Duke Behnke
Appleton Post-Crescent
GRAND CHUTE — Former Town Administrator Jim March filed a lawsuit against Grand Chute, Town Chair Jason Van Eperen, Supervisor Ron Wolff and former Supervisor Jeff Ings, claiming they violated Wisconsin’s open meetings law.
The lawsuit alleges Van Eperen, Ings and Wolff knowingly attended an illegal meeting of a quorum of the Town Board on Feb. 11, March 9 and May 2, all in 2023, and that at each meeting, town business was discussed and the required statutory notice was not given.
At the May 2 meeting, the Town Board met in closed session for nearly two hours before reconvening in open session and voting 4-1 to fire March without cause.
March’s lawsuit contends that neither March nor the public nor supervisors Brad Gehring and Beth English were informed by the May 2 meeting notice that final action may be taken against March and that March had the right to demand the meeting be held in open session.
“When Jim was fired, everybody was surprised that a vote had been taken at that meeting because it hadn’t been noticed as a termination meeting,” March’s attorney, Michael Fox, told The Post-Crescent.
The lawsuit asks the court to void March’s firing due to the improperly noticed meeting on May 2 and to assess forfeitures for all three meeting violations. It further asks the court to award March attorney fees and costs for bringing the action.
Why are these allegations surfacing now?
The lawsuit arose in part from testimony taken in September during depositions for a federal lawsuit that March filed in May 2023 against the town, Van Eperen, Wolff and Ings, alleging they fired him in retaliation for cooperating with a state criminal investigation involving Wolff. The defendants have denied any wrong- doing. The case is pending in U.S. District Court.
Michael Koles, executive director of the Wisconsin Town Association, testified in the federal case that he met with Van Eperen, Ings and Wolff on Feb. 11, 2023, at The Marq in De Pere and on March 9, 2023, at Holidays Pub & Grill in Appleton. He said town business, including the state investigation and March’s compensation, was discussed.
Koles testified that at the March 9 meeting, Van Eperen, Ings and Wolff asked him for the name of an attorney that would be effective at deal- ing with personnel issues. Koles recommended Attolles Law of Milwaukee. A month later the Town Board hired Attolles Law to review March’s employment contract.
The Feb. 11 and March 9 quorum notices issued by Grand Chute said no official action would be taken at the meetings. Koles said he had been unaware of how the meetings were noticed until right before his deposition.
“When you have three supervisors discussing town business without a notice of a meeting, it’s an illegal meeting,” Koles testified. “That’s pretty simple town law.”
What is the response from the town?
The defendants were served with the lawsuit Tuesday.
Town Administrator Richard Downey said Grand Chute is working with legal counsel and its new insur- ance carrier, Community Insurance Corp., to defend against the lawsuit.
There is a question of whether the town’s previous insurance carrier, Employers Mutual Casualty Co., will play a role, given that the alleged violations occurred during its coverage period.
The Post-Crescent reached out to Van Eperen for comment. The lawsuit says he was primarily respon-sible for providing the required statutory notices for the meetings.
“I can share that the town’s insurance is working on this,” Van Eperen said by email. “I wish I could share more, but it is in the best interest of the town and myself that I don’t.”
Former town chair previously alleged violations
Former Town Chair Dave Schowalter previously had filed a com- plaint, back in May 2023, with the Outagamie County District Attorney’s Office alleging the Town Board failed to properly notice the May 2 closed session in which it decided to fire March.
Schowalter said Outagamie referred the complaint to the Brown County District Attorney’s Office. He hasn’t heard anything since.
“We can’t get an answer,” Schowalter said.
Contact Duke Behnke at 920-993- 7176 or dbehnke@gannett.com. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter, at @DukeBehnke.
