Raymond Rigsby is now officially the Shawano County Clerk after the Shawano County Board of Supervisors voted 21-1 to hire him during its July 23 meeting.
Following the vote, Rigsby formally presented Shawano County Sheriff George Lenzner with a letter of resignation for his seat on the board and then was sworn into office. Before the item came up on the agenda, Rigsby formally recused himself from any discussion and subsequent discussion.
“I intend to step away from the table and leave the boardroom during this item to avoid any appearance of impropriety,” Rigsby said.
Rigsby took the place of Kara Skarlupka, who had been elected to a new four-year term in November 2024, announced earlier in the year that she was retiring, so Rigsby will be serving until her term ends in 2028.
“We went through interviews at the executive committee meeting, and we had several candidates,” said County Board Chairman Tom Kautza. “Fortunately, this time, we had a choice from some very, very well-qualified candidates.”
There was actually someone else who the committee was going to recommend, according to Kautza, but she opted to stay at her current job.
“Out of our selection, we decided to offer the position to Raymond Rigsby, and we think he’ll do just fine,” Kautza said.
The other option the county had was to hold a special election for the clerk, but that would have left the office without a constitutionally required leader until April 2026, since there is no scheduled election this November. Kautza said that was not feasible.
“To simply go that long without a clerk is not possible,” Kautza said. “I don’t see any way you can do that.”
Supervisor Randy Young, who serves on the executive committee, noted that a third option was to re-advertise the post and go through another round of interviews, but the committee opted not to go that route.
Supervisor Dennis Knaak was the lone vote against Rigsby’s appointment, noting that he had nothing against his colleague but questioned the process for how he was recommended for the seat.
“I was very disappointed to learn that the clerk had been almost guaranteed the job from a newspaper (article),” Knaak said. “I was disappointed to learn that was going on.”
Knaak has previously served as clerk for the Town of Birnamwood for 20 years, and he said he worked with other municipal clerks as part of his job.
“It’s a tough job just for somebody coming in,” Knaak said. “He wasn’t the first choice.”
Knaak also suggested cutting the salary for the clerk, who will be paid $72,904.68 this year, due to Rigsby not having any experience in the county position. The pay in 2026 will be $74,727.30. In 2027, it will be $76,595.48, and in 2028, the salary will be $78,510.37.
However, the law prohibits changing salaries for elected officials except for prior to an election season opening up.
“We’d have to change the state statutes, and we can’t do that here,” Knaak said.
Rigsby does have clerk experience for the Town of Seneca, to which he’s previously said he plans to remain in that position.
As for Rigsby’s seat for Supervisor District 22, Kautza plans to immediately look for his replacement, first through recommendations from other supervisors, and if that doesn’t pan out, the county will put out a notice for seeking replacements. District 22 includes the city of Marion, towns of Seneca and Grant, and part of the Town of Morris.
Rigsby was elected as supervisor in April 2024, defeating Anne Smith.
lpulaski@newmedia-wi.com
Rigsby installed as Shawano County clerk
