UPDATE 3:51 PM 2/6/2020: The Village of Ashwaubenon has responded to the allegations made by the APSOA, saying they are disappointed “that the Union has chosen to make these allegations so personal to the Village Manager when the great majority of these decisions were made collectively with the Village Board and our fellow colleagues and employees” and “most disappointed in the enormous breadth of factual inaccuracies contained throughout these allegations.” The village may seek legal options. The entire press release issued Thursday by Ashwaubenon Village President Mary Kardoskee can be found below the original story.
ASHWAUBENON, WI (WTAQ) — Arbitrary firings, demotions, violations of federal law, and even covering up criminal charges recommended against a village board member.
Those are among a litany of complaints made by the Ashwaubenon Public Safety Officer’s Association in a statement of no confidence made against village manager Allison Swanson on Thursday.
It’s a step that’s never been made before by the union that represents police and public safety officials in Ashwaubenon.
“This association has never voted no confidence in any one of the chief administrators since the union was founded nearly 50 years ago,” Association Secretary Melanie Lovato said during a Thursday press conference at D2 Sports Bar in Ashwaubenon. “We feel that it’s very important to recognize that this vote is unanimous.”
Among the list of 22 alleged incidents of misconduct the association released Thursday is an allegation that Swanson terminated a Lieutenant and demoted police supervisors without proper approval from the Police and Fire Commission.
It also alleges that Swanson ignored criminal charges recommended by an Internal Affairs investigation into the conduct of a Village Board member in September of 2019. Swanson allegedly responded to a recommendation of Battery and Disorderly Conduct charges against the board member by writing in an email that she was “comfortable with no action being taken”.
“How can a village board allow a village manager to terminate a police officer and demote two others without the involvement of the police and fire commission?” Lovato asked Thursday.
It’s not just public safety officials who are expressing doubt, according to Lovato.
“Rest assured, we have the support of many, if not most of the other employees outside of our association,” Lovato said. “These employees are unwilling to make a public statement due to the known unethical and arbitrary behavior of Allison Swanson and the lack of collective bargaining protections under state law.”
Association officials say the village manager rules with an “iron fist” and has made it impossible for department heads to do their jobs. They say the board isn’t listening.
“Members of the villages own management team are suing the village,” Lovato said. “And yet not a single one of our village board members have sought out an answer to why.”
APSOA President Eric Paulowski told reporters that the vote of no confidence was not triggered by any single act of alleged misconduct.
“It’s been leading up to this for a long time,” Paulowski said. “Recently, when [Interim] Chief Tom Rolling left…he was the last administrator that truly had the pulse of the organization…he made it very clear that he could not be effective in his position due to the actions of Village Manager Allison Swanson.”
As part of their statement, the union expressed support for incoming Public Safety Director Brian Uhl, who is starting with the department on February 17th.
Listed below is the full list of complaints made against Swanson by the union:
- Ms. Swanson terminated a Lieutenant and demoted two additional supervisors (Captain and Lieutenant by stripping them of their seniority) without Police and Fire Commissions approval or involvement. Multiple Lawsuits pending.
- Ms. Swanson continues to violate Family Medical Leave Act, Americans with Disabilities Act, Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, and applicable wage and hour laws even after being notified from the EEOC office that her actions are improper. Multiple Lawsuits Pending
- Ms. Swanson personally disregarded criminal charges recommended by an Internal Affairs investigation related to a Village Board member’s conduct in September of 2019. Battery & Disorderly Conduct charges were recommended and Ms. Swanson stated in an email to the Head of Internal Affairs that she was “comfortable with no action being taken,” despite the fact that her position has no law enforcement or prosecutorial component.
- Ms. Swanson requested an Ashwaubenon Public Safety Officer void multiple citations as a favor to an officer from an outside police department.
- Ms. Swanson recommended a change to the Village’s anti-nepotism clause as she was involved in a personal relationship that violated the then existing anti-nepotism policy. Historically, other highly qualified candidates have not been hired or even considered due to this policy.
- Conservative estimates reflect a Village investment of over 13 million dollars in Capital Park, yet this measure never went to the Finance Committee or referendum. The approximate payback on this stadium is 2% annually, not counting the approximately $50,000 the Village must contribute to an escrow account for maintenance annually. Minimum payback on this investment is 50-70 years yet Big Top Baseball only has a contract for 20 years. It is unclear what happens in year twenty one.
