May 22, 2017 at 12:46 p.m.
Minocqua Town Board again discusses town treasurer issue
Lack of access brought up at annual meeting April 20; Fried has it back on the agenda
Minocqua Town Board again discusses town treasurer issue
Laura Mendez, who's been town treasurer for 20 years, was re-elected April 4.
In October, she took a full-time job at Lakeland Union High School and will be working at LUHS through the summer as well, covering for another LUHS employee who will be on maternity leave.
"The treasurer's office used to have set hours," Handrick said. "From what I understand now, there are no set hours for the treasurer's office so somebody can't look online or call and know they can come up and talk to the town treasurer. Are there or are there not set hours?"
Town chairman Mark Hartzheim said the town board doesn't set the hours.
"I'll let the town treasurer answer your question, I guess," he said, referring to Mendez.
She told Handrick he could have left her a message or sent her an email as she responds to them when she arrives at the town office in the evening.
"I think it's unfair to the taxpayers that during the hours that the town office is open, the town treasurer is not available," Handrick said. "And I don't know what can be done about it. Obviously, there's money for part time help in the treasurer's office. Maybe it's been proven that money's not needed anymore if she can come in at night and do her job. I know she used to be open three days a week - Monday, Wednesday and Friday years ago. I just don't think it's fair to the taxpayers that they can't actually talk to the town treasurer."
He said it was no different than Hartzheim as town chairman.
"You don't have to be here at anytime but we damn well expect you to be here during the day," Handrick said. "I don't know what we can do. We can't force her to have hours but I don't think it's fair to the taxpayers. If she can't fulfill her job, maybe she should resign and somebody else can be elected or appointed that's available during normal business hours."
That led to a discussion about making the town treasurer's position in Minocqua an appointed one and not elected, giving the town board more options.
Nothing was decided then but the matter was discussed again at the May 16 town board meeting.
'Someone's been in the office'
Hartzheim said town supervisor Billy Fried asked for town treasurer office hours be an agenda item with the possibility of more discussion regarding a change from an elected treasurer to one who's appointed.
"I think most of the board wants to have a conversation about it, acknowledging she is an elected official and there are limitations to ... well, there's really no authority we have to direct how that position is operated," he said. "We certainly can have a discussion as to what our own opinions and thoughts are about the position."
Fried asked if Mendez was aware of the agenda item and Hartzheim told him she was, as town clerk Roben Haggart provided her a copy of the agenda "so she would be aware and not blindsided that this was on here and not given an opportunity to be present or participate."
"My understanding is she's chosen not to be present," Hartzheim said.
He said the town's attorney, Greg Harrold, who was at the meeting for another agenda item, stayed in the event questions got into things statutory in nature.
"What some of the town board's options are and the public's options," Hartzheim said and he gave the floor to Fried.
"I think the concern was ... well, first of all, I know with elected officials, it seems there can be a really broad interpretation of what the responsibilities are and what you hold them accountable to, other than voting at the voting booth," he said.
Fried asked Harrold if there was a requirement for hours worked or a job description for town treasurer in the town of Minocqua.
"Not in the statute," Harrold said. "The treasurer's duties are established by statute. It doesn't talk about keeping any specific hours."
"Are they held accountable to those jobs being done?" Fried asked. "Like if they're not being done, do we have any ability to hold them accountable?"
Harrold said there were two mechanisms which could be used to hold a town treasurer - or any elected official - accountable, the first being a recall election and the other removal for cause, the latter one that would involve legal proceedings.
Fried said he didn't think either was anything the town wanted to pursue but again asked Harrold about accountability with regard to requirements for a town treasurer to have set office hours and returning phone calls.
"No," Harrold said.
"So really it's about getting the responsibilities done," Fried said. "But I assume at some point, the town of Minocqua put a salary of $19,000 on this position and ... I don't know the history but I assume when the raises were given, there was some assumption by the taxpayers that this person's working X amount of days or hours or holding office hours."
He said based on the discussion at the annual meeting, it sounded as if things have changed with the treasurer's position from what people had become accustomed to.
"In talking to Roben, it sounded like over the years- I don't know if it's 15 years or 20 years - someone's been in the office a few days a week, returning phone calls and a lot of those duties are falling now on our current clerk and office staff that weren't there before," Fried said. "I think that's where a lot of the concern came up in what we can provide to the taxpayers that we've become accustomed to and I gotta believe that's what the salary was based on. But, being an elected official, they can ride out their term and the taxpayers will be the ones to either vote going forward or not."
