven pages; a second invoice to Emmons Business Interiors totaling 1,282.36 for carpeting and $320 from Mark Ponczoch to install the carpet.
"The amount isn't as bad as the fact of how he proceeded to do it," Kirby said in an interview Tuesday. "And when I found that out, and to just push it through under the consent agenda, that's what made me mad. To try to push it down our throats that way, I thought that was not right."
According to Foley, the invoices were paid from the city administrator's budget.
Kirby said the furniture was ordered in November with no prior approval or knowledge of the council.
"(Guild) slid it under the table in December through bills and claims, and he wanted yesterday to slide it through in the consent agenda. I wanted it pulled off the consent agenda on Friday, that's what I called about Friday, and he said no, he wasn't going to do it. That's what I was so mad about and that's the point of why I was not sitting in my chair last night."
Earlier Monday, the River News asked Guild why bills and claims did not appear on either of the council's January agendas.
"We have recently had some confusion about this," he wrote in an email response. "When we were originally talking about making the change to the Council meetings twice a month, we were planning on presenting the Bills and Claims at the second meeting of the month, to give the Finance Department more time to prepare the documents. However, if you look at Wis. Stat. 62.09(9)(c), it says the Treasurer shall each month at the first meeting of the council, and as often as it shall require ..., which is something we were recently reminded about," Guild said in an email reply prior to the council meeting.
"For my own thinking, I don't know why the City Council could not review the Bills and Claims at the second meeting of the month, but if something is written in State Statute, I also feel it is critical to follow the law as closely as possible. So, we are still looking into this a little more to determine our future practice, but for the time being and unless there is a course correction made, an agenda item entitled Bills and Claims will be on the 1st Common Council meeting of the month, starting February 11th, and appearing repeatedly thereafter."
Kirby claims Guild did not disclose this information to him on Friday.
"Bills and claims have to be approved, that is statute," Kirby said. "But (Guild) just kind of overlooked that. But Daniel has been doing this long enough, this is probably not the first time he has bumped into this. He's been around the block enough times to know you just can't just railroad this stuff through."
Kirby said his intention Monday night was to draw attention to the matter. It wasn't until he arrived at City Hall that he learned alderman Andrew Larson was absent due to illness and the council would not reach a quorum if he didn't take part. Alderperson Dawn Rog was absent and the District 3 aldermanic seat is vacant following the December resignation of Sherrie Belliveau.
After Kirby left the council chambers, Frederickson called Larson. He arrived about 20 minutes later, the meeting was called to order and continued as normal.
"I went in there with the intent of not sitting in my chair to start with," Kirby explained Tuesday. "I didn't want to take part in the meeting because I talked to Daniel Friday and didn't get anywhere as a councilperson and so I went in there as a taxpayer last night."
"I just wanted to try to make a statement last night, but the way the mayor handles his meetings, it's hard to do things the way he wants them done," he added.
Kirby noted that he fully expects to hear from Guild and Frederickson regarding his actions.
"I believe so," Kirby said when asked if he expects pushback from either Guild or Frederickson in regard to his actions.
However, he noted that he does not believe the administrator or mayor can mete out any discipline and it would take a two-thirds vote of the entire council to remove him from office.
"What are they going to do? I'm a big boy, they going to slap my hands?" Kirby said. "There are probably certain members of the council who don't like what I did last night, and they know who they are."
Kirby alleges that when he kept pushing Guild to include the invoices as a regular agenda item, the city administrator told him "George, that's not the way we do things."
"I said that's not the way the taxpayers do things, we don't do it that way," Kirby added.
Kirby said the reaction of the four alderpersons present Monday to his allegations disappointed him.
"They thought I was doing something wrong," he said. "I don't think anybody was on my side."
Kirby also questioned whether the recent changes to committees contributed to the invoice confusion.
"We don't have a finance committee anymore," Kirby said, adding that he does not believe his colleagues foresaw something like this when they voted in December to abolish all but those committees and commissions required by state law or city ordinance.
"Nobody was completely aware of the ramifications, we never really thought clear on this," Kirby said, adding that the move was intended to save the city money and streamline operations.
"When you eliminate the committee meetings, this is one of the ramifications," he said. "And the biggest ramification is the elimination of the finance committee, the strongest committee is the finance committee, that's the purse strings of the city."
Late Tuesday evening, Guild released a written statement in response to a request for comment on Kirby's allegations. It is published below in full:
"It has been a privilege working for the City of Rhinelander these past 4 months. During this time, I have discovered I work for a Common Council of 9 passionate individuals who care deeply about this community, in addition to having a diverse spectrum of opinions on how we, together, as a team, can best serve City citizens and taxpayers. I was saddened by some of the events/actions of Monday night's Common Council meeting. I am aware of the allegations George has made, and, with respect, I am not in agreement with the accuracy of this statement. I like and respect, George, and despite this incident and recent allegation, I will continue to look forward to building a more productive working relationship with him. As to the allegations which have been made, I can guarantee all expenditures within my department were made with the knowledge of Mayor Frederickson, the City Attorney, the City Finance Director, and the City Buildings & Grounds Director. All expenditures were made within City department budgets and all purchasing was done legally and appropriately. Clearly, disagreements remain, which is unfortunate. It is unlikely satisfaction for either side will be achieved through the news media. This is not a best practice for finding a resolution.My experiences in local government have taught me it is preferable to have elected City officials come together with their colleagues on the Common Council and work with them, as a team, to address concerns, and, as partners, find solutions, which continue to advance the greater good. I would encourage the entire Council to do so here in this situation. Until this recent disagreement is resolved, and thereafter, my team and I remain committed to and focused on serving Mayor Frederickson and the Common Council, advancing their priorities and aspirations for an improved City of Rhinelander local government."
City attorney Carrie Miljevich provided the following written response to a question about the city administrator's purchases.
"A request was made by Daniel Guild for new office desk/suite and furnishings which was approved by Mayor Chris Frederickson," Miljevich wrote. "The City uses an electronic system to pay invoices. You have the invoices. You can see the request was made in December and the invoices were paid in December. The 2018 budget has a line item for 'office supplies' in the Administrators budget. I believe that this expenditure was taken from that line item (which then went over budget and was taken from the salary line item.) This is a Wendi (Bixby, city finance director) question, but I am trying to help since she is off today! It can be said that this was 'budgeted' for. However, the bills and claims need to be approved by Council the following month. Bills and claims was not on either of the two meetings in January, 2019."
Jamie Taylor may be reached via email at [email protected].
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