Mayor Pronschinske awards Ofc. Smith power of authority as discussion of Mondovi police chief position continues

2015 tax levy set

by Beth Kraft

Following tense discussions in recent weeks, city leaders and citizens may be on their way to finding some common ground and a permanent solution to filling the chief of police position in Mondovi.
It was a standing room only situation at the Mondovi City Council’s most recent meeting on Tuesday, Nov. 11, as over 60 people packed the Council chambers to hear the latest developments on the police chief hiring process and to voice their opinions on the matter.
Several local residents shared testimony in favor of longtime Mondovi police officer Scott Smith, noting their disappointment that a dedicated officer with 27 years of experience with the department was passed over for the promotion by the hiring committee.
Smith and officer Bonnie Bertrang were the only applicants for the available position after the three-member hiring committee opted in September to choose an interim chief from within the current MPD ranks. Bertrang, who became a sworn officer shortly before joining the MPD full-time in early 2013, was recommended to act as interim chief with committee members reasoning that her associate’s degree in law enforcement was a key quality.
Mike Krisik, one of several former law enforcement personnel in attendance at the meeting that night, noted that education isn’t the only trait that makes a good leader.
“It takes more than just schooling; you can’t beat experience,” Krisik said.
Questions regarding the legal ramifications to the city of hiring Smith as police chief without a degree were brought up during previous Council meetings on the subject, but no official confirmation one way or the other was provided until now.
According to Wisconsin state statutes, brought to the Council’s attention by Krisik, officers hired prior to Feb. 1, 1993, are exempt from the current 60 college credit standard required for law enforcement officers. The policy also states that officers “grandfathered” in, like Smith, will never be required by the state’s law enforcement standards board to meet the college credit requirement.
Other opinions voiced that evening yielded somewhat mixed results. Several residents spoke in favor of sticking with an internal hire for police chief, noting they felt most comfortable with someone they know who cares about the community, like Smith and Bertrang, while others questioned why the search shouldn’t be opened up to find the best candidate for the job.
“What’s the rush?” Mondovi resident Karl Zacharias asked. “You don’t know what you’re missing if you don’t look. Let’s do the right thing,” he added.
Lori Larson stressed that she felt both Smith and Bertrang were qualified for the job, but she encouraged the Council to open up the search. Denying other qualified local people who might be interested in the position the chance to apply was “closed-minded,” Larson said.
With current police chief Terry Pittman still in charge of the MPD through the end of the calendar year but not on active duty after cashing in accrued hours of vacation and comp time, community members wondered who is currently leading the department.
“We are shorthanded—it’s no secret,” Mondovi Mayor Treig Pronschinske said, noting the city can’t yet hire another full-time officer since Pittman is still technically on staff and helping out as needed.
However, with many of those in attendance expressing concerns regarding current, active MPD leadership, Pronschinske asked if he should grant power of authority to an existing MPD officer to take charge when Pittman isn’t available.
The topic was not an agenda item at that night’s meeting, and therefore not a subject the Council could vote on, but Pronschinske reasoned that his position as mayor in command of the police department gives him the power to put someone in charge without Council approval.
He reached out to Council members to ask if any of them had any objections to his idea.
Councilman Ed Adams wondered if Pronschinske’s response to residents’ concerns was a “knee-jerk reaction,” but agreed to go along with the plan after other Council members agreed with it.
After voicing their many concerns, community members seemingly got what they wanted that evening, applauding a move by Mayor Pronschinske to grant Smith power of authority contingent on his acceptance of the new responsibility.
Pronschinske encouraged the community to work together moving forward and asked citizens to stop spreading rumors through social media regarding the city’s police chief hiring process.
“We look like the laughingstock of Wisconsin,” Pronschinske stated.
Quashing one such rumor, city leaders clarified that the police chief hiring process as set forth by the city’s ordinance hasn’t yet been completed. The committee’s recommendation of Bertrang for interim chief was never put before the full Council for a vote, as the process stopped with Pronschinske after he chose not to make an appointment.
Several people have voiced their concerns at recent Council meetings with the city’s current police chief hiring ordinance, which dates back many decades, noting there should be more than three people on the committee and its “supervisor” should be more clearly defined.
In order to take the next step toward hiring a new Mondovi police chief, two upcoming citizen participation committee meetings will be held to take public input on the police chief hiring process, what the public wants in its next police chief, and whether the city should hire from within the department or open the search up to any candidate.
The meetings will take place at Mondovi’s Roger Marten Community Center this Thursday, Nov. 20, at 7 p.m. and this coming Tuesday, Nov. 25, at 6 p.m.
Also that night, the Council conducted a public hearing on the city’s 2015 budget and set the tax levy at $814, 797, a 0.27 percent decrease over last year. The hearing was conducted with few comments from the crowd or Council on the budget, which looks much the same as it did it 2014.
Revenues are forecast to drop slightly to $2.24 million, a decrease of 0.63 percent, but expenses are expected to match those decreases to make for a balanced budget.
As for the current year’s books, the city looks to come in close to $67,000 over budget as 2014 winds down. City budget figures indicate minor cost overruns in budget lines like snow and ice removal, which had exceeded its annual budget by $12,000 as of the middle of last month—a figure that no doubt increased in recent weeks. That budget line was upped by about 33 percent for the coming year following harsh winters over the past few years.
In other agenda items that night, the Council agreed to allow Mondovi EMTs to use a home adjacent to the Mondovi Tourist Park this winter that now belongs to the city.
City administrator Dan Lauersdorf explained the home will need to be heated for the winter anyway and will be more comfortable for EMTs to stay in while on call than their current camper, which costs about $2,500 to heat. Furthermore, the camper’s heater was unable keep up during the brutally-cold weather last year.
“This is a better alternative,” Lauersdorf said, noting the ambulance service will pay for utilities in the home and provide any necessary furnishings.
Those items will come in handy if the ambulance service’s plans for a permanent building come to fruition. The organization has discussed obtaining its own structure within the next year.
In other business that night, the Council approved the following:
• certified survey map for SPF America to allow the company to form separate lots to sell off one lot
• bid for 2015 city assessor awarded to Claude Riglemon, $8,600
• operator licenses for Jeanne J. Bunai (Dollar General), Jonathan M. Gutierrez (SA), Barbara L. Fedie (SA), Pamela M. Brantner, provisional (SA), contingent on all criteria being met

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