By Ryan Whisner
The Fort Atkinson City Council Tuesday voted unanimously to approve an appointment process to fill the first year of a newly elected council seat, which, also on Tuesday, was vacated by then-newly reelected councilwoman Megan Hartwick.
Hartwick, then an incumbent running for her second term, offering a public statement in February, withdrew her name from the April, 2023 race, noting: “After much careful thought and consideration, analysis of my schedule and responsibilities, and many sleepless nights, I have decided to ‘officially’ withdraw myself from consideration for a seat on the Fort Atkinson City Council, and am respectfully asking residents to not vote for me on April 4th.”
Her statement was followed by another from Fort Atkinson city officials who stated that the candidate could not withdraw her name from the ballot, citing state statutes that would allow a candidate who had filed nomination papers and had qualified for ballot approval, to withdraw from the ballot only under circumstances of death.
City official wrote in February: “a candidate cannot remove his or her name from the ballot per Wisconsin state statutes. Any person who files nomination papers and qualifies to appear on the ballot may not decline nomination. The name of that person shall appear upon the ballot except in case of death of the person.”
Also in February, city official outlined a process which the city would follow would Hartwick garner enough votes to win one of three seats that were due for reelection in April.
According to the February statement, a process would begin with Hartwick’s resignation, followed by one of three outcomes that could be initiated by council. They included: the appointment of a successor to serve for the remainder of the term, holding a special election, or allowing the seat to remain vacant until the April, 2024 spring election, when a one-year city council term would be placed on the ballot.
In April, unofficial tallies placed Hartwick among the top three vote-getters, winning 1,758 or 14.97% of the vote. Also placing among the top three were incumbent Mason Becker, who earned 2,163 or 18.41% of the vote, and newcomer Kyle Jaeckel, who earned 1,979 or 16.85% of the vote.
A fourth contender, John Donohue, earned 1,561 or 13.29% of the vote.
During Tuesday’s meeting, Hartwick, Becker and Jaeckel each took the oath of office and were seated as council members, after which time, Hartwick resigned.
On Tuesday’s meeting agenda, in a memo to council, City Manager Rebecca Houseman LeMire outlined four possible remedies to fill the seat following the resignation of Hartwick. They included: appointing a successor for the remainder of the term; appointing a successor for one-year, with that appointment ending April 16, 2024, and adding a one-year term for a city council member for the April 2, 2024 election; ordering a special election, or leaving the seat vacant for one year and adding a one-year term for a city council member to be decided during the April 2, 2024 election.
In the memo, LeMire wrote that staff was recommending that council adopt a resolution, authorizing the seat to be filled by appointment through use of an application process, followed by a special election to fill the remaining one year of the two-year term.
On Tuesday, council voted unanimously to engage in an appointment process via submitted applications for a one-year term and then hold a special election for a one-year term in April, 2024.
LeMire noted that with council approval of the application and special election option, the city would begin accepting applications from qualified residents to fill the one-year term, which would run from the time that the individual was appointed until April 16, 2024.
The remaining one year of the term would then appear separately on the ballot from the other two seats that would come due for reelection as a matter of regular rotation in April, 2024.
According to information shared Tuesday, those interested in consideration for appointment to the first year of the term must have applications returned to the city manager’s office by Friday, May 5, at 4 p.m.
The process, would council members request it, could include interviews of applicants, which would be conducted on Tuesday, May 9.
LeMire noted that the earliest any action could be taken to select a new council member would be during the council’s May 16 meeting. Would the process need to be delayed for any reason, she said, the matter would be addressed on June 6.
Before the measure was approved and during discussion, Becker said: “I have not seen this in my time on the council where we’ve had a vacancy like this. From the research I was able to do online and talking to people from other communities in Wisconsin, it does seem like following an application process for the appointment does seem to be kind of accepted best practice.”
Jaeckel expressed both his support and frustration with the situation, saying: “It does give the people a chance to speak their mind again,” but, he added: “It does kind of suck how it did go through knowing that people did know the potential that Megan did not want to run or be reelected.”
He described state statutes as having “mess(ed) everything up.”
Those interested in council consideration for an appointment to fill the first year of the open seat will find an application form here: https://www.fortatkinsonwi.gov/_T3_R207.php.
Fort Atkinson Municipal Building, file photo/Kim McDarison.
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