A former Rhinelander city council president has challenged Mayor Chris Frederickson's authority to hire a person to consult on administrative work.
Former Wisconsin Rapids mayor Zach Vruwink was hired as a consultant earlier this month by Frederickson to help with duties after the termination of former administrator Daniel Guild.
Dawn Rog wrote a letter to the current council saying Frederickson exceeded his authority to hire someone without first getting formal authorization from the common council. Rog cited a League of Wisconsin Municipalities opinion, which cited prior court cases.
Frederickson defended his action Monday, saying City Attorney Steve Sorenson said Frederickson had the authority under an approved emergency action declaration put in place during the COVID-19 outbreak.. "I reached out to Steve(city attorney Sorenson) and I said, 'hey, do you think I could bring him (Vruwink) on as deputy administrator, or anything else, given the emergency order that I can hire at this point, being the acting administrator, for help'. He said, 'we'll figure something ou t'."
After Guild was terminated, Frederickson announced he had hired Vruwink on a short-term contract. Later, the council extended Vruwink's contract until the end of June.
Sorenson questioned the cases cited by Rog as the final legal word on the matter.
