Steve Pollock is the new representative for District 27 on the Shawano County Board, following a contentious nomination process at the July 22 meeting.
Pollock, a retired We Energies employee, was nominated by Chairman Tom Kautza and approved by the board with 19 in favor, five against, one abstention and one member absent.
Voting against Pollock’s appointment were Jeremy Gretzinger, Curt Korth, Randy Mallmann, Joe Miller and Mike Wizner. Collin Pomplun abstained, and Matt Pleshek was absent.
The drama – a word used often by supervisors – began immediately after the Pledge of Allegiance.
Miller requested a change in the order of the agenda to place public comment and the reading of letters to the board before the appointment of Pollock.
Kautza had set the agenda with the appointment to immediately follow the opening of the meeting.
“We have public comments and also communication pertaining to this that the supervisors should hear before …,” Miller said.
“Does somebody have something against Steve?” Kautza interrupted, to which Miller responded, “That’s so narrow-minded it’s pathetic.”
And so it began.
Enough supervisors agreed with Miller to change the agenda.
Kautza, as is his prerogative as board chairman, limited public comment to five speakers at two minutes each. Only two members of the public addressed the board.
Tim Steffen, the only District 27 resident to actively seek the appointment, spoke first. Kautza refused to nominate him, first due to him being chairman of the Shawano County Republican Party (the county board is nonpartisan) and then because Kautza viewed him as the cause of too much drama in the past year.
“I never expected the kind of reaction that I received from the chairman,” Steffen said. “It’s been a long time since I have been so disrespected and so slandered by this man. It’s unbelievable. What we have just witnessed here is the manipulation of an agenda to avoid public comment.”
He said when residents can speak out, it leads to suspicion and loss of trust in government.
“When we lose that trust, we have chaos,” he said.
As Steffen’s two minutes expired, Kautza said, “Tim, your two minutes are up. This isn’t a movie. We’re not making ‘Shawano As The Days Turn.’”
“Why are you making comments like that?” Gretzinger immediately asked. “Be a professional.”
Mallmann agreed.
“Tom, you don’t help yourself when you make comments like that,” he said.
“I never heard or got a phone call from a member of the public telling me that I’m doing something wrong,” Kautza said.
Mallmann reminded him that he talked to Kautza in person about this issue.
“We need a leader that has to act professional,” Mallmann said.
Miller said Kautza’s refusal to consider Steffen due to his GOP leadership role was discriminatory.
“You cannot discriminate against anybody, a member of the public or any one of us, for political affiliation,” he said. “You can’t do that.”
Kautza said his decision to pass on Steffen was not the first time he overlooked an interested candidate for a seat on the board. He cited the case when he chose Dick Olson over Al Kuhn (a current supervisor) for a vacant District 17 seat a few years ago.
“I knew Dick Olson personally, so I picked him,” Kautza said. “Nothing personal.”
He also said he wasn’t initially in favor of then-Supervisor Raymond Rigsby being appointed to the vacant county clerk position. He said Rigsby had a set of predetermined conditions.
“Why weren’t we informed of that?” Miller asked.
“Why didn’t you ask?” Kautza responded.
Jackie Miller also spoke. She said she was appalled by what she has witnessed at this and the previous meeting. She also filed a written complaint against Kautza.
“It concerns the selective enforcement of public comment rules, the suppression of discussion on a matter of significant public concern, and the appearance of a conflict of interest when the presiding officer used procedural authority to prevent public discussion of his own official actions,” she wrote.
Her letter and three others were read into the minutes of the meeting.
As public comment and the reading of letters drew to a close, Kautza officially nominated Pollock, and the nomination was made and seconded.
“We have a good candidate, nothing controversial,” Kautza said. “It’s time to get away from this nonsense that went on last year and move forward.”
Pollock, who sat with the supervisors and not the audience members even before he was nominated, addressed the board.
“Since I had time and did want to learn more about the county rather than just the Township of Almon, I thought this would be a good opportunity,” he said.
Gretzinger said he would oppose Pollock’s appointment.
“This is nothing against Mr. Pollock, but I’m going to have a no vote just because of the process,” he said. “I would hope my other supervisors step up and do the right thing.”
Mallmann agreed.
“My biggest problem is the process of how this happened,” he said. “The board did not even have an opportunity to consider (Steffen), and exactly what you said in the meeting Mr. Chair, that this is supposed to be a nonpartisan position. You made it a personal and partisan decision not to allow him to take the open district seat. It’s not fair to District 27, and it’s certainly not fair to Mr. Steffen. I disagree with the whole process that’s happening here.”
Miller also noted his opposition.
“My concern again … is of the chairman repeatedly boohooing in the media about this nonsense, about this drama, about everything here,” he said. “You created the drama. What you see from us is disagreement. It is our right to disagree with things that are said. It is everybody’s right to disagree with me, and I respect that. You don’t. You do not respect our right to disagree with you. You call it drama.”
Bill Switalla, who made the motion to appoint Pollock, spoke in favor of Kautza’s desire to keep the board nonpartisan.
“I stand behind Tom, because every time the Republican Party has come and attacked our board, they stood in front and said they were here from the Republican Party,” he said.
For his part, Switalla has been a Democratic candidate for the State Assembly four times in the past decade.
“We don’t need that drama here,” Kautza said, and after Pollock was confirmed, added “Congratulations, Steve. You are the new board member, and hopefully, we’re done with the drama.”
Pollock will serve until April 2028. He completes the term vacated this spring by Tess Serrano.
District 27 includes all of the towns of Hutchins and Almon, Mattoon and Ward 2 in Bowler.
kpasson@newmedia-wi.com
Jackie Miller speaks to Shawano County supervisors at their July 22 meeting. She said she was appalled at the actions of County Board Chairman Tom Kautza, accusing him of using procedural authority to prevent public discussion of his own official actions. (Greg Mellis | NEW Media)
Steve Pollock is the newest member of the Shawano County Board. On July 22, he was confirmed to fill the vacant Distinct 27 seat. The term will run through April 2028. (Greg Mellis | NEW Media)
Shawano County Supervisor Bill Switalla, left, listens to discussions July 22 about the appointment of Steve Pollock, right, to the vacant District 27 seat on the county board. After a 19-5-1 vote, Pollock took his oath of office later in the meeting. (Greg Mellis | NEW Media)
