The DeForest Ethics Committee dismissed a complaint against DeForest Village President Jane Cahill Wolfgram on Thursday, Feb. 5.
A story in the Feb. 10, 2026 issue of The Star in Sun Prairie covered the committee meeting. According to the story:
The complaint was filed by DeForest resident Dan Jansen who, through open records requests, acquired emails between Cahill Wolfgram and QTS representatives about the company’s formerly proposed data center.
In Jansen’s complaint, he reasoned that the village president should be investigated for a breach of the village’s code of ethics related to:
• Impartiality and Appearance of Impropriety;
• Consistency with Public Representations;
• Disclosure of Private Interests or Relationships and
• Public Trust and Confidence.
Ethics committee members discussed each of the four concerns in relation to the emails provided in Jansen’s complaint. They were tasked with determining whether or not there was probable cause to believe the concerns Jansen raised warranted further investigation.
The board found that three of Jansen’s four concerns raised were hard to support, citing the Village of DeForest’s Code of Ethics.
“When I read through chapter 28 (the ethics code), I didn’t see that that was a specific duty listed under that chapter,” Board Chair Dixon Gahnz said about Jansen’s first concern on Feb. 5.
Gahnz said the same about Jansen’s second and fourth concern. He stated that nothing in the complaint’s materials violated anything spelled out in the village’s code of ethics, to which other committee members agreed.
Ultimately, the committee’s 4-1 vote to dismiss the complaint means that no further investigation will be conducted.
Discussion did occur about Jansen’s third concern regarding disclosure of private interests or relationships, which led to committee member and Village Board Trustee Taysheedra Allen’s dissenting vote.
Allen stated that while she didn’t feel there was enough information provided in the complaint, it did raise con-cerns about Cahill Wolfgram’s husband, Steve Wolfgram’s role in communications with QTS.
She reasoned that his reference in emails was enough for probable cause to further investigate. However, other committee members did not see how his involvement went against any provisions laid out in the village’s ethics code.
In some emails, Cahill Wolfgram mentions her husband in regard to feedback he provided to QTS representatives.
Cahill Wolfgram also makes mention of a dinner with QTS representatives that she and her husband attended during which she says both parties paid for their own bills.
She has since maintained that no financial partnership between her, her husband, or their business, Cahill Wolfgram & Associates, and QTS has ever existed.
When contacted via phone on Friday, Feb. 6 Cahill Wolfgram noted her and her husband’s professional backgrounds in public affairs and energy infrastructure projects. She explained that this experience put the pair in a position to ask pointed questions of QTS that they had heard from community members.
“He had good insight into their answers and he knew what questions we needed to ask. That was a good pairing of us to go and try and get more information,” Cahill Wolfgram said.
Cahill Wolfgram added that she not only tried to disseminate what she learned from these discussions among residents who contacted her, but that it influenced heightened transparency in QTS’ messaging to the public as well.
“We worked with them on the flyer they wanted to send out to everyone because it didn’t answer the questions that were being asked,” Cahill Wolfgram said, “I don’t think residents wanted to know the biography of people at QTS. They wanted to know about energy use, water usage, what ‘closed loop’ meant and if there were chemicals.”
In terms of the content of her discussions with QTS representatives about DeForest and questions that its residents would have, Cahill Wolfgram stated that she didn’t do anything outside of her responsibilities as the village president.
“I get involved maybe a bit earlier than some of the other board members, but they could too,” Cahill Wolfgram said, “It’s a part of the responsibility of the village president, to help assess things.”
The majority of ethics committee members found the existence of a connection between the Wolfgrams and QTS to be speculative, even if Allen said they should look further.
DeForest village staff have made recent attempts to shed light on the economic development process, and how it may differ from public perception.
DeForest Community Development Director Alex Allon gave a presentation on how the village’s development review process occurs at a village board work session on Tuesday, Feb. 3.
Allon stated on Feb. 3 that staff will be implementing ways to inform elected officials and committee members even earlier when they receive applications and petitions from developers. For example, staff will begin to communicate early notices of annexation petitions to village board members and planning & zoning commissioners.
Each planning and zoning commission meeting will also now end with a preview of the next meeting’s agenda.
