The Wisconsin Department of Justice announced Tuesday that it filed a criminal complaint against retired Oregon police chief Doug Pettit for filing false tax returns.

According to the complaint, Pettit submitted tax returns to the Wisconsin Department of Revenue for 2010, 2011, and 2012 that did not include income he’d made providing security services to private businesses, including the Union Sports Club.   

The total amount of unreported income throughout the three-year period is $43,083, resulting in the underpayment of income taxes to the State of Wisconsin in the amount of $2,946, the DOJ said in a new release.

Filing a false or fraudulent tax return is a Class H felony in Wisconsin. The maximum penalty includes a fine not to exceed $10,000 and up to six years in prison.

Phone calls to Pettit’s home Tuesday were not returned.

The DOJ notified village officials in April that it was investigating the police department and that the investigation focused on Pettit. The Village Board then initiated its own investigation, which concluded in late August at a cost of about $195,000.

Pettit began using personal and medical leave from the village in May and officially retired Sept. 1.

In a statement released Aug. 28, the village alleged Pettit and many officers used village equipment, including uniforms and squad cars, for off-duty work over a several-year period at Union Sports Club. They accepted cash payments or personal checks for the security service. In some cases, the report said, Pettit accepted cash and paid officers for the work.

When officers worked for other venues while off-duty, they were paid by personal check by the business and did not have taxes deducted from their compensation.

Pettit and several officers used village resources to communicate regarding off-duty work opportunities, scheduling, preparing billing invoices, and to develop safety and security plans for entities outside of the village.

Village equipment that was no longer used by the department was found at and used by Pettit and officers for their off-duty work.

Pettit also directed his administrative assistant and command staff to perform work, during village work time, in furtherance of this off-duty work, the village’s investigation found.

Pettit did not report to the Village Board about the significant law enforcement services needed at the Union Sports Club, including drug and alcohol incidents and physical violence at the club.

The village’s report said Pettit conducted an alcohol license compliance check at the sports club and directed a subordinate to sign the compliance check document instead of signing it himself. 

He also failed to properly inform the Village Board of incidents occurring at Union Sports Club that were material to alcohol licensing decisions, such as failing to inform the board of a 2012 raid by the DOR and alleged violations of law reported by the DOR to Pettit.

The report also alleged Pettit took measures to keep information about law enforcement involvement at the sports club from becoming public by requesting the removal of information from logs reviewed by the Oregon Observer.

Pettit retired after serving as chief of police for 29 years. He would have completed 39 years at the police department in December. He left village employment with full retirement benefits intact and was earning an annual salary of $96,000 at the time of his retirement.

Village President Steve Staton told the Observer in September that Pettit had “betrayed” the Village of Oregon and called his actions “reprehensible.”

Pettit said over the summer that the investigation was one-sided and didn’t tell the whole story. He has refused to comment since then.

Voters in the towns of Oregon, Rutland and Dunn and the Village of Brooklyn approved their municipal budgets at public hearings in November.

The mill rate dropped slightly for the Town of Rutland, remained nearly the same for the Town of Oregon and rose in the Town of Dunn and Village of Brooklyn.

Town of Oregon

Just two residents showed up to the Town of Oregon’s Nov. 25 public budget hearing.

Town clerk Denise Arnold said the residents and town board voted to approve the town’s budget with a mill rate of $2.29 per $1,000 of assessed value from the town. That is the same rate as last year.

Overall property taxes for town residents “are definitely down,” Arnold said Monday, though she only had preliminary numbers. That drop is thanks to decreases in the Oregon and Belleville school districts and a large drop in the Madison College levy.

Town of Rutland

At the annual budget hearing Nov. 25, Town of Rutland electors approved a tax levy of $674,214, down 1.1 percent from this year’s $679,808. The mill rate will be $2.76 per $1,000 of assessed property value, down 1 percent from this year.

Town of Dunn

The Town of Dunn will have a 3.54 percent budget increase up to $1.75 million in 2015.

That will bring the levy rate to $2.73 per $1,000 of assessed value for the town’s portion of property taxes, up 3.32 percent from last year.

Town clerk Cathy Haslinger said in an email 16 residents attended the Nov. 18 public budget hearing. The increase comes mostly from road work, with money to reconstruct and pave roads plus money to restore the Dyreson Road Bridge.

The cost of fire and EMS services also increased for next year.

The voters also approved a 35-acre conservation easement that prevents subdivisions.

Village of Brooklyn

No electors showed up for the Village of Brooklyn’s public hearing Nov. 10, but the village board approved the proposed budget with only small tweaks.

The budget will bring the mill rate up to $9.49 per $1,000 of assessed value for Green County residents and $9.11 for Dane County, both a big jump from last year’s $8.23. That jump is mostly due to an increase in tax-increment financing expenses due to debt on the loan to purchase land and install infrastructure for the Brooklyn Business Complex.

The board also discussed potential changes to the village’s municipal court. They finalized those changes Nov. 19 by abolishing the local court and approving a resolution to join the Belleville Municipal Court effective next May.

An athletic facility with a troubled past is on the verge of a comeback.

The building previously known as the Union Sports Club, 155 Braun Road, will soon be home to the Madison 56ers, the area’s “premier soccer club,” in the words of coaching director Tony Wright.

He and Tim Hanson, president of the club’s board of directors, said they signed a 10-year lease with the facility owners in mid-November.

The soccer organization is in the process of renovating about two-thirds of the building, which they’ll use as an indoor training center for as many as 600 youth soccer players, ages 10-17.

They’ll have 16,000 square feet of playing court.

“This was one of the few facilities on the market, partly because of its past, frankly, that allowed us to get into it at a reasonable rental rate,” Hanson said in an interview with the Observer on Monday.

