Thursday, November 8, 2012
After two months, the Waukesha Business Improvement District's board still doesn't have enough members.
The Waukesha Common Council pushed back a majority of Mayor Jeff Scrima’s appointments to the Business Improvement District Thursday in a heated meeting that left the mayor and aldermen frustrated with the appointment process. The council denied appointments of Phil Lee, Kevin Larson and Roger Igielski after many aldermen were unhappy the mayor ignored their requests and suggestions for board members. Scrima's appointment of Bill Huelsman was approved by the council. The council voted 7-7 on approving the appointment of Jim Taylor, a tie that was broken by Scrima, which put Taylor on the board. The BID board, which hasn’t met since most of its members resigned in September after the former executive director accused some of them of …
Wednesday, August 1, 2012
Alderwoman Kathleen Cummings is looking to have the city pay for the attorney she hired to represent her in an ethics complaint.
Alderwoman Kathleen Cummings has to wait a week to learn if the city will reimburse her for legal fees she incurred over an ethics complaint filed against her. The Finance Committee was split Tuesday night when it was taking up Cummings' request to have the city pay $240 to local attorney Shawn Reilly for his representation on the matter. “I take this very seriously,” Cummings told the Finance Committee. Because the ethics complaint “would affect my reputation and affect how I would conduct business,” she told the committee she hired the attorney because she wanted to be prepared going before the Ethics Board. Leather Restorations owner Shay Johnson alleged it was unethical for her to vote on the future of the city’s dispatch center …
Monday, July 30, 2012
Kathleen Cummings hired an attorney to represent her after a local business owner filed an ethics complaint against her based on her dueling roles as a Waukesha alderman and a county board supervisor.
The city could be on the hook for the legal fees incurred by a Waukesha alderwoman after a local business owner filed an ethics complaint against two officials. Alderwoman Kathleen Cummings is requesting reimbursement for $240 in legal feels after Leather Restorations owner Shay Johnson alleged it was unethical for her to vote on the future of the city’s dispatch center because she also serves on the Waukesha County Board of Supervisors. Also targeted in the ethics complaint was Alderman Duane Paulson, who is a county supervisor. The city was exploring the possibility of consolidating its dispatch center with the county’s dispatch center when the ethics complaint was filed against Paulson and Cummings. The city’s Ethics Board did not take …
Thursday, May 24, 2012
There is no conflict of interest by members of the Common Council also serving on the Waukesha County Board of Supervisors, Ethics Board rules.
An ethics complaint filed against two Waukesha aldermen who also serve on the Waukesha County Board of Supervisors was dismissed early Thursday evening without any testimony. The complaint, which was filed by Leather Restoration owner Shay Johnson, alleged that council members Duane Paulson and Kathleen Cummings had a conflict of interest when voting on issues that also involve Waukesha County. The Ethics Board, a four-member citizen group, quickly dismissed the complaint after showing that the complaint was not applicable under the city’s ethics code. Additionally, state law permits local officials to serve on both Common Councils and County Boards The Common Council recently decided to maintain its dispatch center at the Waukesha Police …
Tuesday, May 22, 2012
Meeting will be held Thursday afternoon at the Waukesha City Hall.
The Ethics Board will meet at 4:30 p.m. Thursday to consider a complaint that was filed by a Waukesha business owner against two Waukesha aldermen over their dual roles as members of the Common Council and the Waukesha County Board of Supervisors. Kathleen Cummings and Duane Paulson were targeted by Shay Johnson, owner of Leather Restoration, during the city’s discussions about the possibility of joining the county’s dispatch system while abandoning the city’s own dispatch center. The council decided last week to continue operating the city’s dispatch center, but the issue could be revisited with additional information. “Both receive a higher payment from the county than the city,” Johnson wrote in the ethics complaint. “Therefore they …
Tuesday, May 15, 2012
Business owner believes two Waukesha aldermen who serve on Waukesha County Board should abstain from voting on joint dispatch.
Editor's Note: This story was updated at 4:32 p.m. Tuesday to include comments from Alderman Duane Paulson. Waukesha County board supervisors Duane Paulson and Kathleen Cummings are the subject of an ethics complaint filed by a downtown Waukesha business owner because of their votes as Waukesha aldermen as the city looks at the possibility of joining the county’s dispatch system. The Common Council meets at 7:30 p.m. tonight about the dispatch system after delaying a vote in April. Cummings and Paulson serve both on the Waukesha County Board of Supervisors and on the Waukesha Common Council, which is why Shay Johnson, owner of Leather Restoration, filed the complaint. “Both receive a higher payment from the county than the city,” Johnson …
Wednesday, February 8, 2012
Common Council approves appointments to new taskforce.
As downtown bickering over street closures continues, especially for Freeman Friday Night Live’s summer music events, the Waukesha Common Council agreed to form a downtown taskforce that will address concerns related to events that occur in the central business district. After a lengthy discussion and mixed public comment, the following people were appointed to the taskforce: Payne and Alderwoman Kathleen Cummings voted against creating the group. Payne said he wanted people who “aren’t front page news” on the taskforce. Cummings, though, blasted Mayor Jeff Scrima because she made a referral to discuss the street closures and it took 35 days for anything to move forward, she said. The taskforce will be unable to complete the necessary work…
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Tuesday, November 8, 2011
Efforts to balance 2012 budget with a tax freeze are in full swing after the garbage fee that was at one time supported by Mayor Jeff Scrima fell flat.
The Waukesha Common Council is asking all city employees – including police and fire union members – to voluntarily agree to a pay freeze, contribute 5.8 percent into their pensions, 12 percent into their health insurance, early retirement packages and/or other monetary concessions. The council directed city staff to address the issue with the employees on Wednesday and is requesting a response from the employees by Friday in preparation for the next week of budget talks. Human Resource Director Donna Whalen warned that she could not guarantee a response by Friday. “Unions are organizations,” Whalen said. “It takes time for them to meet and confer with each other.” The city, which lost millions in state funding, is trying to balance its …
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201 Delafield St, Waukesha, WI
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Wednesday, November 2, 2011
Capital improvement plan calls for $5 million in borrowing.
With a minimal procedure change to shift a $6,000 expenditure to the city's operating budget, the Waukesha Common Council adopted Tuesday night the Finance Committee’s recommendations for the 2012 capital improvement plan. The plan calls for the city to borrow $5.05 million to fund certain projects, including expenditures on road projects for the city’s aging infrastructure. The city is paying off about $7 million in debt in the proposed 2012 budget. The operating budget still needs to be tackled, including the issue of the proposed $136 garbage fee for most property owners that members of the Finance Committee did not support. The city needs to cut about $1.9 million to create a flat tax levy without the garbage fees. The Common Council …
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Skip Wieserman
5:40 pm on Sunday, November 18, 2012
@Victoria Hekkers: So your solution in dealing with an allegation is to sue? It's people like you that have ruined the economy and bushiness principles in this country. Someone called me a name, I'll sue them... Someone made the coffee hot and I spilled it on myself, I'll sue them... etc., etc., etc. There is no attorney worth their weight in liability insurance who would ever raise such a … more ›