GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) – There are concerns City of Green Bay employees worked on Mayor Jim Schmitt’s retirement party on city time and with city resources.
With help from a party planning committee, Schmitt is expecting about 300 invited guests at Hotel Northland on March 29th to celebrate his exit as Green Bay’s longest-serving mayor.
A list of members of the planning committee does not include any city employees.
“If I’m going to exit after 16 years of giving my life, I want a party,” said Schmitt.
A tip about possibly having city employees work on planning the party led FOX 11 to file an open record request for any city employee email that included the words Jim, Schmitt, retirement, and party.
35 pages of emails were returned. Most emails included Schmitt either sending or receiving information about possible dates and venues for the party. Four city employees received or sent an email that had something to do with planning the party.
Schmitt is currently in Washington D.C. for a mayors’ conference, but he agreed to answer FOX 11’s questions about the emails over the phone.
“I don’t know,” said Schmitt. “I guess I could have used my personal email. I don’t know if I spent much time on that, maybe didn’t give that much thought. It was just a quick turnaround email that I wanted an answer to.”
Schmitt admits he did ask one city employee to make a letterhead for a letter he was going to send out asking for donations to pay for his party.
The emails FOX 11 obtained show Schmitt and the employee going back and forth about letterhead examples throughout a Thursday afternoon.
“It was probably a 15-minute project, so she can do that before work, after work,” said Schmitt. “She can do it at work and then stay late and do something else. She never insinuated that this was going to be work-related. She said this was nothing.”
“I’m concerned,” said Alderman Bill Galvin after briefly looking at the emails.
“I don’t know if he’s done anything legally wrong. Ethically? That is a whole different question.”
Galvin serves on the city’s ethics committee. He’s also a former city police officer and admits he used city time to plan an anniversary party.
“If they’re wrong, I’m just as wrong as they are.”
Galvin says he wants a legal expert to look at the emails involving Schmitt’s retirement party. So does Alderman Chris Wery, a regular critic of Schmitt.
“Our city employees should be working on city issues, not on a citizen’s retirement issue. I don’t care where you are.”
Wery says he is going to request Schmitt reimburse the city by the minute for any work done on city time for the party.
“He just has such a dislike for me that he can’t let the protocol, the average way we do things proceed,” said Schmitt.
Schmitt says he would reimburse the city if deemed necessary.
He says any leftover money collected for his party will be donated to the Boys and Girls Club.