“It’s a great advantage to us to find that space, and unfortunately, with all the problems that that facility’s had, it’s probably a great opportunity for the owners to kind of turn that space around and use it for what it was intended for.”

The two-story building was constructed in 1996 and used for most of that time as a sports facility – primarily for soccer. It began as Oregon Sports and Fitness and later housed an aerobics class, served as a daycare facility and was home to a church.

For about the past eight years, it was the Union Sports Club and hosted soccer tournaments and also large dances on some weekends.

Its reputation took a blow over the past year, when investigations by the Wisconsin Department of Justice and the Village of Oregon revealed several alleged violations of state law and village ordinances. (Former Oregon police chief Doug Pettit was tied to some of those violations, resigned from the police department in September and, it was announced Tuesday, has been charged by the state with tax fraud.)

The 56ers representatives declined to say how much money they’re investing in renovating the club, but said it would involve installing a state-of-the-art futsal floor, new lighting, netting and a fresh coat of paint.

In addition to the court space, the 56ers will likely relocate their administration offices in the building and will also have access to locker rooms.

The club has 36 youth teams composed almost equally of boys and girls.

Wright said the soccer club had been searching for a facility like this for the past decade.

“It’s going to be a top-level facility for our club,” he said enthusiastically. “We’re going to be able to have three full-size soccer courts and the ability to change direction and make one big field 82 feet wide by 190 feet long.”

He said there are “very few clubs” in the state that have an indoor facility dedicated to a soccer club. It will allow kids to train on a regular basis and “know where we’re going to be every week,” Wright said.

“Five or six months of the year we can’t play outside and we need indoor training,” he added. “Before I came to Madison I was in Milwaukee with a premier club, and we trained at four or five different facilities over the wintertime – wherever you can get space.

“This is going to be so much easier for the club members and the coaching staff to plan and train.”

Larry Davies, an investor with Pleasant Sunset LLC, the entity that’s owned the building for at least the past decade, called the 56ers “a good solid organization” and predicted they’ll be “a good solid tenant.”

He’s looking forward to moving ahead after some difficult years with the property.

“There were some things that were happening that were not to our liking, but that’s all history and it’s past us,” he said. “We’re looking to go forward.”

“We think the 56ers will be good for the facility and good for Oregon,” he added. “We still have about a third of the building left to fill. Hopefully we can find one or two good tenants to use the rest of the building.”

A six-year veteran of the Oregon Police Department resigned in November amidst a second investigation into her conduct this year.

The Village Board unanimously approved Nicole Stropich’s resignation agreement Monday night.

Stropich was suspended earlier this year after the department determined she falsified a report to cover for an earlier mistake, acting OPD chief Dale Burke said.

She was also under investigation related to allegedly being late for an overtime assignment in mid-September, Burke said.

Burke said given the two incidents, it was “best” that Stropich had resigned.

“I had certainly lost faith in her ability to do the things necessary as a police officer,” Burke told the Observer. “As a result I think it was in everybody’s best interests that she moved on.”

She officially resigned for “personal reasons” effective Nov. 18.

Burke said the first incident occurred in July, though the department did not find out until August. Stropich had written the wrong court date on a citation, which was discovered when the man who had received the citation showed up on the wrong day.

Stropich told department officials she had informed the man of the incorrect date, Burke said, and told him to change it on his citation. The department investigated and determined such a conversation never took place.

“She actually created a supplemental police report stating that she had told this gentlemen to correct the mistake, which turned out to be not true,” Burke said.

Stropich will receive pay for her accrued vacation and compensatory time off days and severance pay as if she were working until May 30, 2015, according to the severance agreement. The village will also continue to pay its share of her health insurance premiums until that date.

Drivers in Oregon will want to avoid any erratic driving Dec. 12-20 as the Oregon Police Department will focus its enforcement on those behaviors.

The department won’t have any extra patrols for the statewide “Booze and Belts” campaign, Sgt. Dave Elsner told the Observer, but officers will focus their traffic enforcement on behaviors that can indicate impaired driving.

Those behaviors include crossing the centerline or other unusual behavior.

The emphasis won’t just be at night, Elsner noted, and officers will also focus on ensuring drivers are wearing their seat belts.

OPD chief Dale Burke said in a news release the state is “making progress” on limiting preventable traffic deaths in Wisconsin, but still has work left.

“Deaths and injuries in traffic crashes are especially tragic for families this time of year, so our officers will be out in force during the Booze and Belts mobilization looking for unbuckled and impaired motorists,” Burke said in the release. “We are striving for voluntary compliance with traffic laws, so we urge you to make the responsible decision to buckle up and drive sober. But if you make an irresponsible decision, we will stop you and we won’t give you a warning or a second chance.”

The campaign is coordinated statewide by the Wisconsin Department of Transportation.

Village of Brooklyn 

The Village of Brooklyn board voted to join the Village of Belleville’s municipal court beginning in May 2015.

The Nov. 19 vote at a special meeting followed an advisory village referendum in which a majority of voters expressed a preference to maintain the court solely in Brooklyn.

The problem, however, has been in finding a qualified judge for the court and the potential costs of upgrading records systems if the village were to continue to have its own court. 

The board voted 3-1 at the meeting, with Trustee Pat Hawkey voting against the change and trustees Sue McCallum and Dorothy Frandy absent from the meeting.

According to meeting minutes, those in favor of the change focused on the larger pool of judge candidates between both villages rather than having to find someone within Brooklyn. 

The cost-sharing agreement and joint court will officially begin May 1 next year, and citizens who receive citations will have to attend the court in Belleville if they wish to dispute their citation. 

The Village of Belleville board tentatively approved the agreement at its Nov. 17 meeting, conditional upon Brooklyn’s passage of the agreement.

