Trustees Tussle with Administrator Over Village Clerk Process

Some Mount Pleasant trustees are questioning the way finalists were chosen to fill the vacant clerk/treasurer position, but Village Administrator Kurt Wahlen maintains the final candidates were fully vetted in proper fashion.

The position has been open since April when former Clerk/Treasurer Veronica Rudychev resigned, citing harassment and fear of retaliation.

After first posting the job opening internally, village officials advertised for the position and received a total of 14 applications as of the May 17 closing date. Wahlen then went through the list and narrowed the field to seven for interviews.

Those individuals were then forwarded to the Village Board for consideration, which is where the contention lies.

Historically, for a department head position, the Personnel Committee has been directed by the full Village Board to post the vacancy, cull the list of applicants to a reasonable number of interviews and then present a hiring recommendation to the full board.

Trustees Don Schulz and Sonny Havn, along with Village President Mark Gleason, comprise the Personnel Committee, but with the exception of, possibly, Gleason, the committee wasn't made aware that interviews had been scheduled this week with the seven finalists.

"I had no idea we were moving forward because we haven't met as a committee and the board certainly hasn't discussed it," Schulz said. "I mean, what's the point of even having committees and a board if we're not going to be informed?"

Calls to Gleason have not yet been returned. Havn is believed to be out of the country and unavailable for comment.

To help vet the candidates, Wahlen put together a panel of individuals that included Sturtevant Village Administrator/Clerk Mary Cole and Racine County Clerk Wendy Christensen. Wahlen believes he was well within the purview of his job duties.

"The Personnel Committee and the Village Board both approved filling the position so I don't see why they would be involved up to now," he said. "Doesn't it make more sense to form a committee with professionals in the field who know what questions to ask?"

Trustee Gary Feest said he is not disputing the interview panel but he takes issue with trustees not being part of the process. 

"The administrator, in my opinion, cannot act on matters like these without direction from the village board, and he received no such direction from the board on what to do with the applications," he said. 

More, Feest believes Wahlen was out of line when Feest asked for a list of all the candidates and was refused.

"I am a village trustee and therefore entrusted by the people to keep confidential information confidential," he explained. "I do not think it's the administrator's prerogative to decide when he will give a trustee information or not."

Wahlen disputes any notion that the process wasn't transparent and pointed out that the board could vote to not hire any of the finalists and start over.

"The Village Board has total authority, and they can always say they don't like the process and then we start over," he said. "The village president said it was a priority to fill this position so I established a committee to help us pick the top candidates. I hope they think this was the right way to go."

Trustees will not take up the matter at Monday's regular board meeting. Wahlen said there might be a special board meeting sometime next week to go over the list of finalists.