Village of Waunakee blocks Waunakee Fire Department’s (Probably Illegal) Election of a New Fire Chief
“Tell me your purpose is petty again
But even a small lighter can burn a bridge…”– Kendrick Lamar (probably not singing about inter-governmental agreements)
A LINEAR TIMELINE OF SMALL TOWN POLITICS AND VIBE-KILLING TOMFOOLERY
June 24, 2024: The Village of Waunakee reports to the Waunakee Area Fire District that it plans on moving forward with an audit and study of the Waunakee Fire Department. The Fire district largely declines to participate in the study, with Waunakee incorporating all requests in the report, produced by McMahon Associates of Neenah, Wisconsin.
August 18, 2024: The McMahon study proposing long-term dramatic changes to the Waunakee Fire Department is published and discussed by the Waunakee Village Board. Copies of the study are provided to Westport, Vienna and Springfield.
The study explicitly notes the following:
“MCMAHON recommends that the Fire District Operating Agreement be updated immediately to include a Fire Commission that appoints the Fire Chief and confirms appointment of officers and subordinates of the Fire Chief to conform with State Statutes.
August 20, 2024: I post “Burning Down the House” an article about the study, which is available here.
The McMahon study is discussed again in August, September and finally discussed at length by the Fire District in October 2024.
December 11, 2024: The Village representatives at the regular Fire District meeting explicitly request that plans be made for the Department’s officer succession, as Mr. Gary Hansen has indicated he planned on leaving his role as Fire Chief effective January 20, 2025. The fire district declines to move forward with any work in creating a fire commission. The district explicitly moves to not change any aspect of the Fire District Operating Agreement by a 3-2 vote (both Waunakee representatives oppose this motion). Waunakee representatives argue that moving forward without planning will lead to the Department being in non-compliance with State law. Reps from Springfield and Vienna in particular appear non-plussed.
December 16, 2024: The Village of Waunakee passes an ordinance expressly requiring the Fire Department’s chief to only be appointed the (non-existent) Fire Commission, noting that “The fire chief shall be appointed by the Fire Commission pursuant to applicable Wisconsin Statutes, including, but not limited to, Wis. Stat. § 61.65(2b) and (3g), as may be amended from time to time.”
December 2024: Waunakee posts an FAQ on the need for a Fire Commission, with the hilarious understatement that “The current Board of Trustees for the Village of Waunakee deems it important to comply with Wisconsin State Statutes.”
January 20, 2025: The Fire Department elects Josh McWilliams, an 18 year volunteer firefighter and Waunakee Public Works employee, as its next Fire Chief.
January 21, 2025: The Village of Waunakee meets in closed session to discuss the Fire Department’s election of a new fire chief, in contravention to local ordinance and State law. The Board unanimously crafts a statement to be read at the January 27th Fire District meeting. The statement is as follows:
January 27, 2025: The Waunakee Area Fire District meets. The board engages in a general discussion, but from my impression it takes the position that it will be unable to formalize a Fire Commission until at least August 2025. This timeline makes literally zero sense. The district has been told that they are out of compliance with State law since at least August 2024. I know bureaucracy is slow, but starting a fire commission could have already been done, if only to collaborate with the Fire Department membership in picking a new chief. In short, elected officials in Waunakee, Westport, Vienna and Springfield conclusively KNEW that they were in non-compliance with State law, and there seem to have been no concrete steps taken to create a fire commission, at least by anyone other than Waunakee.
It hurts me to write this. I enjoy nothing more than poking fun at the #waunakeeway. But in this, I am deprived of any criticism. There isn’t even a funny political angle, as the two candidates for Village President (Robert McPherson and Kristin Runge) appear to be in total lockstep and in my view are being fairly straightforward.
For my part, with all due respect, I am confused by the Fire District’s refusal to move more quickly on establishing a fire commission. The McMahon report in August 2024 made the immediate need for change clear, and there appears to be no objection to their legal analysis.
The Department’s desire to continue its tradition in the face of explicit laws preventing them from continuing to choose their own fire chief appears to be revelatory about the organization itself. The Waunakee Fire Department has operated under its own authority with only nominal oversight by the Village or the Fire District for many decades. More than one employee of the Department has privately stated they will refuse to allow “politicians to run the Department”. The Fire Department itself is not subject to open records laws. This means that membership lists are secret, applications to serve the Department are secret, rejected candidates have no recourse or avenue of appeal, communications between what appear to be public employees (but are not) are secret. I have joked half-seriously that Fire Fighters in Waunakee could commit all sorts of heinous crimes and hijinks out of their trucks, and Waunakee would have literally zero recourse to remove them.
Waunakee appears to be acting proactively. It has launched a FAQ page (linked above) on its website that answers questions about the necessity of a fire commission. It has never taken any position that disrespects or minimizes the contributions or value of the volunteer fire department or its members. It does however, refuse to continue to allow the Fire Department to do exactly what it wants.
In contrast, multiple Fire District/Department employees have either openly threatened that if Waunakee seemingly does anything, that it might be without a fire department at all.
I take this implied threat with a bit of mirth. I have oft-heard it suggested that the Fire volunteers are the most selfless guys you’ll ever meet. I’ll just grant that without questioning it. If it is true, why would the wonderful volunteers quit merely over the Department losing its ability to pick all of its own members and pick their own supervisor? I don’t believe a majority of the Department feels that way.