Village of Oregon

The owner of an average home in the Village of Oregon will pay about $87 less in taxes this year than in 2013 despite gaining in value.

Village residents’ taxes will get an overall drop this year of $1.28 per $1,000 in assessed value. The overall cut of 5.8 percent is the biggest in several years, though an increase in average property values neuters its impact significantly.

Tax bills will be mailed late this week or early next week, and the majority of the change in residents’ taxes is a result of a $406 million influx of state money to the technical college system, something that was a major point of emphasis for legislators this year. Madison College’s tax rate dropped 49 percent, reversing a trend of several years of increases after a successful 2008 referendum.

That’s a drop from $1.79 per $1,000 to $0.92. Other taxing jurisdictions around the county felt a similar impact.

The rest of the taxing jurisdictions in Oregon combined to drop the mill rate another 47 cents, a nice-sounding number but one that was mitigated by the village’s overall increase in property values. The average home in Oregon increased from $211,000 to $220,000.

Slight adjustments to the First Dollar Credit and lottery credit will raise that by $3.50 this year for those who are eligible, though that amount does not vary by the value of the home.

Last year, the average village taxpayer was charged about $25 more than the year before, and the year before the increase was closer to $200. For 2013, village and county tax rates increased slightly, offset by a drop in property values, and school taxes held steady to provide the overall drop.

This year, the Oregon School District and the village both contributed to a drop in tax rates, but coupled with the increase in property values, the OSD tax went up by $56 on average and the village’s increased $17, with tax-increment finance districts affecting both numbers somewhat. Dane County contributed a slight increase that translated to a $32 hike on average. The total average bill is $4,221, including credits.

The village this year was able to increase its levy spending by $99,000 because of nearly $20 million in net new construction, a higher-than-average rate in the county. That’s a growth rate of 2.25 percent.

The village will add a full-time police officer and will contribute about $8,300 more for the Oregon Area Fire/EMS District to hire a full-time chief. It will pay almost $20,000 more next year for its share of the Oregon Area Senior Center budget and will also significantly increase spending on streets, to $650,000 this year after spending zero two years ago.

It also has authorized spending almost $400,000 on a new piece of equipment for public works.

Tax bills are due Jan. 31, but many homeowners pay all or part of the bill before the end of the year to count it toward their 2014 taxes. Village Hall is open regular hours Dec. 31. Payments postmarked by Dec. 31 will be credited as a December payment for tax purposes.

The first half of the taxes is due Jan. 31 and the rest by July 31. To see your tax information online, visit the public access portal of AccessDane at accessdane.co.wi.us.

Unified Newspaper Group reporter Bill Livick contributed to this story.

Sheriff's offices in Dane and nearby counties will be adding patrols this holiday season in order to reduce unsafe driving that could lead to traffic fatalities. 

The Dane County Sheriff’s Office, in partnership with Jefferson, Rock, and Sauk County Sheriff’s, have an additional $40,000 to spend on overtime enforcement. The money – provided by the Wisconsin Department of Transportation – will be used as part of a new Sheriff’s Traffic and OWI Patrol (STOP) program.

"Throughout the holiday season, deputies will be patrolling the highways that connect these four counties to stop drivers that are speeding, driving aggressively, and who choose to drink and drive," DCSO spokesperson Elise Schaffer said in a news release. "Drive the speed limit, wear your seatbelt, and drive sober.  Drink and drive in our counties and our deputies will show you some new bars." 

Departments are hoping to reduce impaired driving because the results can be fatal. 

In Wisconsin during 2013, more than 35 percent of all vehicle crash fatalities were alcohol-related, resulting in 185 deaths. As of Tuesday, Dec. 2, there have been 454 traffic fatalities on Wisconsin roads.  

"Alcohol-impaired driving is associated with other high-risk behaviors that increase the likelihood of a crash and of significant injury or death occurring; these include speeding, and failure to wear safety belts," the news release read. 

With the fall election a little more than a month in the past, it might be hard to think ahead to the next election.

But those interested in running for public office in the spring election have just a few weeks to get their name on the ballot. The deadline to file a declaration of candidacy and collect signatures for office is Jan. 6. 

Locally, some incumbents have announced that they will be on the ballot, but some seats will be open for the April 7 general election.

All incumbents on the Oregon Village Board plan to run for reelection. 

Steve Staton will seek another term as president, while Eric Poole, Darlene Groenier and Jeanne Carpenter will seek to run as trustees.

In the Village of Brooklyn, three trustees and the village president seat are up for grabs. Dorothy Frandy is not running for her trustee position, but two other trustees – John McNaughton and Todd Klahn  – had not returned a request for comment as of press time Tuesday.

Village president Nadine Walsten is running again, despite an announcement last month that she was not seeking a seat again. 

Two seats are up for the Oregon School Board - Area I in the village of Oregon and Area IV, encompassing the village of Brooklyn and towns of Oregon, Montrose, Brooklyn and Union. Incumbents Steve Zach and Jeff Ramin have yet to announce whether or not they will run for re-election. 

Nearby townships also have seats up for election this spring.

Several seats are open in the town of Rutland, with all incumbents seeking re-election: chairman Jeanette Walker,  supervisor Milt Sperle, clerk Dawn George, treasurer Kim Sime, constable Shawn Hillestad and constable Nels Wethal.

In the Town of Oregon, Town Chair Darryl Weber, Sup. Wayne Ace, Sup. Fred Clark, Jr., Assessor Andy Blomstrom, Constable Gary Wackett, Municipal Judge Beth Cox all up for reelection. 

In Rutland and the Town of Oregon, residents nominate candidates at caucuses that are typically held in mid-January. Caucus dates will be set in December.

In the Town of Dunn, all three town board seats and the municipal judge position are open. No incumbents have filed for non-candidacy.

