Kronenwetter board set to confirm new village clerk

Kronenwetter trustees vote Monday on naming Connie Nowak village clerk, a job left vacant twice in two years by clerks who resigned amid complaints about village leaders.

Under the village’s charter ordinance, confirmation requires a two-thirds vote of the seven-member Village Board, or at least five members. The ordinance calls for the clerk to be appointed to a two-year term in October of even-numbered years. Village President Dan Joling is recommending Nowak.

Nowak would succeed Jennifer Poyer, who resigned in August. Before resigning, Poyer filed a complaint that, according to her resignation letter, alleged harassment and retaliation by Village Administrator James Davel and Joling. Trustees accepted her resignation at a special meeting Aug. 27. Poyer’s predecessor, Bobbi Birk-LaBarge, resigned in November 2024, citing “ongoing, negative, and deeply troubling behavior” from a village trustee.

Trustees interviewed clerk candidates in closed session Sept. 17. In open session afterward, Joling and four trustees voted “to direct the administrator to take the action as discussed in closed session,” according to minutes on Monday’s consent agenda. The minutes do not describe that action.

Davel reported in September that the village had interviewed three candidates, all with clerk experience, and that the person chosen had accepted an offer with an Oct. 19 start date. Nowak’s name already appears as village clerk on the signature lines of the budget resolutions trustees will consider Monday.

Utility clerk Kim Coyle served as interim clerk. On Sept. 14, the board approved an extra $500 per two-week pay period for her until a new clerk was hired and started work. Trustee Kelly Coyle recused himself and abstained from that vote. When the board accepted Poyer’s resignation in August, he asked for the record that staff have a coordinated transition plan covering village property and media passwords.

Minutes from all three meetings tied to the clerk transition are on Monday’s consent agenda, and none names who prepared them. The Sept. 14 minutes record a motion to approve a Wisconsin Pollutant Discharge Elimination System agreement but no mover, second or vote. They also list Trustee Mary Solheim voting on two items, though she does not appear among members recorded as present. The Sept. 17 minutes list no members under roll call.

The board meets at 6 p.m. Monday at the Kronenwetter Municipal Center, 1582 Kronenwetter Drive. If confirmed, Nowak would oversee village elections, licensing and official records, including the board’s meeting minutes.