Code of Conduct for Village Officials and Officers

 Below is the draft of a set of standards proposed for all Kronenwetter Village officials and officers that is based partially on the text of the thesis I wrote and presented to the Board in 2019 called "Fundamentals of Village Government".

    I worked on this code with trustee Tim Shaw, converting the ideas of that original writing into this Code of Conduct.  This was prepared in part due to some widely publicized disreputable activities and communication tactics of a few Village committee, commission, and/or Board of Appeals members, and is currently being considered for adoption by the Village Board .

   This Code at least sets some standards to try to maintain.

   Let me know what you think

Ken Charneski

kcharneski@kronenwetter.org


Village of Kronenwetter

Code of Conduct for Village Officials and Officers

The Village Board of Kronenwetter recognizes that the Wisconsin Constitution is the basis for all local government authority in this state.Article I section 22 of that constitution defines the ethical standards necessary to maintain a free government.

“Article I, Section 22 states -

“The blessings of a free government can only be maintained by a firm adherence to justice, moderation, temperance, frugality and virtue, and by frequent recurrence to fundamental principles.”

   Article I as a whole is entitled “Declaration of Rights”, therefore the public has a right to expect government to abide by those standards.

   Elected government officials cannot take office without first taking an Oath of Office to uphold this constitution, and to do so to the best of their ability. Neither can citizen officials appointed to various boards, commissions, or committees.

   This oath leaves officials no option but to conform to the instructions of Article I section 22, which cannot ethically be ignored.

   The government has an obligation first and foremost, to secure the rights of the people, and this must be fulfilled if that government seeks to maintain legitimacy. Article I, sections 1 and 22 of the Wisconsin Constitution, together with the Preamble of the Constitution present in a few concise sentences, the basis of an ethical government.

   Government can never have more rights than the people whom it serves, and it cannot exercise power to perpetuate itself, or to accommodate itself at the expense of the people’s rights or well being. It is also of practical value to maintain communication and discourse in a civil manner.

   Therefore, the Kronenwetter Village Board hereby adopts the following Rules of Conduct for all elected and appointed Village Officials.

Part I: Summary of Rules

  1. All Village Officials shall act and speak in accordance with honesty, impartiality, equal distribution of right in expressing opinions; fair representation of facts respecting merit or demerit.

  2. All Village Officials shall refrain from general or otherwise unfounded vilification, disparagement or other ad-hominem criticisms of others.

  3. All Village Officials shall have no bias for or against information based on personality conflict, hatred, political differences, social position or any other personal prejudice against those who offer that information.

  4. All Village Officials should strive to maintain calmness of mind and equanimity in all discourse with other officials, Village employees, or the public.

  5. All Village Officials shall be conscious of our human weaknesses and strive toward restraint

    from making decisions influenced by anger, pride, resentment, impatience, fear, or on personal traits such as self‐interest, greed, partisanship, social divides, tribalism, bigotry or lack of initiative.

  6. All Village Officials shall be careful in the management of money or goods; expending nothing unnecessarily, and applying that which is used to a profitable purpose.

  7. All Village Officials shall strive to do that which they have rationally concluded as right and in the best interest of the Village taxpayers as a whole; even in the face of opposition. Peer pressure, threats, or intimidation are not a rational basis to to make decisions that conflict with better judgment.

  8. All Village Officials shall conduct their discourse with civility and respect for the differing opinions of others.

  9. No Village Official shall engage in wanton disparagement or defamation of public officials or employees, either individually or as a group, or encourage others to do so.

  10. All Village Officials shall disclose any conflict of interest to the deliberating body in a timely manner, and abstain from participation or voting in such matters.

  11. All Presiding Officers shall not tolerate violations of this code during any discourse of the body, or during public input within their meetings.

  12. All Village Officials shall strive to remember why they are in office, by frequent review of the fundamental principles expressed in the Preamble to the Wisconsin Constitution-

    “We, the people of Wisconsin, grateful to Almighty God for our freedom, in order to secure its blessings, form a more perfect government, insure domestic tranquility and promote the general welfare, do establish this constitution.”

    and in Article I, Section 1 of the Declaration of Rights to the Wisconsin Constitution ‐

    “ All people are born equally free and independent, and have certain inherent rights; among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness; to secure these rights, governments are instituted, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed”

Part II: Fundamental Principles

In adherence to to these principles, all Village Officials shall:

Justice

1. Act and speak in accordance with Justice. The virtue which consists in giving to every one what is their due; practical conformity to the laws and to principles of rectitude in the dealings with Village Residents, Employees, and with each other. This consists of honesty, impartiality, equal distribution of right in expressing opinions; fair representation of facts respecting merit or demerit. In any criticisms, narrations, history or discourse, it is a duty to do justice to everyone, regardless of personal biases.

2. General or otherwise unfounded vilification, disparagement or other ad-hominem criticisms constitute injustice. Dismissing information out‐of‐hand based on personality conflict, hatred, political differences, social position or any other personal prejudice against those who offer that information, is also being defined here as a type of injustice.

3. Presiding officers will likewise not allow such factors to enter into their meetings through discourse of the body, or through public input.

Moderation

1. The state of keeping a due mean between extremes or excess of emotion, irrationality or baseless opinionated views.

2. Public officials should strive to maintain calmness of mind and equanimity in all discourse with other officials, Village employees, or the public.

