The Administrator's resignation - Fear and Loathing in Kronenwetter

 

   As we have come to expect, whenever an employee quits their job in Kronenwetter my ideological and political opponents reaction of choice is to "blame it on Charneski" for political purposes, no matter what the facts indicate to the contrary. 

     Regarding Mr. Ludi's resignation, here are my observations:

  We knew Leonard was technically not qualified (education and background) for the job, based on the job description, but everyone seemed to love him as the Public Works Director, so the Board took a chance on hiring him as administrator, stipulating the normal 90 day probation period.

    90 days is about up, and while the decision to resign was entirely his, I don't think it was a surprise to anyone, as I understand that he had been making comments for a month, to the effect that he didn't think he would stay beyond the 90 day probation period; he even said as much to me. It was no secret from early on that he had been receiving other offers of employment, and at higher wages. 

   Leonard has many skills to offer, but I think he perhaps realized that he was not the best fit for this particular position as Village Administrator, or perhaps the Village was not a good fit for him.

    I think he had conflicting expectations put on him form different directions, and issues to deal with that he may not have anticipated when he took the Administrator job, so he is moving on. 

   I believe the drama surrounding the resignation has been manufactured, and that it is unwarranted.

   Brian Kowalski wrote two articles on the resignation, quoting another trustee who apparently loves the attention he gets by creating pointless drama.

    I am told that Wyatt Williams at Channel 9 is doing an article on the resignation as well. I replied to his inquiries.

   Here is my response to Mr. Kowalski after his first article (I didn't bother to reply to the second).   All of the emails mentioned there are available at

Marathon County Spotlight kronenwetter-village-trustee-charneskis-response-to-the-wausonian/

  Brian,

   I see that you posted an article about Mr. Ludi's resignation. 

   You included Mr. Coyle's email of broad-brush accusations and innuendo; this type of generalized disparagement is typical of my opponents.

  Perhaps someone should ask Mr. Coyle:

•   Where is this "nearly constant barrage of emails" that he mentions?
•   Where are the "veiled threats"?
•    Where is the "undue criticism"?

   I submit that they are nowhere to be found, but in Mr. Coyle's own politically-motivated mind. That is why he carefully couches his false accusations with "I believe..." and  "in my opinion...", so he can make defamatory statements without the burden of providing any evidence to support his claims.

   He suggests that people do an information request for "all emails from village board members to village staff over the past 6 weeks."

   To save you and the staff the trouble, I have attached all of my emails - EVERYTHING that I sent to Mr. Ludi and other staff in the past six weeks or more, aside from simple, one-sentence information requests. 

   I have said for six years that my emails are available to anyone who asks.

     

   The only two real issues of note in those emails for Mr. Ludi to deal with, are first, three emails concerning the Village Clerk's refusal to perform her obligated duty to accept my oath of office, which went on for three days. Second, is two weeks later, a complaint about the Clerk's refusal to perform still another obligated duty (providing a certificate of election) that is essential to the election process. 

   Raising issues of poor employee performance like this, is a right, if not obligation of any Village resident, let alone a trustee. By default, these issues are supposed to go to the Village Administrator. It is his job to deal with these matters.

   The second main issue, and the only one at all that calls out Mr Ludi's actions, is the 4/30 email. I think that email has the facts within it to speak for itself.

   I  think it is a significant fact that it was no secret even a month ago, that Mr. Ludi was thinking of leaving for better opportunities. This was before the above-mentioned emails were even sent.

   Also, FYI, since three of these emails refer to Bobbi Birk La Barge's refusal to accept my signed oath of office, I have attached the oath that I provided, but that she refused to accept, and a copy of the one that she insisted I sign, but which said I was "appointed", not elected. Just to show that this was no small matter.

   I would be interested to see what you can find in these emails that is not in line with what the Administrator's duties call for, or in the emails to other staff that likewise give a picture of how I work with them in a cooperative way.

Thanks,

Ken Charneski

 

Here are my answers to Wyatt Williams' inquiries:

 

Wyatt, 

   My answers to your questions are below. I know it's kind of lengthy, but there is a lot of back story to what is happening now. 

Thanks

Ken 

Hi sir, I am in no way accusing you or blaming you for anything. These questions are completely based on things I've heard from other members of village hall. I absolutely wish the best for you and the entire staff in Kronenwetter and hope everything is resolved!

Question: Many from Village Hall have had issues with your conduct and treatment of others. Why do you think that is? 