Potential candidates have until 5 p.m. Jan. 6 to file the necessary paperwork with their respective municipality or school district. A primary election will be held Feb. 17 if needed, with the general election set for April 7.

For information and forms, visit gab.wi.gov/elections-voting/2015/spring

Unified Newspaper Group editor Jim Ferolie and reporters Scott De Laruelle, Scott Girard and Bill Livick contributed to this story.

Village of Brooklyn 

Village of Brooklyn President Nadine Walsten will run for re-election next spring after originally deciding not to.

Walsten told the Observer Monday she had reversed her decision after being made aware of some potential changes to timing on grants related to the Brooklyn Business Park.

The village broke ground on the park in late 2013, but it has yet to have any businesses move in. 

Unless a business or businesses with at least 27 jobs materializes January 2016, the village will have to return a grant from the Community Development Block Grant program. Originally, that deadline had been thought to be July 2016, according to minutes from a Nov. 19 special village board meeting. 

“It turns out that the information we were given about the deadline is not what the CDBG, the new specialist, thinks is the case,” Walsten told the Observer. “If this thing is moved up, then (a new village president) isn’t going to have the time.”

Walsten said she was concerned a new person would have to spend too much time learning the ropes of economic development to effectively recruit a business to the park in time to keep the grant money, and she did not want to leave the village and its business park after bringing the park here. 

“I haven’t worked 10 years to bring economic development to Brooklyn to walk out without completing the tasks of getting the business park up and running,” she said. “I feel really completely convinced that we will be able to do that.”

The Village Board Monday authorized village administrator Mike Gracz and acting police chief Dale Burke to conduct a search process for a new chief of police.

Gracz and Burke will work with the village’s Police Commission in searching for candidates for the village’s top law enforcement position.

The board also approved a requirement that the new chief live within 15 miles of the village.

Prior to the vote, Gracz explained the board had the option of hiring a recruiter to begin the job search or having Burke and himself perform the task. 

He clarified that members of the Police Commission could decide they would rather hire a consultant, but Gracz doubted commission members would question the board’s recommendation. He added that the commission has never hired a police chief because Doug Pettit had been the police chief since 1985 before retiring in September.

Gracz and Burke are planning to meet with the commission in February to begin discussing the search process.

The board had included $10,000 in the village’s 2015 budget to hire a recruiter, but Gracz explained that Burke had persuaded him that it wouldn’t be necessary to hire a consultant.

“Dale and I talked about this a few times, and he think he knows where to place ads to find the best candidates,” Gracz told the board.

He said he and Burke would essentially serve as staff for the Police Commission during the recruitment and hiring process.

“We’re going to place the ads and staff the meetings, but we’re not going to tell them what to do,” Gracz said.

He added that he initially felt the village should hire a consultant to conduct the search, which is why he had earmarked $10,000 in his proposed version of the village budget for a recruiter.

But Burke persuaded him it wasn’t necessary to spend the money.

“Dale’s pretty confident we can do this,” Gracz said.

State law allows a municipality to hire a chief of police who lives no more than 15 miles from the department in which they work. That law was written to enable the municipality to draw from a wider range of candidates than if a police chief were required to reside in the village. 

The law also allows a city or village to create incentives that would make living in the municipality a more attractive option for potential candidates, such as more pay or prohibiting the chief from driving a squad car between work and home.  

The Village Board hired Burke in May to serve as acting police chief after former chief Doug Pettit began a leave of absence while being investigated by both the village and the Wisconsin Department of Justice.

Pettit retired Sept. 1, and on Dec. 2 was charged with two felony counts of filing fraudulent tax returns. 

Burke has said he would serve the village until a new police chief is in place.

A glut of military gear stashed at the Oregon Police Department over the past decade – ranging from camouflage coats and backpacks to helmets and rifles – is being cleared out by the new police chief.

“Right now, those things are taking up space that should be and could be better utilized,” said interim chief Dale Burke, who took over for retired chief Doug Pettit in June. “I’m not keeping it.”

Local police obtained the gear through the federal 1033 program, which offers surplus Department of Defense gear to police agencies free of charge.

Oregon is hardly alone in using the program. Since 2004, 219 law enforcement agencies in Wisconsin have received $28 million of supplies, according to a report in August by Gannett Media Wisconsin.

But Oregon used the program more than most suburban Dane County police departments. In all, the department acquired scores of items totaling more than $55,000 over the past decade, according to a database compiled by Gannett.

Verona and Sun Prairie police haven’t participated in the program, while Stoughton police have acquired 20 “ground troop helmets,” 20 backpacks, lights, sandbags and firing-range spectacles totaling about $7,100.

Middleton got about $8,800 in gear, including two pairs of night-vision goggles worth $8,600 and single pairs of cold weather boots ($105), overalls ($33.50), socks ($13.60) and binoculars ($50). Fitchburg in 2006 got two floodlights worth more than $21,000.

Only McFarland has obtained nearly as much as Oregon. More than $48,000 in gear included .45 caliber pistols and M-16 rifles, a $10,795 floodlight, a $3,800 computer, and a used truck worth $5,000, according to the database.

Oregon hasn’t used the program since late 2012, Burke said. And that won’t change any time soon.

“During my time here, we will not be taking anything from the 1033 program,” he said.

‘Unopened boxes’

The 1033 program has been around since the 1990s but gained attention this summer after authorities in Ferguson, Mo., used military-style vehicles and weapons to quell protests over the fatal shooting by a police officer of 18-year-old Michael Brown. Some critics said the tactics were too heavy-handed and raised concerns that police were too militarized.

In Oregon, no individual items exceeded $10,000 in value. Informed of the database by the Observer, Burke said it helped to explain the origins of many items sitting unused in the department.

