Mt Pleasant Attorney Pushed Board to Extend Term Lengths
Watchdog group charges little public notice given, board faces referendum on issue.
In the Village of Mount Pleasant, board members voted unanimously in January to extend their terms from two to three years, beginning in 2023.
The move surprised residents, who gathered more than 1,200 signatures within two weeks of the decision to force a referendum to supersede the vote.
During a special committee meeting on April 19, 2021, village attorney Chris Smith recommended the increased term lengths. Smith told board members once they get elected, they have to immediately start campaigning again, which is “not cool” for them or staff.
“This is something I feel strongly about,” Smith said. “I think two-year terms are too short, especially for a village of our caliber, OK? Meaning, the size, the economic growth. You know? We’re the second-largest village in the state, OK?”
The once sleepy bedroom community of Mount Pleasant gained national attention in 2017 after Taiwanese manufacturing company Foxconn announced a deal with the state of Wisconsin to build a massive high-tech manufacturing plant and employ thousands in the village in exchange for tax credits. Over the years, those plans have been drastically downsized and promises from Foxconn have gone unfulfilled. Still, village officials stand by the company.
During the April 2021 meeting, Smith told board members that if they decide midway through their term that they don’t want to continue to serve, they would be doing Village President Dave DeGroot a favor.
Smith told the board that the two-year terms are “a little scary” and not good for the business operation of the village because all the board members could be replaced.
Next year, four of the seven village board members are up for reelection, including DeGroot.
Smith, DeGroot and Village Administrator Maureen Murphy, who also recommended the three-year terms, did not return requests for comment.
Mount Pleasant isn’t the only village with three-year term lengths. According to the ordinance passed Jan. 24, “numerous comparable villages of a similar population throughout Wisconsin have elected to set a term of three years for Village Trustees including Menomonee Falls, Germantown, Whitefish Bay, Greendale, and Shorewood.”
The village did not take minutes during the meeting, so other than the recording, there is no record of what happened.
Two weeks before the village board voted to extend the terms lengths on Jan. 24, they held a public meeting to discuss the matter. But Kelly Gallaher, who heads the watchdog group A Better Mount Pleasant, said that only gave residents two weeks to find out about the change.
“Listening to the (April 2021) tape, it’s so political, and so self-serving,” Gallaher said. “Staff is working with elected officials to actively keep them in office. They are disenfranchising voters, and they are saying it out loud.”
Listen to the WPR report here.
Mount Pleasant attorney advised village to extend term lengths, calling the move ‘good for business’ was originally published by Wisconsin Public Radio.
More about the Foxconn Facility
- Mount Pleasant, Racine in Legal Battle Over Water After Foxconn Failure - Evan Casey - Sep 18th, 2024
- Biden Hails ‘Transformative’ Microsoft Project in Mount Pleasant - Sophie Bolich - May 8th, 2024
- Microsoft’s Wisconsin Data Center Now A $3.3 Billion Project - Jeramey Jannene - May 8th, 2024
- We Energies Will Spend $335 Million on Microsoft Development - Evan Casey - Mar 6th, 2024
- Foxconn Will Get State Subsidy For 2022 - Joe Schulz - Dec 11th, 2023
- Mount Pleasant Approves Microsoft Deal on Foxconn Land - Evan Casey - Nov 28th, 2023
- Mount Pleasant Deal With Microsoft Has No Public Subsidies - Evan Casey - Nov 14th, 2023
- Microsoft, State Announce Massive Data Center Expansion, Land Purchase - Joe Schulz - Nov 11th, 2023
- Gov. Evers Announces Microsoft Makes Major Investment in Wisconsin - Gov. Tony Evers - Nov 10th, 2023
- State Can’t Regulate We Energies $100 Million Project for Microsoft - Joe Schulz - Sep 20th, 2023
Read more about Foxconn Facility here
How many elections have their been in the past six years yet the incumbents keep getting elected. Go figure.
This behavior makes one wonder how much the Village officials profited from day one of the Foxconn scandal.
Blurondo – I don’t wonder. And as soon as Mount Pleasant goes belly-up in a few years because of the Fox-con, you can bet these lowlifes on the Village Board will be out of office and likely out of town.
I can’t believe they’ve never been recalled.