FOND DU LAC, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) – Fond du Lac District Attorney Eric Toney will be the special prosecutor reviewing separate complaints made against Green Bay Mayor Jim Schmitt and five city council members.
Work is just beginning to determine whether Schmitt committed any crimes in his handling of Hotel Northland money.
The same goes for deciding whether five council members violated open meeting laws in asking for an investigation of Schmitt.
Toney tells FOX 11 things are just getting started.
“We’ve had some initial information sent, but it’s still in the early phases and it’s hard for me to comment on the specifics at this point.”
Brown County District Attorney David Lasee asked Toney to review allegations against the elected officials because of a conflict of interest. Lasee’s office sometimes deals with Schmitt and members of the city council.
“We’ve handled financial crimes here and we’ve had prosecutions for a number of, I guess, elected officials,” said Toney. “Some of them tickets and things like that, but we treat everybody the same, regardless of whether they’re an elected official.”
Toney is reviewing accusations made in a late October news conference, by a Guy Zima-led group of aldermen.
The group accused Schmitt of fraud, perjury, intent to deceive, and violation of public trust.
The group, which includes Zima, Tom DeWane, Andy Nicholson, Chris Wery, and Mark Steuer, said Schmitt diverted $3.2 million in public funds, creating loan defaults in the Hotel Northland project.
The aldermen also accused Schmitt of lying to the council and the Redevelopment Authority.
In early 2017, Schmitt requested a $500,000 loan to keep the project moving forward. However, the aldermen say court documents prove the money would have paid former owner, Mike Frantz, to walk away from the project.
Three days after those accusations were made, Alderperson Barbara Dorff accused the aldermen of holding a walking quorum.
The state defines a walking quorum as a “series of gatherings among separate groups of members of a governmental body, each less than quorum size, who agree, tacitly or explicitly, to act uniformly in sufficient number to reach a quorum. A walking quorum may produce a predetermined outcome and thus render a publicly-held meeting a mere formality.”
Both Schmitt and the aldermen have repeatedly denied doing anything wrong.
“It’s just a crazy accusation made by some mean-spirited obstructionists,” said Schmitt on October 30th, shortly after the aldermen held their news conference.
“We didn’t discuss any personnel actions that we would for the council or anything like that,” said DeWane on November 2nd, after Dorff filed her complaint.
Schmitt and the council members have also said they have no problem with a special prosecutor looking at the cases.
Toney isn’t sure when his reviews will be complete.
“Without knowing if follow up is needed, it’s impossible for me to put a timeline on anything,” said Toney.
If any follow up is needed, Toney says the Department of Criminal Investigation has agreed to do that work.
