![]() "One unelected official should not be able to dictate his term in office over the will of the people's elected representatives," wrote Dallet. In a dissenting opinion, Rebecca Dallet, who wrote on behalf of the court's three liberal justices, said allowing Prehn to serve on that board indefinitely while the Legislature refuses to act on Evers nominees "makes him the final authority on whether he remains in office." The decision came after the Wisconsin Department of Justice, led by Democrat Josh Kaul, sued Prehn and the Wisconsin legislature to remove him from the NRB. "If the nominee is not confirmed, the nominee is not "appointed" into office and cannot exercise the authority assigned to that position," wrote Justice Annette Ziegler for the majority. On June 29, the conservative majority of the Wisconsin Supreme Court ruled that Prehn, the former head of the Wisconsin Natural Resources Board and a Walker appointee, can continue serving until an Evers replacement is confirmed by the state senate. Williams, who represented the 87th Assembly District of northern Wisconsin for 11 years, told WPR to "look at what the State Supreme Court came out with" when asked why she's not stepping down. Walker's WTCS board appointees Tourdot and Levzow did not return calls from WPR seeking comment for this story. Klecker said state senators "really need to do their job" and hold an up or down vote on his appointment and others. "At the meetings I've been at, there just is nothing political about the tech college system board," Klecker said. ![]() Klecker said he can see there are "some obvious political implications" happening with the NRB situation, but he doesn't see a parallel with his situation. In a January interview with WISPOLITICS, LeMahieu said Republicans weren't planning to take up Evers' remaining appointments to boards overseeing the UW System, technical colleges or the DNR.Īs of September 2022, Wisconsin's nonpartisan Legislative Reference Bureau tallied at least 150 unconfirmed Evers appointees to a host of state boards including the UW System Board of Regents, the WTCS Board and the NRB. Tom Tiffany and Wisconsin Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu. On Tuesday, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported text messages submitted as part of an open records lawsuit show Prehn received advice on whether to stay on with the NRB from Walker and from former Republican Lt. The decision by the three Walker appointees to stay on the board well past their terms mirrors an approach used by Wausau dentist and gun store owner Fred Prehn, who has refused to leave the Wisconsin Natural Resources Board, which oversees the Department of Natural Resources. "But now, I'm definitely ready to take a seat at the table."ĭespite not being able to vote, Klecker said he still receives WTCS board documents prior to meetings and tries to attend meetings in-person or virtually "to at least overhear what's going on." "At first it was like, well, this is a good training time for me to understand what the role is and how it works," Klecker said. He said he got a call from WTCS President Morna Foy who congratulated him but also mentioned Williams had indicated she would not be leaving the board until Republican state senators confirmed his nomination. Klecker, who works with the Automotive Service Excellence Education Foundation, told WPR he was appointed to the tech system board in fall 2021 after a previous appointee was withdrawn by the governor after moving out of state. Two of the other Evers appointees, Daniel Klecker and Sara Rogers, have been attending meetings as "WTCS Board appointees" but have not been able to vote on issues before the board, according to meeting minutes. Three of those individuals, Megan Bahr, Quincey Daniels and Daniel Sperberg are currently serving on the board because Walker appointees stepped down at the end of their terms. Tony Evers has nominated six people to the WTCS board but none have been confirmed by the GOP-controlled state Senate. The three have stayed on and continued voting on Wisconsin Technical College System business despite their terms expiring in May 2021.ĭemocratic Gov. Scott Walker and began their six-year terms in 2016. ![]() ![]() Mary Williams were appointed to the Wisconsin Technical College System Board by former Republican Gov. It's the same approach used by Wausau dentist Fred Prehn who was encouraged by Republican state senators to linger beyond his appointment to the DNR's Natural Resources Board to ensure conservative control.ĭairy farmer Becky Levzow, Vice President of Associated Builders and Contractors of Wisconsin Kelly Tourdot and former Republican state Rep. Three members of the board overseeing Wisconsin's technical colleges are refusing to step down even though their terms ended more than a year ago. ![]()
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