Jefferson County Circuit Court Judge William V. Gruber has ruled that Town of Palmyra Board members violated Wisconsin’s Open Meetings Law on five occasions in 2023, in a case brought by local resident and former board member Weenonah Brattset.
A story in the Nov. 14, 2025 issue of the Palmyra Enterprise described the violations. According to the story:
Gruber’s ruling requires the town to reimburse Brattset for over
$35,000 in attorney fees and court costs and issues forfeitures against
Palmyra Town Board Chair Frank Sauter ($300) and supervisors Rob
Martens ($350) and Josh Gajewski ($250).
The five violations of the Open Meetings Law were as follows:
- In June 2023, Martens and Gajewski engaged in town business over emails instead of holding such discussions in a properly noticed, public meeting.
- On Aug. 14, 2023, the board discussed the lease of Bobcat equipment to the Town Airport when that topic was not on the agenda.
- On Oct. 9, 2023, the board went into closed session relying only the language of a statutory exemption without providing sufficient information to the public about what they would be discussing.
- On Dec. 11, 2023, the board went into closed session relying only the language of a statutory exemption without providing sufficient information to the public about what they would be discussing and also improperly used the closed session to interview a town attorney candidate.
- On Dec. 19, 2023, the board improperly used a closed session to interview another town attorney candidate.
Tom Kamenick, President and Founder of the Wisconsin Transparency Project, which represented Brattset, responded to the judge’s ruling in the email he sent out along with details on the incidents.
“The judge said the Town was ‘categorically noncompliant’ with the Meetings Law,” Kamenick said. “He said he had ‘no difficulty’ concluding that they broke the law.”
According to Kamenick, a sixth claim remains unresolved and will be scheduled for a trial. That claim alleges that Sauter and Martens met with the chair of the Airport Commission to discuss the town’s Bobcat, which constituted an unnoticed meeting of the town board. The town claims only Martens conversed with the chair.
Brattset released a statement that said she was “pleased” with the outcome of the legal action. “I hope the current board will keep the public well informed about its actions in the future. We would all benefit,” Brattset said as part of the statement.