Twenty-eight camouflage coats and 75 pairs of cold weather trousers are sitting in “unopened boxes” in the 383 Park St. headquarters, he said, and will likely be tossed out unless the village finds another use for them. Another 20 large backpacks could find a similar fate, though Burke hasn’t located them yet.

Other equipment has found a home. Fifteen pairs of ballistics spectacles were previously given to officers for weapons training. Forty sandbags and two Honda four-wheelers were handed over to the public works department. Three tool chests worth a combined $1,245 are still used by police.

The department also plans to auction off a trailer and used pickup truck acquired years ago, he said.

“When we have found stuff that can be used, we’ve tried to do that,” he said.

Five M-14 rifles that can’t be returned to the 1033 program will likely be destroyed, as well. Burke said it appears former chief Pettit acquired them in hopes of forming an “honor guard,” which never materialized.

After consulting with long-term staff, Burke said he determined that Pettit often applied for the free items without a concrete use for them in mind.

“It wasn’t anything the department was looking for, it wasn’t anything the village was asking for,” he said. “This was really based on an individual preference by the former chief.”

Attempts to reach Pettit, who officially retired Sept. 1, were unsuccessful. Pettit is facing two felony charges for tax evasion for allegedly failing to report income he earned in 2010-12 for off-duty security he provided at an Oregon dance club.

Statewide, 24 law enforcement agencies – including Madison police – obtained mine-resistant armored trucks in the past year through the 1033 program, according to the Wisconsin State Journal. That raised eyebrows in small cities like Neenah, whose armored vehicle was highlighted in a New York Times article in June. Some departments have used the program to obtain assault rifles, grenade launchers or even, as in Kenosha County, a helicopter valued at $916,000.

But most of the 1033 gear, which would otherwise be disposed of, is more mundane. Gloves, trousers, cabinets, rope and sandbags are common examples.

If Oregon police had room to store some of the old gear, they might keep it, Burke said.

“But we don’t have that.”

The board unanimously approved a plan Monday to notify the Town of Oregon that the Village of Oregon Police Department would discontinue its service agreement with the town in 2015. Village police officers have been providing 20 hours per month of police service to the town since “sometime in the late 1990s,” according to village officials. 

In November, the Town Board decided to cut those service hours to 10 per month.

Gracz told the board an intergovernmental agreement between the village and the town is out of date. But, he said, it’s not worth hiring an attorney to revise the agreement in light of the cutback in hours.

Part of the motion approved by the Village Board stipulated that if the Town Board votes to retain the service it would have to pay for revising the agreement. 

Gracz noted that village staff would work with the town to determine a convenient ending date.

Trustee Jerry Bollig said he would vote for the motion, but he was concerned about offending town officials.

Gracz assured him that the village would handle the situation with sensitivity, and that the town “would probably go back to using” the Dane County Sheriff’s Department for police services.

New radar signs

Also Monday, the board unanimously approved a motion to order two new radar speed signs, at a cost of $7,000. 

A similar sign has been up for the past couple of years on County Hwy. MM (North Main Street) entering the village from the north. The idea to purchase a second speed sign was included in the 2015 budget discussions, and Bollig suggested buying a third. 

Officials plan to place one of the new radar signs on the west side of Ash and Jefferson streets on the village’s west side. The other will be placed on Janesville Street to alert drivers entering the village from the east.

The Village of Brooklyn paid its attorney more than $7,000 during a contentious period earlier this year when a trustee and the village president faced removal petitions. 

Trustee Sue McCallum, the board member who faced removal, first made an open records request in July for emails and documents related to the attorney’s work on the petitions against herself and Village President Nadine Walsten, but it had not been complied with until this month. 

The records released included a bill from April that was more than $2,000, but village clerk Carol Strause said Tuesday the total spent on attorney Michael Christopher’s services related to the removal petitions was $7,468.20 from January to October.

Walsten, who faced her own removal petition, used Christopher for advice on agenda changes and other matters related to the removal petitions against herself and McCallum, the emails show.

McCallum said in an email she initially requested the records because she questioned whether the village should be responsible for the attorney bills given the content of his conversations with Walsten. 

“In my opinion, the attorney was never given board approval prior to the work done, based upon these emails and taped recordings I have of the board meetings,” McCallum wrote in the email. 

The board approved the attorney bills earlier this year, however.

Walsten had refused to release the emails for months, and the board voted in November to not release them despite the records request. 

“I find that an amazing violation of state statutes,” McCallum wrote.

She and Trustee Pat Hawkey were the only two board members to vote for the records release.

The Observer requested the documents after reading through the minutes in December, and they were provided within a day.

According to meeting minutes from the November board meeting, Walsten did not want to release the records because “she saw it as a way to keep the conflict going and she wanted the Board to heal and put it behind them.”

The original issue was over McCallum’s alleged “disruptive” behavior and an issue over violating the confidentiality of a closed session. McCallum denied the allegations, and another citizen sought Walsten’s removal in response. 

Neither petition was successful, and both remained in their seats.

The emails show Walsten and Christopher mostly discussed the village’s handbook policy on adding agenda items after trustee Pat Hawkey requested to add a public comment item on Walsten’s removal. They also discussed procedural rules regarding the removal petitions.

An additional note Walsten sent to McCallum with the emails asked McCallum to not continue the dispute. 

“My hope now and always is, whatever conflict we have, we let go of it and put it in the past,” Walsten wrote.

McCallum said in her email to the Observer she did not plan to take any action with the emails, instead using it as a “good learning tool for future boards.”

The Town of Oregon won’t have the 10 hours per week of police coverage from the Village of Oregon Police Department anymore at some point next year. The Village Board last week voted to discontinue the service.

Town Chair Darryl Weber said that’s fine with him.

“It was their decision,” Weber told the Observer. “We can certainly live with it.”

