My Northern Wisconsin

Covering Ashland, Iron, Lincoln, Oneida, Price, Rusk, Sawyer, Taylor, and Vilas Counties


TURMOIL ON THE WORCESTER TOWN BOARD


   

The Town of Worcester held a special meeting on Wednesday, March 2, 2022.  The meeting, attracting over fifty residents, was so large it was moved from the town hall to the adjacent building.

The focus of the meeting was the possible resignation of the entire town board due to their claims of harassment from certain residents.  The board emphasized their possible resignations had nothing to do with the current pending lawsuit.

There has been turmoil for some time.  The town has had three different clerks since November 2020.  The board stated, "New clerks have been trying to learn the position even amongst constant pressure for open records requests and criticism on how to do their job."  One clerk reportedly resigned in tears due to fear of her safety from residents.  The current town clerk has tried to learn the position but has not been able to get the training needed from the previous town clerks who don't want to help out due to the current climate of the situation.  He also feels it is not worth it to continue in the position.

Many town residents spoke supporting the clerk and town board.  Many were not pleased with Anthony Sleck, a resident who has a civil suit against the Town of Worcester.  His suit alleges the town is violating the Open Records Law.  He states that the board members are civil servants who represent the town and its residents, and he feels they are not doing their jobs appropriately.  He feels they are not effectively listening to the residents they represent and are not transparent enough about how they run the township.

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Karen Smart, a resident in the Town of Worcester, was one of many to disagree.  She stated it was sad that certain residents feel they have a right to intimidate, threaten, and cause undue stress to the board.  She added that she appreciates the job the town board is doing.

Since it was possible the entire board might resign at the meeting, Robert Kopisch, the chair of the Price County Board; Nick Trimner, the county administrator; and Jean Gottwald, the county clerk, also attended the meeting.  They were there to determine if the town may need emergency services from the county.  However, those services won't be needed just yet.  In the end, Jeremy Pesko and Paul Precour said they would stay in their positions until the next election.  Scott Revak, the town clerk, chose to resign.  Jim Heizler, town board chair, was uncertain of his decision, but two supervisors have stated their intent to resign at the March 15th regular meeting at 7 p.m.

Only three board members are needed to get a vacancy filled.  Should too many people resign, the Price County clerk would call a special election for the vacancies.

Paul Precour addressed the people in attendance.  “We need someone from the public that would be willing to fill at least the one spot to begin with, so all of you that are here today, we really appreciate your support, this means a lot, but we do need one of you, or possibly two of you, to be willing to step forward.”  The board asked residents to spread the word to help fill the positions.  Anyone interested can contact the Worcester Town Hall.

   
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(This post was last modified: 03-04-2022, 02:17 AM by My Northern Wisconsin.)