Court Rules Town of Palmyra Violated Meetings Law Five Times

Court orders board members to pay forfeitures, reimburse plaintiff for attorney fees

Jefferson County Circuit Court Judge William V. Gruber has ruled that Town of Palmyra Board members violated Wisconsin’s Open Meetings Law on five occasions, in a case brought by local resident and former board member Weenonah Brattset.  The judge’s ruling requires the Town to reimburse Brattset for over $35,000 in attorney fees and court costs and issues forfeitures against Town Board chair Frank Sauter ($300) and supervisors Rob Martens ($350) and Josh Gajewski ($250). 

The five violations of the Open Meetings Law were as follows:

• In June 2023, Martens and Gajewski engaged in Town business over emails instead of holding such discussions in a properly noticed, public meeting.

• On August 14, 2023, the Board discussed the lease of Bobcat equipment to the Town Airport when that topic was not on the agenda.

• On October 9, 2023, the Board went into closed session relying only the language of a statutory exemption without providing sufficient information to the public about what they would be discussing.

• On December 11, 2023, the Board went into closed session relying only the language of a statutory exemption without providing sufficient information to the public about what they would be discussing and also improperly used the closed session to interview a town attorney candidate.

• On December 19, 2023, the Board improperly used a closed session to interview another town attorney candidate

  
  

A sixth claim remains unresolved and will be scheduled for a trial.  That claim alleges that Sauter and Martens met with the chair of the Airport Commission to discuss the Town’s Bobcat, which constituted an unnoticed meeting of the Town Board.  The Town claims only Martens conversed with the chair.

“The judge said the Town was ‘categorically noncompliant’ with the Meetings Law,” explained Tom Kamenick, President and Founder of the Wisconsin Transparency Project, which represents Brattset.  “He said he had ‘no difficulty’ concluding that they broke the law.”

Brattset released the following statement:

I am pleased with the outcome of this legal action.  Democracy requires open and transparent government and to ensure that, it is necessary that elected officials be held accountable for their actions. 

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.  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.

I hope the current board will keep the public well informed about its actions in the future.  We would all benefit.