The town voted in November to change the agreement with the village to 10 hours per week instead of the 20 it had been in the past because of ever-tightening budgets.

The Village Board then voted to discontinue the service altogether sometime in 2015. Village administrator Mike Gracz told the board the intergovernmental agreement between the two municipalities was out of date, and it would be too expensive to have an attorney revise the agreement given the cutback in hours.

Weber said the village’s coverage had disappointed him, so he did not see it as a huge loss.

“When we request coverage in a certain area of our township … I couldn’t see a change over the past few years,” Weber said. “And you really didn’t see the patrol cars out here very much.” 

Weber speculated that the village had originally set up the agreement for speed enforcement. 

“They weren’t looking to build a presence in the community,” he said.

Weber said the coverage from the Dane County Sheriff’s Office has “really stepped up” its coverage of the town in recent years, which will also make the transition easier. 

“With the county support, I feel very adequately covered,” he said. “We’ve just built a better relationship with the county.”

Gracz said last week the village would work with the town to determine the exact ending date, but Weber said he hadn’t heard from them as of Monday morning. 

“At this point in time, it doesn’t really matter,” Weber said.

Normally, a successful school district referendum – for $55 million in construction, no less – would be an easy target for the No. 1 story of the year. 

But this was not a normal year. The sudden end and shocking disgrace of the longest-serving police chief in the state of Wisconsin made statewide headlines and caused a shakeup that is still resonating. 

The referendum was no small potatoes, though. Not after voters soundly rejected a $33 million referendum just 18 months earlier and ousted three members of the school board, including the president, in April. 

Other big news included the end of one large restaurant after just over a year in business and the start of another, strong progress toward turning the old water tower and pump house into a community monument and toward the construction of a bike trail to Fitchburg, as well as expansion at the business park.

Click on the story in the list below to read more about our top 10 and honorable mentions:

1. Police department embroiled in scandal
2.$55 million referendum gets voter approval
3.Trio of school board incumbents loses
4.One restaurant opens, another closes
5.Pump house becoming welcome center
6.Progress on the Rotary bike trail
7.Thysse expands, rail line activated
8.Youth center goes independent
9.Tennis team goes to state tournament
10.Walsten exits, then decides to return
Honorable mentions

After a year when residents in the Oregon School District voted to oust three incumbent board members in April and approve two referendums totaling nearly $55 million in November, 2015 looks to be another busy year for the school district.

The first step is determining whether to go again to referendum in April, as planned, with a new teacher compensation package designed to recruit and retain top teachers. The school board must approve any referendum by Jan. 19 for it to be on the ballot.

It will also be worth seeing whether there are any more contested races for the school board. We’ll know that next week. And later in the spring, the district is planning to put the spending authorization it got from the November referendum to use. 

Spring referendum

District business manager Andy Weiland said recently that while a “final” cost of the planned April referendum is still being decided, it will be less than the $3.5 million estimated last summer, when board members were considering including it on the fall ballot. 

The proposal has recently gone to the teachers in focus group sessions, with “very positive” results, said district human resources director Jina Jonen.

“It has to be a model they believe in and support,” she said. “This is all a work in progress, and we need feedback from staff, parents and community.”

Board members had wanted to include the referendum on the fall ballot with the other two, but did not feel they had enough information. Increasing compensation and conditions for teachers has been a recent platform in those elected to the board during the past few years, and last year the board voted to give several teachers supplemental pay – some up to $10,000 – because they teach subjects in high demand.

Under the current salary structure, teachers receive pay increases only through years of service and by obtaining additional credits. Progression is relatively automatic, and it takes 25 years to reach the top of the pay scale.

The proposed model calls for teachers to have more choice over their progression, learning plan and time commitments outside regular job duties.

“Educators can move much faster through the levels, which encourages professional growth and mastery and boosts career earnings,” wrote members of a district teacher compensation committee. Jon Fishwild, a member of that committee and the Oregon Education Association, said as much as he “abhors the free-agency market” trend in public education in Wisconsin, it’s a new reality to be dealt with.

“I’ve gotten the sense that the district understands that without some kind of new system in place, there is little incentive for teachers to come to or stay in Oregon,” he said.

Building projects start

When the snow clears and the weather starts to warm up, the many projects approved at district schools by the fall referendums will begin. All schools have construction, additions or upgrades planned except for Rome Corners Intermediate School, which was the most recently constructed district building (2001). 

Planned projects to begin in 2015 include a $1.3 million roof replacement and maintenance project, $480,000 HVAC upgrade to the pool and $700,000 for personalized learning initiatives, including purchasing new technology. Oregon High School will get a $8.3 million two-story classroom addition, $5 million physical education addition and locker room renovation and $4.4 million three-station gymnasium, Oregon Middle School will receive a $3 million music addition, $1.8 million STEM (Science, Technology, Education and Math) addition and $954,000 new, secure entrance. In the three elementary schools, the largest projects include a $2.3 million cafeteria and kitchen addition and $809,000 classroom addition at Brooklyn, a $1.5 million HVAC upgrade at Netherwood Knoll, and $777,000 in storm water improvements and an outdoor classroom at Prairie View.

District officials will announce a timetable on referendum-related construction later in the month. 

Busy spring election

The politics should stay active, as well, with a likely referendum and two incumbent school board members on the April ballot. Two seats are open, and Steve Zach and Jeff Ramin will both seek re-election. All nomination papers and signatures of candidates are due to district officials at 5 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 6. As of last week, no other candidates had returned official papers and signatures.

Recent years have not been kind to incumbents - the last to retain their seat on the board was Zach (first elected in 1999), who outpolled write-in candidate Dan Krause (now the board president) in 2012 by an unofficial margin of 2,545 to 1,079. That year, Ramin defeated long-time incumbent Deedra Atkinson by 14 percentage points.

