An ethics hearing was held Friday surrounding Wausau Mayor Doug Diny. After a day's worth of testimony the board came back announcing that their decision on if the mayor broke the city's ethics code would not be publicly announced.
More than 8 hours of testimony were heard inside Wausau City Hall hearing evidence in a complaint against Diny who in the lead up to the 2024 fall election moved an absentee ballot drop box from the grounds of city hall. Mayor Diny says he moved the ballot drop box all for 'safe keeping."
At Friday's hearing, Chief of Wausau Police Department Matthew Barnes told the board that Diny had spoken with him about the security concerns for the drop box. However, Chief Barnes says he never thought Diny intended to block its use.
Those who testified Friday included Chief Barnes as well as City/County IT director Gerald Klein, Public Works director Eric Lindman and Council President Lisa Rasmussen.
Taking the stand also City Clerk, Kaitlyn Bernarde who quickly dismissed Diny's worries about security as the box was not accessible to the community at the time Diny removed it.
"There is a metal plate that…it actually fits into that slot and then you lock it with a key. And that metal plate says Kiosk Closed...It was visibly closed when it was deployed in front of City Hall and locked, where no one can put anything in as well as no one would be able to remove anything from the drop box," says Kaitlyn Bernarde, Wausau City Clerk.
Tension filled the room as attorney for the city, Anne Jacobson also testified, stating she warned the mayor not to interfere with the clerk's authority.
"It became clear to me that he did not want a dropbox deployed for a collection of absentee ballots," said Anne Jacobson, Wausau City Attorney.
Diny also presented his own testimony coming at the tail end of the proceedings.
Stating that the clerk acted out of line, by not discussing the deployment of the dropoff box sooner and added that poor lighting and weekend security risks led him to remove the box.
And after hours of testimony, the hearing going into closed session, the board came back and adjourned for the day.
However no public decision on if Diny broke the city's ethics code was announced, with an attorney for the city saying it will take some time before it can be released in writing.