- Swanson has approved significant expenditures in the purchase and subsequent clean-up of Schneider lot on S. Broadway without involvement from Finance Committee. The only involvement from the Finance Committee was to approve the final budget. Capital Park and Schneider purchases were never brought as a line item to the Finance Committee; At least one member of the Finance Committee feels that it would have been normal practice to involve the committee in these types of expenditures.
- An outside investigation looking into the off-duty life of Officer Jamie Zynda was ordered by Ms. Swanson and cost taxpayers approximately $13,000. The investigation found no violations, yet Ms. Swanson nonetheless insisted that a disciplinary letter be placed in his file. When APSOA contested this decision in Arbitration, Officer Zynda was told he would have to use personal vacation time if he was needed to testify. Arbitration decision pending.
- Swanson requested an outside law firm conduct an investigation into a K9 fundraiser event during which officers were given no information about what they might have done wrong, yet no violations were found, and the Village refused to release relevant documents for months. Prohibited Practice filed.
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FMLA leave denied for birth of an Officer’s child. State of Wisconsin contacted, reversed the decision with FMLA granted.
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Officer’s retirement pay out structure changed without negotiations or advance notice to the Association to do so. Ms. Swanson simply changed the retirement payout amount to retiring Officers costing the average officer $15,000-$50,000 each upon retirement. Grievance plus additional Lawsuits pending.
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Grievances pending for officers not be disciplined equally or given Instructor positions per contract. Ms. Swanson suddenly removed a long serving member from the Police and Fire Commission (PFC) when the member did not agree with Ms. Swanson on a particular topic. Swanson did this in the context of changing the residency requirement for PFC members. Swanson was then able to fill the open seat with her own appointment.
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Officer was a victim of sexual assault from Supervisor while off duty. Officer was told by Ms. Swanson that, “This was attention you were asking for”.
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Village scammed out of $293,310.45. Employees were not disciplined equally. In fact, one employee received a $10,000 raise approximately 18 months after the incident. Village was found to not have fraud insurance protecting the Village.
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Ms. Swanson arbitrarily changed the pay of officers in violation of the collective bargaining agreement in 2016-2017. The Association filed a grievance in 2017 for contract violations. Ms. Swanson settled with the Union just prior to the arbitration hearing, acknowledging the contract and pay scales. Officers were not paid back fully for previous lost wages. The Association agreed to settle with all members losing hundreds to thousands of dollars each and had significant legal defense fees despite a very clear contract violation.
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Ms. Swanson changed the procedure so all information regarding the Ashwaubenon Public Safety Department must go through her prior to being released to the public. This has not been the practice of our Public Information Officers in the past.
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Chief Rolling announced early retirement from Public Safety due in part to repeated unethical decisions made by Ms. Swanson. Chief Dunning and Lieutenant Crocker also made a decision to leave earlier than projected. Other Department heads have also resigned their employment due to strained relationships with Ms. Swanson.
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Street Department & Public Works employees lost up to 5 vacation days. ACT 10 voided their union contracts so Ms. Swanson removed the sick time bonus from these employees as they had no means to contest it.
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An officer signed up for vision insurance by error in November of 2015. Ms. Swanson refused to cancel coverage. The insurance company acknowledged the insurance could be cancelled. After significant requests, Ms. Swanson eventually cancelled the coverage.
The Village of Ashwaubenon responded in a Thursday press release:
“Earlier today, we learned of the Union’s imminent press conference concerning its vote of no confidence and allegations regarding Village Manager Allison Swanson. We are disappointed that the Union has chosen to make these allegations so personal to the Village Manager when the great majority of these decisions were made collectively with the Village Board and our fellow colleagues and employees.However, we are most disappointed in the enormous breadth of factual inaccuracies contained throughout these allegations. For example, some of the allegations of unethical behavior that are categorically false include: all development expenditures and disciplinary issues raised in the allegations were discussed multiple times and approved by the Village Board and appointments to the Police and Fire Commission upon resignation or expiration of a member’s term are made by the Village President and confirmed by the Village Board.
We are prohibited from responding publicly to the extensive personnel related allegations. We acknowledge that union management relationships inherently result in disagreements. We also understand that implementing accountability is difficult and routinely met with resistance. Our management approach is to make fiscally responsible decisions that adhere to state and federal laws,consider employee rights and fairness, as well as ensure consistent enforcement of village policies across all village departments.
We have no further comments. We will discuss these matters further at a future Village Board meeting to determine the Village’s next steps including legal options.
Respectfully,Mary Kardoskee, Village President
Allison Swanson, Village Manager
Tony Wachewicz,Village Attorney
Randy Tews, Interim Chief of Public Safety”
