Tag: education

Bitch, Don’t Kill My Vibe

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.

waunakee_fire_district_analysis_final_reportDownload

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.”

FAQ – Fire Commission_202501280942020222Download

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

“Save it, Get Gone, Shut Up.”

Following another election in which openly conservative candidates fail to gain traction in Waunakee following the publication of direct attacks on the school district over DEI and LGBT+ issues, where will the community turn?

Last week, the Dane Undivided blog posted an anonymous screed, titled “Gender-Bending Books at Waunakee School District’s Camp Kindergarten” with such catchy subheadings as “Are Schools Fostering Gender Dysphoria?” and makes the following closing argument to a WCSD audience within short distance before a School Board election where at least one conservative candidate is openly seeking to do battle with “DEI” in schools:


“Most parents want their elementary aged children to be taught valuable academics  at school. We want the school to stay out of trying to influence our child about thier [sic] sexual identity. We see great harm being done even by reading books to our children about gender identity. But the bottom line is that our schools are not what we want them to be. They’re mostly not run by people we can trust. In truth, our schools have been captured, and many of the teachers and administrators who staff them think they’re actually doing our children a favor by teaching lessons on gender identity. Parents who sit back these days run the real risk of seeing their children isolated from them and permanently damaged. Is it a risk you’re willing to take?

If any of this information concerns you, then you should demand to be fully informed on every single book, lesson, survey, and activity that your child is doing at school. It’s not just Waunakee that’s taking liberties…”


In short, the Anonymous Author sees “great harm” in a book being read to children about a boy who puts on a dress with some pretty pictures. Further, the author claims our schools are “not run by people we can trust” and suggests the schools are permanently damaging children by reading such books as “Julian At the Wedding”.

NSFW – This picture has caused a dramatic spike in top surgery procedures being scheduled for local 5 year-olds.

As any recent parent of a young child knows, if you read to your kids, you’re likely to end up reading a panoply of boring, inane or otherwise forgettable works of art designed to sell books to parents desperately holding off sticking their children in front of a tablet. Julian at the Wedding is a fairly anodyne entry in the thousands upon thousands of books in the milieu of children’s literary entertainment. If you’re tired of reading Paw Patrol or Roald Dahl to your kids, you can read a book about a boy who tries on a dress at a Big Lesbian Wedding and then dances at the party. BFD.

Perhaps those afraid of Julian are afraid of the sequels to this work of fiction (that they’ve created in their own brains), including: “Julian Scores a Hat-Trick on the U8 Girls Soccer Team”; “Julian Decides That Peeing Sitting Down is Preferable”; and “Julianna’s Grandparents Are Cancelled for Deadnaming”.

“At Heritage Elementary in Waunakee, WI, we definitely see some things happening around both LGBTQ+ and gender-bending books that administrators want to keep in the dark.”

Anonymous Author on Dane Undivided

I must respectfully disagree. I filed an open records request on March 26, 2024 with the Waunakee Community School District, as follows:

hopefully-very-quick-open-records-requestDownload

I never believed there was anything happening in the school district related to LGBTQ+ or “gender bending books” that the district wants to keep in the dark. This is buoyed by the fact that multiple individuals have done records requests over the last 2 years regarding these issues, and the district has presumably responded. The records obtained today (April 3, 2024) in response to my request are addressed below.

The individual who requested the information disclosed in the Dane Undivided piece stated her name is “Ruth Nelson”. I’ve attempted to contact the only Ruth Nelson I could find who lives in the Waunakee area and have received no comment.

It is unclear why Dane Undivided decided to redact Nelson’s name from the email chain.

Dane Undivided’s desire to prevent things from being kept “in the dark” clearly does not extend to their own identities.

It is not clear if Nelson is the author of the Dane Undivided piece, or if they were merely the conduit of information to the anonymous authors. Regardless, I place no value judgment on Mx. Nelson, as nothing in their emails indicates any level of animosity towards anyone, as they merely requested information from the District.

ruth-nelson-email-correspondenceDownload

Further, the following documents display the records requests the district received from other individuals related to DEI, CRT, gender issues in the last two years:

  • Five (5) requests from an “Ann Marie Malich” (who bizarrely copies Board of Education member Ted Frey on every email).
  • A request from (presumably failed BOE candidate) “Zach Jensen” in which they claim that a teacher “read a book either about or involving drag queens, and then showed a subsequent video of similar content to her first grade class”.
  • A request from a “Greg Gentz” over a spectacularly broad range of items.
orr-2022-to-present_redactedDownload

And in a grand dénouement, these are those dastardly lesson plans in which Waunakee Camp Kindergarten teachers plot the destruction of the gender dichotomy that has upheld western civilization for +2000 years.

camp-k-lesson-plans-week-1-1Download
camp-k-lesson-plans-week-2-1Download
camp-k-lesson-plans-week-3Download

In summary:

Waunakee district staff are not grooming children. Don’t be stupid.

Teachers are not pushing gender ideology in class. No one really thinks this.

They are doing the best job they can to teach children through a transiently hostile work environment created by chronically misinformed, jughooting muppets.

Email your child’s teacher(s) today and tell them they’re doing a good job.

That’s what I’m going to do. And while you’re at it, email your Board of Education representatives and tell them to visibly speak out against this nonsense.

Last night, Mark Hetzel absolutely rinsed his challenger for his long-held board seat. If that’s not a mandate to support what Mark has already been doing by supporting public schools, I’m not sure what is. To his credit, Mark actually has already publicly fought back against Dane Undivided drivel while most others remained silent.


Above all else, I’m selfish. I’m supposed to be retired from these issues. I’m sure they’d be thrilled to never hear from me again. Maybe even tell the BOE members that if they bothered to publicly advocate for their staff and shut bad faith individuals down, “Mike Brandt might actually shut the fuck up for a change.”

It’s not likely, but it’s obviously worth a shot. ;-D