UPDATED: BID Board Pondering Options After Being Accused of "Excessive Bullying"

Editor's Note: This article has been updated with information from Jeff Barta and Roger Igielski.

board members are calling for a special BID meeting following BID Executive Director Meghan Sprager’s 

The letter alleges the BID board has subjected Sprager to a "hostile work environment" and that BID staff is treated in a "disgraceful manner."

Board members Jeff Barta and Chris VanderBloemen have called the special meeting that they plan to hold at 7:30 a.m. Monday at The Rotunda, 235 W. Broadway.

"While I’m not surprised at her decision I am very disappointed," said Barta in an email calling for the special meeting. "This is a serious matter, I think it important for us as a board to address this issue immediately and decisively. 

"The board has a responsibility to discuss how this happened and how to make sure it doesn’t ever happen again. The circumstances surrounding Meghan’s departure from the BID are unacceptable and require immediate action from the Board."

Barta's email states BID bylaws allow two board members to call special meetings. Earlier Wednesday, the BID board president, Norm Bruce, told Patch  he was looking to call an emergency meeting.

"At this point and time I am kind of just pondering it and figuring out what exactly what it means," said Bruce, who owns  "There are no details. There are statements that are made but there are no names."

Bruce said he plans to share more information with the public following the closed session meeting via a press release.

Patch has left a voicemail at the BID office seeking further clarification from Sprager about her work situation. Her last day is Sept. 8, following the . Mayor Jeff Scrima said the BID board will need to go through a recruitment and hiring process as it has in the past to replace Sprager.

Sprager told the Waukesha Freeman in Wednesday’s newspaper that her car was keyed after a board member asked her where she parks her car. She also told the newspaper she has been threatened by board members and business owners.

"I have always taken great satisfaction in working diligently and faithfully for my prior employers, and I have always been told by my past employers that my work was a great benefit for the organization," Sprager said. " my ability to derive satisfaction in my work was unattainable due to the conflict brought about by the BID's present leadership. I am very excited to be joining an organization that deeply respects their stakeholders and values their workforce talent."

Bruce took over as president in November 2011 after then-President Shawn Reilly was not re-appointed by Scrima.

Board Member: BID Directors 'Shabbily' Treated

Sprager began working for the BID in May 2011 following the fall 2010 resignation from Karen Richards.

It was the past history of BID executive directors being treated "shabbily" that BID Board Member Chris VanderBloemen was concerned about hiring Sprager. She was worried about the way Sprager would be treated.

"I thought she was more than qualified," said VanderBloemen. "I thought, 'Give her the go ahead and hopefully it will work.'"

VanderBloemen said she is "heart broken" by Sprager’s resignation. She’s seen Sprager frequently put in 60- to 70-hour work weeks at the BID.

"She was very good," VanderBloemen said. "She never said a whole lot. She didn’t want to name names because she didn’t want to cause problems."

Unfortunately, VanderBloemen said, the problems lead to Sprager’s resignation.

"It makes me very sad, very, very sad," she said. "I am just upset with the fact that there are people that don’t seem to know how to deal with (issues) as adults."

Reilly in a Patch article commented that Sprager’s  "work ethic and job skills" are "unmatched."

"Meg is and was a tireless worker for the BID," Reilly commented. "She was also an effective champion of the BID."

City Attorney’s Office Initiates Contact

When problems became apparent for Sprager, she said in her resignation letter the city attorney’s office contacted her. In that conversation, she was "was encouraged to explore my options in regards to a hostile work environment."

"I thought about this possibility carefully, but I opted not to pursue action out of care and concern for a large number of committed business and property owners that work day-in and day-out to make the entire downtown thrive," Sprager wrote in her letter. "However, I have concluded that it is in my best interest, both professionally and for my health, to sever ties with the organization."

Roger Igielski, another board member, said he was surprised by Sprager's resignation, especially since they recently had a positive meeting regarding fourth quarter advertising campaigns for the downtown.

"I didn't see it coming," Igielski said. "I didn’t expect it."

Still, he wants the suspect named in the car keying incident because it "sheds dim light" on the downtown and makes all the board members appear guilty.

"If somebody has broken the law, they should be exposed and prosecuted. ... It makes us all look like we have dirty plans," Igielski said.

Board Member Lynn Gaffey, owner of in downtown Waukesha, said Sprager never approached her with concerns about being threatened. Gaffey was on the hiring committee that selected Sprager to be the next executive director in spring 2011.

Gaffey said she was surprised by Sprager's resignation.

“I thought she was a great person to hire,” Gaffey said. “I wish her luck in her new pursuit.”

Mayor Jeff Scrima also said concerns were not brought forward to him. When asked about looking into problems Sprager brought up in her letter, the mayor said he “will be listening to downtown business owners and BID board members and take that into consideration when we have our next round of BID appointments.”

“It would be helpful if more information was presented to determine what is or what is not the cause,” Scrima said. “Clearly the success that we have experienced downtown and the many people that enjoy downtown, it is not dependent upon any one organization or any one person within an organization. It is really the collective of everyone working together to make our downtown vibrant and family friendly and keep the energy going.”

The BID is one organization among many that have lead to the success of downtown Waukesha, Scrima said, which helped Waukesha make the

Sprager’s performance the past year “seems to have been good,” Scrima said.

“We were glad to see that she carried out one of the goals that the BID board established early in the year, which was to expand the She carried an important goal the BID board set early in the year.”