Fried said another possibility brought up at the annual meeting was making the treasurer position an appointed one.
He said another option was making the clerk and treasurer positions combined.
"They have to be done at an annual meeting," Harrold said. "A town meeting and if it's the fall budget meeting, it has to be an agendized item."
Fried said he wanted the item on the agenda so he can properly understand what's different from what people are accustomed to.
"It's my understanding, Roben or Mark, and maybe I'm perceiving it wrong, at this point, I don't know if it's been the last six months or so, we haven't had a town treasure that holds any regular office hours?" he asked. "Is that correct?"
"Yes," Haggart said.
Hartzheim said Haggart interacts with the treasurer much more than he does.
"As far as regular business hours, I'd say she has some but they're very limited," he said.
Between 4 and 4:30 p.m. Hartzheim said he believed Mendez is generally there.
Fried wanted to know if there was any way to know if the duties set in the state statute were being completed.
Harrold said there was a list of specified duties and read them from the state statute.
In some towns, he said, the treasurer is asked to give a report.
That's the case for most other towns in the Lakeland area.
Fried asked if it was known if any of the treasurer's duties weren't being done and Haggart said she wasn't as she turns the deposits over.
Town supervisor Susan Heil, who co-owns Booth Lake Landing, said room taxes had been collected by Mendez from her business and others.
"I can guarantee you those checks weren't cashed for months," she said. "So, she's not directly depositing as fast as she can and that's been over the years. Not just six months."
Fried said he wished Mendez was at the meeting and commended her service during her time in office until she'd taken jobs recently.
"My concern is more a salary was established, I think, for someone the taxpayers thought maybe would put more time in here," he said.
Supervisor Bill Stengl agreed and pointed out Haggart's salary is based on her responsibilities as town clerk.
"She's getting stuff piled on her that she's not compensated for," he said. "That's not fair, either."
Fried said as far as could be seen, Mendez is within budget and he reiterated the importance of serving the taxpayers and he acknowledged while the town board had very little control over the position from an accountability standpoint, it could with portions of the treasurer's budget.
"Any adjustments we can do," he said. "I think it starts with a discussion with her to see if we can get more time in the office."
Town supervisor John Thompson said Mendez was asked to attend the meeting by Haggart.
"She said, 'No,'" he said. "There's your discussion. There isn't one."
Thompson said other town office staff members have other things they need to do.
"It sounds like we can't do anything," he said. "It's pretty much what it comes down to."
"We could make it an appointed position," Heil said.
"If we telegraph we're going to make it an appointed position, we'll see even less of her over the next two years," Stengl said.
A few minutes later, Fried asked about having Mendez come to a meeting to give a treasurer's report.
"We could address some of these things to see, from her perspective, if they're being done?" he asked.
"That's a great idea," Stengl said.
"Then we could ask her some of these other questions and how we might improve it with her schedule," Fried said. "How about we start with that?"
"We can request a treasurer's report, under state statute," Stengl said.
"I assume she could cooperate or not," Hartzheim said.
"Pardon?" Harrold asked.
"For reporting the books, we could ask her for that," Hartzheim said. "That's in the statutes. But if we stray into some of these other areas, she could cooperate or not."
Harrold said questions about how she does her job could be asked at that time.
"OK, but we'd need to have it on the agenda, then," Hartzheim said.
"You can have 'Treasurer's report' like a lot of towns have and we can go into questions about office hours and other things, can't we?" Fried asked.
"Shouldn't do that," Hartzheim said.
"It needs to be more specific?" Fried asked.
"You can't have stuff on the agenda that's 'Treasurer's report,'" Hartzheim said. "It's just reporting numbers and account figures."
He said the police chief's report and public works director's report are being removed from Minocqua Town Board meeting agendas for similar reasons.
"They're too broad," he said. "Supervisors can venture off into any area, ask any question. It just enables too broad a discussion beyond the agendized item."
Just before the discussion concluded, Hartzheim said "the boss is the ballot box."
Fried asked that a treasurer's report be on the agenda of a future meeting, the purpose to update the town board on office hours, room tax and the treasurer's 2017 budget.
Brian Jopek may be reached via email at [email protected].
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