   It would help to know what those issues are, in order for me to address them. Have they given you specific instances of inappropriate behavior? None of the office staff have said anything to me about it, and whatever brief interactions I have had with them seem cordial. 

   The village clerk on the other hand, seems hostile to me, now more than ever. This is probably due to my recent complaint about her numerous violations to the Wisconsin Election Commission. Here is the link https://elections.wi.gov/resources/complaints/el-24-26-charneski-v-birk-labarge

   This issue of "conduct" or "treatment of others" that you mention, has been an ongoing theme with her. She complained about an interim administrator about a year ago, and more recently she made a so-called harassment "complaint" against me to the Village Board last December which to a great extent, says that it was because of my questions about her election practices.  If you go to the this link, https://elections.wi.gov/sites/default/files/documents/01.1_Ken%20Charneski%20-%20Amendment%20to%20March%2015th%20complaint.pdf,  which is part of the above complaint, the highlighted text under "Conclusion" will give you some insight into all this.

    See exhibit S mentioned there, which is her actual December "complaint".  I use quotation marks around it because it does not have the elements of a true complaint that Village Policy requires.  At the time, this was considered to be confidential, but someone on the "inside" then sent it to reporter Brian Kowalski, and he published all the inflammatory terms she used, and identified me as the subject,  but never mentioned who wrote it, or that she had no substance to her accusations. Eventually, this "complaint" was rejected by the Village Board.

  You will see the same broad accusations against me there, that you probably heard lately.

   The first paragraph of that complaint has been identified as fiction, by Trustee Shaw, who went to the person from Weston that Bobbi allegedly quoted. That clerk denied saying almost any of it.

    Exhibit T, includes my reply to her complaint, which explains the matter even more, so I won't repeat all that here.

    In her complaint Ms Labarge mentions a previous complaint that she made two weeks prior to that December complaint.  I have attached that email thread (November complaint) that she is referring to, so you can judge for yourself if any "harassment" took place on my part in those emails. Her reaction was so strange, that I even had to ask Mr Voll for his opinion as a third party.

  

   My observation, shared by many others, is that the negative, dishonest politics of the past two years in Kronenwetter has gone out of control. This ongoing personal animosity seems to be the main cause of Kronenwetter's bad reputation.

   Simply put, without specific facts to back up complaints and malignment against me, the conclusion is obvious that some people abuse their right to free speech by using slanderous "opinions" as a political weapon. 

  

  This seems to also be the case with two particular Village Board members. Their apparent animosity to my conservative, constitutional ideology seems to cause them to indulge themselves with disparaging personal attacks under any pretense rather than conduct village business. Again, using broad-brush, off-the-wall accusations. 

  

Question: Many have also said Administrator Leonard Ludi is resigning because of you and your treatment of him. In your mind is there a rift between the two of you and what has caused it?   

   There is no rift or animosity of any kind. Did you have any specific example of mistreatment for me to address? 

  Outside of meetings, I generally do not talk to staff except through emails, specifically for the purpose of avoiding any false accusations like we see today.

    Outside of meetings, I have spoken with Mr. Ludi only twice since he became administrator; April 5, when I tried to get the clerk to accept my oath of office, and April 9, just after I finally got my oath accepted. April 9 is when he indicated that he probably wouldn't be staying after the 90 day probation. 

   So, I don't see where there has been even the opportunity to say anything verbally that might have affected Ludi's resignation. Emails are the only avenue of communication left, and you can read them for yourself to see if there is anything that I have done that is out of line.

Question: What do you hope comes of all this and what direction are you hoping the village hall goes in the future?

   I was the chairman of the committee that interviewed Mr. Peter Kampfer for the position of Village Administrator. He appears to be fully qualified, and I got the impression that he approaches things in a logical, business-like manner. He seems to be just what this place needs to straighten it out. At Monday's Village Board meeting we will be looking at signing him on to replace Mr. Ludi.

   I hope he will put an end to all the negative drama that not only is disruptive to meetings and village operations, but very harmful to the Village's reputation, which is what really makes it more difficult than it should be, to hire quality employees.

 

 

Thank you for your responses sir!

The story will air Sunday please feel free to take your time to respond, for them to be in the story I would need your responses by Sunday morning at around 9 a.m.!

  This is the last of my responses to your questions. Again, if you have questions, feel free to call.

Thanks,

Ken Charneski