Green Bay School Board member Kou Lee did not live at the address he listed on his campaign filings in 2024, according to Lee and the person who lives at the address, and it’s unclear when he moved into the district. Acting on a tip from a reader, the Green Bay Press-Gazette looked into the status of Lee’s residency and found conflicting reports.
Hours after the Press-Gazette published the story online on May 8, Lee resigned from the board.
Lee says he lives in the district now, but recent property tax records for a home he owns outside school district boundaries and neighbors’ observations raise questions.
Reporter Nadia Scharf’s story included that Lee was elected to the School Board on April 2, 2024 and filed a declaration of candidacy on Jan. 2, 2024, listing his address as 2027 Enderby Lane. A campaign finance registration statement filed later that same month listed the same address, as did a pre-election campaign finance report filed March 27, 2024, less than a week before he was elected.
The Enderby Lane address is within school district boundaries, but Lee did not live at that address. Lee told the Press-Gazette he considered living at the Enderby Lane address he listed on his campaign filings. When a reporter knocked on that door, the person who answered said he owned the home and had lived there for many years, and said he didn’t know Lee.
Lee didn’t vote in his April 2024 election, though he was on the ballot. Under state law, school board candidates must have resided in the district for 28 days before declaring their candidacy and must continue to live in the district after their election, but no one checks that they live at the address they file under. For Lee, that means the latest he could have moved was Dec. 5, 2023.
As part of filing campaign papers, Lee swore he lived on Enderby Lane, and that the Enderby address was his voting residence, despite never voting there. He also listed Enderby Lane as his mailing address when listing loans he made to his own campaign.
Before the election, Lee lived in Hobart, outside the district, according to court, property and tax records, as well as 2021 statements from Lee. Also, 2024 property tax records show he’s still claiming the home in Hobart as his primary residence. Additionally, court records put him at the home as late as July 2024, and neighbors of the house in Hobart say they see him regularly.
Lee’s 2024 property tax bill for the Hobart property shows a credit for the state lottery and gaming relief tax credit claimed Nov. 1, 2024. Taxpayers can claim that credit only at their primary residence, according to the Wisconsin Department of Revenue. Property owners may claim only one primary address, and they may not claim the credit on business property, rental units, vacant land, garages or anything other than the main address.
Green Bay City Clerk Celestine Jeffreys said her office confirms whether the address a candidate lists on cam- paign documents is within the district’s boundaries, but doesn’t confirm the candidate lives there. This goes for school board members, council members and other elected officials like the mayor.
It’s possible that intentionally misrepresenting one’s residence as an elected official could result in charges, Brown County District Attorney David Lasee said, but it depends on the specific facts of the case.
Law enforcement would have to investigate, he said. An official at the Wisconsin Elections Commission couldn’t give a definitive answer on whether it’s permissible for an elected official to use one address for tax purposes but a separate address for voting purposes. WEC communications specialist John Smalley referred to Wisconsin statute 8.28 on residency challenges, saying it would have to be investigated after a complaint.
Lee resigned as a Green Bay School Board member in the wake of the Press- Gazette investigation. The school district sent out a news release the afternoon of May 8 saying Lee resigned, but no reason was given. Lee’s term is set to end in April 2027.
