The Lac du Flambeau Town Hall will be locked during the day when only one person is there, according to a story authored by Brian Jopek published in the April 22, 2025 issue of The Lakeland Times.
According to the story, town chairman Matt Gaulke and town supervisor Dennis Pearson approved the item during what was the final time the three-member town board would meet on April 15 during a brief special town board meeting before the annual meeting.
During the annual meeting, the board was formally expanded to five with Gaulke, Pearson and town supervisor Bob Hanson joined by Stephanie Greeneway and Ray Wildcat who were elected on April 1. The special meeting had been called with the sole item for discussion and possible action an update from town clerk Susan Schoonover regarding the April election “and Post Election activities.”
Gaulke was re-elected as town chairman on April 1, by a tally of 590 votes to 583 for challenger Stephanie Thompson. Thompson filed a petition for a re-count two days after the election, on Thursday, April 3.
“That Petitioner is informed that a mistake or fraud has been commit- ted in the Town of Lac du Flambeau in the counting and return of votes cast for the office of Town Chair, Town of Lac du Flambeau,” Thompson’s recount petition alleged. “An unusual number (1,200+) of voters were registered at the polling place, and a number of those registrants arrived at the polls in vehicles bear- ing out-of-state registration plates, creating an appearance of fraudu- lent voting.”
The recount took place on Saturday morning, April 5, at the Lac du Flambeau town hall, the outcome the same — 590 votes for Gaulke and 583 for Thompson, who proceeded to take her case to social media.
During the special meeting, Schoonover — in addition to providing the town board with vote totals for the town which stood at 1,270 — also gave her version of subsequent interaction with Thompson and the effect the social media activity related to the matter was having on her. But board member Bob Hanson reviewed the material from social media and said he didn’t see any threat.
“The Hamas membership in this town is pretty low,” Hanson said during one point in the meeting. “I don’t think we have to worry about terrorism here.”
Thompson acknowledged the perception was that it actually may not have been her who is seen as a threat to Schoonover but rather some of the individuals who have commented on her Facebook posts regarding the issue.
But she indicated there was a reason some of the people who have commented as they have.
“As a town clerk, you should expect that your town citizens are going to come in and ask questions,” Thompson said.