Note: In a broader sense, moderation overlaps with the meaning of “temperance” and “frugality”

Temperance

1. Village Officials shall be conscious of our human weaknesses and strive toward restraint from making decisions influenced by anger, pride, resentment, impatience, fear, or on personal traits

such as self‐interest, greed, partisanship, social divides, tribalism, bigotry or lack of initiative.

2. These attributes are destructive to prudent decision making or constructive action. More importantly, Village Officials would also be much less prone to falling prey to outside manipulation intended to exploit these emotional weaknesses.

Note:The framers of the Wisconsin Constitution felt that extremes of any emotion, whether positive or negative was inappropriate behavior in a civilized society.

Frugality

1. Village Officials shall be careful in the management of money or goods; expending nothing unnecessarily, and applying that which is used to a profitable purpose.

2. Village Officials act as stewards of the People's money. Fugality means we need to make a creative and aggressive effort to identify and avoid unnecessary spending.

3. It is not government’s job to be creative and aggressive about how to extract more and more revenue from the public, but instead it is to be creative and aggressive in how to use the currently acquired funds frugally. It means getting the most value for money spent, including expanding the performance potential of employees.

4. Frugality is a well‐defined word that is not open to subjectivity or situation ethics.

Note: These basic concepts of successful money management were put into the constitution when the framers chose the word “frugality”. As such, we as trustees or committee members do not have the right or authority to violate such common sense precepts by disrespecting the value of other people’s money.

Virtue

1. Village Officials shall strive to do that which they have rationally concluded as right and in the best interest of the Village taxpayers as a whole; even in the face of opposition. Peer pressure, threats, or intimidation are not a rational basis to to make decisions that conflict with better judgment.

2. At the time of the Wisconsin Constitution's ratification, Virtue was literally defined as courage and moral goodness.

Note: A popular quote in the 19th Century was “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.”

None of the words we just looked at (justice, moderation, temperance, frugality, virtue) has anything to do with social standing, education level, or financial net worth. In other words, the benefits of free government are not necessarily achieved or maintained by those with degrees in banking, business, political science, or even in law. This system of a free government stands or falls on the ethics and morality of the participants.

While other qualities may apply to good leaders, these were determined to be the five characteristics that best exemplify those who fulfill the role of maintaining a free government. Each characteristic being beneficial in its own right, but it was expected that they be applied simultaneously to the extent possible as a shield against tyranny and dysfunction of the republic.

Part III: “...and a frequent recurrence to fundamental principles”

Village Officials shall strive to remember why they are in office by frequent review of these fundamental principles are expressed in both the Preamble to the Wisconsin Constitution ‐

“We, the people of Wisconsin, grateful to Almighty God for our freedom, in order to secure its blessings, form a more perfect government, insure domestic tranquility and promote the general welfare, do establish this constitution.”

This is followed immediately by Section 1 of Article I, of the Declaration of Rights:

“ All people are born equally free and independent, and have certain inherent rights; among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness; to secure these rights, governments are instituted, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed”

Part IV: Standards of interaction.

The Kronenwetter Village Board full supports freedom of speech and ideas as protected under Article I, Section 3 of the Wisconsin Constitution:

Free speech; libel. Section 3. Every person may freely speak, write and publish his sentiments on all subjects, being responsible for the abuse of that right, and no laws shall be passed to restrain or abridge the liberty of speech or of the press. In all criminal prosecutions or indictments for libel, the truth may be given in evidence, and if it shall appear to the jury that the matter charged as libelous be true, and was published with good motives and for justifiable ends, the party shall be acquitted; and the jury shall have the right to determine the law and the fact.”

Within the freedoms and confines of that passage, Village Officials shall:

  1. All Village Officials shall conduct their discourse with civility and respect for the differing opinions of others.

  2. No Village Official shall engage in wanton disparagement or defamation of public officials or employees, either individually or as a group, or encourage others to do so.

  3. All Village Officials shall disclose any conflict of interest to the deliberating body in a timely manner, and abstain from participation or voting in such matters.

  4. All Presiding Officers shall not tolerate violations of this code during any discourse of the body, or during public input within their meetings.

Part V Accountability and Enforcement

For the purposes of this Code, “Village Official” or “Public Official” means anyone elected or appointed to the Village Board, any committee, commission, or board within Village government.

The rules of this Code also apply to all public officers, both statutory and non-statutory.

Presiding Officers shall make reasonable efforts to prevent or stop violations of this code from occurring during meetings that they are presiding over. Blatant failure to do so would implicate the presiding officer as a party to the offense.

All complaints of violations after the fact shall be in writing, signed by the complainant, and sent to the Village Clerk. Complaints against the Village Clerk shall be sent to the Village President.

The subject of the complaint shall be notified within 3 business days of receipt of the complaint. The subject of the complaint may respond in writing to the Village Clerk or President, as the above case may be.

Complaints will be reviewed in closed session under Wisc Statute 19.85 (1) (f), by The Village Board within 30 days of receipt. At which time the subject may also appear in their own defense. The subject of the complaint may, in writing, waive their right to a closed session, in which case, the facts of the matter will be discussed in open session.

Upon establishment of the fact of violation by a majority vote of those Village Board members present and based on a preponderance of evidence, penalties may be imposed and may include: a verbal or written public reprimand, removal from office for appointed officials, a ban on access to public input, or if necessary, referral to the District Attorney for violations of State Statute. Penalties shal be determined by a majority vote of Village Board members present.

Part VI Other applicable laws.

Apart from this Code, the Kronenwetter Village Board shall refer all matters of ethics violations stated in Wisconsin Statute 19.59, or 946.10 to 946.18 to be filed with the District Attorney.

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