In 2013, two-term incumbent Lynda Farrar finished behind Krause and Rae Vogeler as the three vied for two open seats. This spring, incumbents Courtney Odorico, Wayne Mixdorf and Lee Christiansen lost to Charles Uphoff, Gwen Maitzen and Barb Feeney.

Other stories to watch (click below to read more):

U.S. Hwy. 14

Oregon Welcome Center could open

Oregon Rotary Bike Trail

Police look ahead to new chief

Those interested in running for public office in the spring election have just a few days to get their name on the ballot. The deadline to file a declaration of candidacy and collect signatures for office is coming up Jan. 6. 

Locally, some incumbents have announced that they will be on the ballot, but some seats will be open for the April 7 general election. 

All incumbents on the Oregon Village Board plan to run for reelection. 

Steve Staton will seek another term as president, while Eric Poole, Darlene Groenier and Jeanne Carpenter will seek to run as trustees.

In the Village of Brooklyn, three trustees and the village president seat are up for grabs. Dorothy Frandy is not running for her trustee position, while Todd Klahn has taken out papers to run again. John McNaughton did not file for non-candidacy, but deputy clerk Kim Brewer said Monday she was unsure whether he was running again. Village president Nadine Walsten is running again, despite an announcement last month that she was not seeking a seat again. 

Two seats are up for the Oregon School Board - Area I in the village of Oregon and Area IV, encompassing the village of Brooklyn and towns of Oregon, Montrose, Brooklyn and Union. Incumbents Steve Zach and Jeff Ramin announced last week they will run for re-election. School board terms are three years.

Nearby townships also have seats up for election this spring.

Several seats are open in the town of Rutland, with all incumbents seeking re-election: chairman Jeanette Walker,  supervisor Milt Sperle, clerk Dawn George, treasurer Kim Sime, constable Shawn Hillestad and constable Nels Wethal.

In the Town of Oregon, Town Chair Darryl Weber, Sup. Wayne Ace, Sup. Fred Clark, Jr., Assessor Andy Blomstrom, Constable Gary Wackett, Municipal Judge Beth Cox all up for reelection. 

In Rutland and the Town of Oregon, residents nominate candidates at caucuses that are typically held in mid-January. The Town of Oregon will have a caucus  at 2 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 17. Rutland’s caucus is slated for 6:30 p.m., Tuesday, Jan. 20. 

In the Town of Dunn, all three town board seats and the municipal judge are open. 

Potential candidates have until 5 p.m. Jan. 6 to file the necessary paperwork with their respective municipality or school district. A primary election will be held Feb. 17 if needed, with the general election set for April 7.

For information and forms, visit gab.wi.gov/elections-voting/2015/spring

Unified Newspaper Group editor Jim Ferolie and reporters Scott De Laurelle, Scott Girard and Bill Livick contributed to this story.

Police dogs are commonly used in Wisconsin and throughout the nation for tracking potential criminals and detecting illegal drugs. Canines are also useful public relations tools for police departments, particularly in small towns like Oregon, where crime happens less frequently than in a city like Madison.

The Village of Oregon Police Department began its K9 program in October 2010, when the department introduced a German shepherd named Vende to the community. She turned 4 years old in November, said handler Josh Kohlman, who’s also a patrol officer in the village.

He said Vende is mainly used for drug detection during traffic stops. Most police dogs are also used in schools to act as a deterrent by sniffing out illegal drugs, but the Oregon School District has a policy against using dogs for random searches.

That raises the question of whether Vende is being used to her full potential, and if it’s a good idea to even have a K9 unit – which consists of a specialized vehicle, the dog and its handler – in Oregon.

Village Trustee Jerry Bollig raised the question during 2015 budget discussions last fall. He asked if taxpayer dollars were being used to support the program and questioned if the dog is being used enough to justify the K9 program.

Acting chief of police Dale Burke doesn’t think Vende is used as much as she should be and said he’s “taken steps to change that.”

“When Jerry brought this up the first time, I told the board that was going to be a decision that they were going to have to make sometime in the future,” Burke told the Observer.

“I told the Village Board I was going to do my best to show them what a K9 program looks like when it’s used properly. And then, after they see what that looks like, they can decide whether they support continuing it or not.”

Burke noted that village tax dollars are not used to fund the program. A small amount of village money is used to maintain the Ford Explorer that’s specially outfitted for Vende and her handler, Burke said, but everything else the dog needs is donated. That includes veterinarian care, grooming and kenneling, and her food.

Kohlman told the Observer Vende eats about $650 worth of dog food, which is donated by a company based in his hometown of Fond du Lac.

Old Stone Pet Lodge provides grooming and kenneling at no cost, and Country View Veterinary also offers its services for free.

Any money garnered at fundraisers for the K9 program is used strictly for the dog, Burke said, but “not to buy a new set of tires for the police vehicle or something like that.”

Kohlman admitted that Vende could be used more than she is. On the other hand, he thinks her presence alone has pushed illegal drug use out of the village.

And while he didn’t have recent statistics to support it, he said Vende is used as much if not more than police dogs in comparable communities, such as Waunakee and Monona.

“Our K9 numbers as regards to drug arrests and uses are equal if not a tad better than what we see in other agencies,” Kohlman asserted.

He described the dog as “a huge deterrent” to criminal activity, and added, “You can’t measure the success of a program only by the numbers.”

Kohlman said when he first started working in Oregon seven years ago, it was “very evident that Oregon had a bigger drug problem compared to what we have now.

“People know that we have a canine, and it’s put a pretty big hit on the problem,” he said.

Not just a dog

Burke said village officials should view the police department’s K9 program as it would any other program. If it’s not serving the purpose that it was intended to, he said, then it doesn’t make sense to continue it.

