County Board upholds Brad Karger suspension
WAUSAU - The Marathon County Board may have lost Administrator Brad Karger with its late-night vote Thursday to uphold the 30-day suspension board members handed him for participating in a racially charged rally this spring.
The board voted 17-15 not to reconsider the punishment after hearing from nearly 20 members of the community who endorsed Karger and told the board that his participation in the march through Wausau was a courageous gesture of support to the region's Hmong community.
It also made the vote after Karger himself addressed board members and told them that if they had lost confidence in him and his ability to lead, they should pursue a separation agreement that would pay him cash to leave his job. Karger told USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin after the vote that he will return to work when his suspension is complete, but not without disappointment in the decision the board made.
"I'm apprehensive as to how well this is going to work," he said after the vote. "I'll do everything I can to make it work."
Karger was suspended for 30 days without pay in July, following his May participation in a rally for Dylan Yang, a 15-year-old Wausau boy who stabbed and killed Isaiah Powell last year during a fight between two groups of boys. Karger said he spoke at the rally to highlight the horrible crime Yang committed, but also to ask for a lenient sentence because of the teen's age when the crime occurred. After the rally, Wausau Police Chief Jeff Hardel and Marathon County Sheriff Scott Parks sent the county letters saying Karger's participation represented an attack on police, the criminal justice system and Yang's victim, 13-year-old Powell.
Those letters prompted the board to begin an investigation of Karger that ultimately led to the board's 30-5 vote to suspend him in July.
Residents Thursday disagreed with that decision; many asked the board why they heard only from Karger's critics and not his supporters before suspending him. Others challenged the board to ask itself why it was so uncomfortable with Hmong people speaking out and demanding justice for a boy who faces 60 years in adult prison when he is sentenced Sept. 6.
Nearly four hours of debate and public commentary, almost all of it in support of Karger, failed to persuade a simple majority of board members that they should revisit the 30-day suspension or their orders that Karger apologize to police and try to rebuild his relationship with them.
The late-night vote followed hours of often-emotional debate and statements from several board members who confessed that they felt they had made a mistake – that they rushed to judgement after hearing only one side of the story and discounted Karger’s long record of service to the county. Some maintained that he used bad judgment even as they argued that their punishment was too severe and rash.
"I feel he was doing his job. I feel he was supporting the community," one resident, Don Oldenburg, told the board. Oldenburg identified himself as a close friend of Dylan Yang's family and was the first to speak on Karger's behalf.
Another resident, Thomas Brown, who described himself as a retired teacher who has taught minorities all over the country and in the Middle East, said he was born and raised in Wausau and the board's attitude did not reflect the values that he learned growing up.
"I'm ashamed... of the actions that you took here," Brown said, after explaining that he never met Karger before Thursday night. "Someone has to stand up and say enough is enough."
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Maysee Yang Herr told the board no one involved in the march agreed with everything that every participant said and that its messages were in no way attacks aimed at the police who investigated Yang's crime.
"We stood for a bigger cause," Herr said. "Anti-bullying, justice, peace."
Several of those who spoke told the board its treatment of Karger and overall attitude toward Hmong residents sent the message to young, talented workers that Marathon County is an unwelcoming place that might be seen as hostile to minorities. Nick O'Brien, who does subcontracting work in economic development, talent attraction and retention and community engagement, was among those who urged board members to consider how their actions were being viewed by employers and workers who might consider moving to the county.
"This is an overwhelming situation we're in," O'Brien said. "It's community turmoil."
O'Brien also said that some of his contacts outside of Wausau have taken notice of the turmoil, and it has overshadowed the good news that Wausau companies are hiring and paying good wages.
"It certainly is affecting our community's efforts," he said of the decision to suspend Karger.
Jay Kronenwetter, Yang's attorney during his homicide trial, was among those who warned the board it was setting a dangerous precedent by allowing county employees to complain about a manager's behavior outside of work, resulting in discipline against the manager simply because the employees don't agree with their manager. He and others said it appeared that the board was punishing Karger because he sided with a group that was critical of government — something a democratic society should welcome.
"He doesn't need to be punished like this," Kronenwetter said. "From my knowledge of his contract, he was allowed to participate."
Chongsee Her, a Wausau resident of 36 years, joined others in reminding the board that Karger had committed no crime, violated no workplace rules and that his participation was viewed by many as an admirable thing.
"What he did there, I think that he set a good leadership role into the community. He should not be punished like this," Her said. "What he did set a good positive example of a good leader for all of us. I wholeheartedly support (that Karger's punishment) should be reversed ..."
Only one resident who spoke urged the board to fire Karger, agreeing with the board's original position that Karger's participation represented an attack on police and the criminal justice system as a whole.
Several board members, particularly those who represent rural districts, said they heard the same thing from their constituents, who urged them to uphold the suspension in a signal of solidarity with police.
Ultimately, members who maintained that Karger demonstrated poor judgment and needed to be held accountable prevailed. Member Sherry Abitz, who previously likened the march to a KKK rally, conceded that the board acted in haste and without complete information, but she refused to reconsider her vote in favor of suspension.
Board members universally agreed that Karger has been a good employee who has done great things in his more than two decades of public service, but they couldn’t forgive the anti-police message the march sent to the community.
Board member Craig McEwen joined others who supported the suspension in saying he hoped the board's relationship with Karger can be mended.
“I hope it does work out,” McEwen said. “I want him to come back, but it’s going to be very difficult.”
That leaves Karger's future with the county uncertain. He said he still is considering legal action against the county, and board member Sara Guild, who voted against the original move to suspend Karger, said she now us worried that the board's relationship with the key county leader could be irretrievably broken.
"I feel he faces a daunting task," she said. "In the end he could believe that it is best for the county to work with someone else, and I'm terrified of that."
Contact reporter Laura Schulte at 715-297-7532 or leschulte@gannett.com; on Twitter @schultelaura.
How your County Board representative voted on the move to reconsider Karger's punishment
Yes
Katie Rosenberg, District 1; David Nutting, District 3; John Robinson, District 4; Joel A. Lewis, District 5; Orval Quamme, District 7; Karen Kellbach, District 8; Yee Leng Xiong, District 19; Sara Guild, District 20; Chris Voll, District 23; John Durham, District 26; Thomas R. Seubert, District 27; Maynard Tremelling, District 28; Tim Buttke, District 33; Allen F. Opall, District 37; Jim K. Schaefer, District 38.
No
Jack Hoogendyk, District 6; Lee Peek, District 9; Sherry L. Abitz, District 10; Dave Wysong, District 11; Arnold Schlei, District 12; Matt Bootz, District 13; Rick Seefeldt, District 14; E.J. Stark, District 17; Craig McEwen, District 18; Alan F. Christensen, District 22; Jean Maszk, District 24; Sandy Cihlar, District 25; Robert Wegner, District 29; Richard Gumz, District 30; Allen Drabek, District 31; Kurt A. Gibbs, District 32; Jacob E. Langenhahn, District 35.
Absent
James R. Seefeldt, District 2; Randy Fifrick, District 15; Jeff Zriny, District 16; Kurt Kluck, District 21; Gary Beastrom, District 34; Bill Miller, District 36.
Source: Public access television