This kind of manipulative, controlling statement is the not the hallmark of dedicated public servants; it’s the hallmark of the abuser.
If the Fire Department is in fact, as I believe, filled with men who are dedicated to the best interests of their communities, they should repudiate threats to quit over changes to the Fire Department. I walked around the exterior of the Waunakee Fire Department last night and I noticed the large number of trucks carrying vanity plates about fire fighting. The members laud their accomplishments publicly, they work in the community to keep us safe, and they have made being a volunteer firefighter a part of their families, their culture, and their very personalities. No one is disrespecting them, but those who would attempt to threaten the Village with withholding vital public services in a fit of pique and egotism, certainly are causing harm.
It seems like the Fire Department had a good vibe going. Why has the Fire District let them down by not acting more quickly?
Most egregiously, at least one member of the Fire District, Matt Wright, town board member of Springfield, explicitly stated in December that he saw no need for the fire district to exercise any oversight over the Fire Department. This means that Mr. Wright, who controls 20% of the fire district through his vote, both abdicates any responsibility he has to supervise while maintaining his own municipality’s desire to deprive Waunakee of control over its own Fire District. Springfield paid literally $59,387 (equalized) toward the Waunakee fire district. Waunakee paid $734,000 (and change). Through that $59K, Springfield buys itself a vote in a 3-2 majority to refuse to change inter-governmental agreements, to stall changes to the Fire Department, to prevaricate over even starting a Fire Commission.
And people want to blame… Waunakee? I like criticizing Waunakee as much as anyone I know. But this is monumentally stupid.
When considering how to title this article, Lesley Gore’s “It’s My Party (And I’ll Cry if I Want To” was strongly considered.
I’ve asked the 2025 candidates for Village Board and Village President to opine on the Village’s position statement and will update this post as they’ve shared their opinions, without commentary from myself.
FIRST UPDATE
Multiple generations of my own family have served as volunteer firefighters in Waunakee over its history, and I have great respect for the dedication and commitment of our current volunteers. When I first took my oath of office four years ago, I swore to support all local ordinances and discharge my duties in accordance with the law, as did all other village elected officials. State statutes are abundantly clear that the fire chief must be appointed by a commission of citizens, not volunteer firefighters. I strongly support the volunteer fire department, have no desire to push volunteers out, nor do I disagree with the qualifications of the individual the membership selected. That’s not what this is about. However, I have an obligation to uphold our state statutes when the village and/or the fire district board is knowingly in violation of them. That’s why the board voted unanimously to change local ordinances to comply.
- Sam Kaufmann
As was read in the written statement, the village is in unanimous agreement in support of a continued volunteer fire department. The village made multiple attempts, both at the monthly fire board meetings and then by definitively and unanimously passing an ordinance, to indicate that the fire district must come into compliance with state law on the selection of a fire chief. Despite those actions, the membership held a closed-door secret ballot election of a new chief, with no transparency to the public, in open violation of state and local law. There will be further discussion at upcoming village board meetings in February on this topic, which were planned for knowing that our statement would potentially cause concerns and confusion. I would encourage anyone interested in this topic to attend, make public comment, and hear from the entire board on future actions, or reach out to the board via phone or email.
- Robert McPherson
As a candidate for Village Board and a member of the Waunakee Fire Department, I want to make my position clear: I fully support the establishment of a citizen-based fire commission. The fire commission should appoint the Chief. It is the law. The citizens of all four municipalities also deserve a means of accountability should they require it. No one is disputing this. The ongoing conflict stems from the collective failure of all four municipalities to reach a resolution on this matter, and it is a dereliction of their duty as sworn officials. This lack of compromise created a challenging and unprecedented situation. I am disappointed by the Village’s statement and rushed ordinance three weeks before the retirement of a sitting fire chief. Chief Hansen gave ample notice of his retirement at the beginning of his two-year tenure. Despite this, the municipalities could not come to an agreement to accommodate a law that was authored before 1937. It took our Village officials 88 years and $35,000 to determine that the Fire District was out of compliance. In the absence of clear legal precedent, the department followed its bylaws to maintain day-to-day operations and comply with SPS 330.08(3). The Wisconsin statutes do not provide any direction on how to handle this matter when the municipalities’ failure to create a fire commission is to blame. With no clear timetable for a resolution, emergency services cannot afford paralysis. If we were to follow the Village’s statement, it would leave no mechanism to replace officers in critical situations, including a line of duty death, which jeopardizes the safety of both the department and the community. The Fire Department wants to follow the law, but Village officials did not provide the department with the means to do so.
- Max Ujdak
No comment provided.
- Chris Zellner
Editor’s note. Chris Zellner was Village President and a Village Board member for 12 years while the Fire District was in non-compliance with state law.
No comment provided.
- Dustin Mueller
Request for comment unanswered.
- Kristin Runge, Village President
Editor’s note. Ms. Runge was one of seven members of the Village Board to vote in favor of the FD statement read on Monday.
No comment provided.
- Jack Heinemann
Waunakee & Friends 
Interesting. Did not know there was so much drama going on with the fire department. Also did not know how much the budget for a volunteer department is. Hmmm. 🤔
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