“I’m taking steps now to make sure the dog is used more often and more appropriately – not just in Oregon but also anywhere in Dane County,” he said. “She’s participating in a number of school searches that require more dogs.”

Burke also plans to initiate conversations with Oregon school officials to convince the school district to use the dog.

“My understanding is that the school board has been very reluctant to allow dogs in the schools,” he said.

“I’d like to have a conversation with the board, because pretty much every place that I know of they’re doing searches in the school periodically. So I’m kind of at a loss.”

Oregon School District superintendent Brian Busler said the school board policy is not to allow random drug searches by the dog.

But, he said, the policy “does allow us to call for a drug dog search if we are in the process of investigating a matter and we believe that the dog could help us identify some evidence.”

In fact, Busler said, the district has requested the dog’s help several times, although for whatever reasons, the dog wasn’t available when she was needed.

“At one time, the officer (Kohlman) spent the majority of times working nights,” Busler said. “But there have been times when we were interested and it hasn’t worked out.”

Busler said he and Burke have discussed the K9 program once and he’s planning to invite the police chief to a committee meeting to continue the conversation.

Burke said there’s “no disputing the fact” that there are drug issues in Oregon.

He said those issues involve school-age children, and thinks that “the majority of parents would not want their kids being exposed to drugs while they’re at school.”

“We can help in that process,” he said.

Bollig said he understands that the village made a commitment when it decided in 2010 to purchase the dog and send Kohlman and Vende south for a month of training. He assumes the K9 program will exist until the dog is retired, whether it’s two years or six years from now.

But he thinks the program needs to be thoroughly assessed when the time is right, and at this point in time, he’s not sure he would support renewing it.

“The department is keeping statistics on how much it is being used and when and where and exactly how,” he said. “The program is self- sustaining. In retrospect, the program should have been reviewed more often. It will be as it goes forward.”

Oregon area voters won’t have a primary election next month, but will have a few races in April.

The Village of Oregon has one challenger for the trustee position, while the Village of Brooklyn president will face a challenge from a current trustee.

As of press time Tuesday, no races had enough candidates for a February primary, but the general election will be held April 7.

Village of Oregon

In the Village of Oregon, all incumbents plan to run again, along with one challenger – Ben Cowan.

Cowan hopes to expand the city’s tax base through economic development.

"I put down my roots in Oregon and would like to have a voice in the direction the village goes,” Cowan said. “I'm interested in economic development. I'd like to bring more business to Oregon to expand its tax base and maybe lower property taxes. Also, I think we need to make our gateways to the village more attractive.”

Cowan is a OHS graduate and was raised in the Town of Oregon. He's a golf enthusiast and a "branding specialist" running his own company, Full Scale Promotions.

Cowan will run against Eric Poole, Darlene Groenier and Jeanne Carpenter for the trustee seats. Steve Staton will seek another term as village president. 

Village of Brooklyn

Village Trustee Pat Hawkey will challenge incumbent Village President Nadine Walsten, who decided to run for re-election after initially announcing she would step down.

Hawkey told the Observer in an email she had developed an understanding of how things work while a trustee, and “I believe it is time for a change.”

“Change brings new thoughts and fresh ideas, I hope to work with the community to meet the growing challenges of balancing available resources with increased demands for services,” she wrote.

Trustees Dorothy Frandy and John McNaughton will not run again for their seats. Trustee Todd Klahn will run for re-election.

Village residents Brittany Springer, Kyle Smith, Heather Kirkpatrick and Russell Cazier, Jr., filed to run for the village board as well, leaving five candidates for the three seats.

Springer, who has lived in Brooklyn since 2011 and serves on the Recreation Committee, said she wants to “build a better close-knit community and help reach out to businesses.”

Cazier, a seven-year Brooklyn resident, said he wants to hear thoughts from the rest of the community on the lack of businesses in the business park so far and the lack of crossing guards, among other issues.

Smith and Kirkpatrick did not return calls requesting comment Tuesday.

Oregon School Board 

Two seats are up for reelection - Area I in the village of Oregon and Area IV, encompassing the village of Brooklyn and towns of Oregon, Montrose, Brooklyn and Union. Area I incumbent Steve Zach will face a challenge from Marilyn McDole, while Area IV incumbent Jeff Ramin will run unopposed. School board terms are three years.

McDole, a retired teacher and former department administrator at the University of Wisconsin who has lived in the district for the past 11 years, said she decided to run for school board because she now has the time and “wants to give back.” 

“I have a background in business and I know a lot of things about state funding and how it works,” McDole said. “I believe in providing students with the best possible educational opportunities in a time of declining fiscal support, and making those tough choices. I think I’m smart enough and sharp enough to give good input.”

Town of Oregon

In the Town of Oregon, Town Chair Darryl Weber, Sup. Wayne Ace, Sup. Fred Clark, Jr., Assessor Andy Blomstrom, Constable Gary Wackett, Municipal Judge Beth Cox all up for reelection. 

The Town of Oregon will hold a caucus Jan. 17 at 2 p.m. The snow date is Jan. 24.

Town of Dunn

In the Town of Dunn, incumbents are running for all four open seats: town chair, two town supervisor seats and the municipal judge. No challengers filed paperwork.

Town of Rutland

Nominations for all town positions will be taken at the annual caucus at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 20 at the town hall, 785 Center Road. For information, call 455-3925.

Officers whose terms will be expiring and will be filled at the election in April are chairman Jeanette Walker, supervisor Milt Sperle, clerk Dawn George, treasurer Kim Sime and constables Shawn Hillestad and Nels Wethal.

- Unified Newspaper Group reporters Scott De Laruelle, Scott Girard and Bill Livick contributed to this story.