A special session of the Viroqua City Council scheduled for Wednesday, November 4, was canceled due to the lack of a quorum
A special session of the Viroqua City Council scheduled for Wednesday, November 4, was canceled due to the lack of a quorum. The meeting was set to address several critical municipal topics, including a potential closed session to discuss personnel issues involving Mayor Krista Browne and City Administrator Julie Emslie, as well as conduct (con-duct) concerns regarding certain elected officials.
The scheduled special meeting followed previous actions taken by the council during an October 27 closed session. In that meeting, council members voted unanimously to relocate the mayor's office to a different floor from the city administrator's office, restrict direct one-on-one contact between the two officials, and allow the administrator to work remotely from home.
Mayor Browne publicly expressed strong disagreement with those directives and the process leading to the vote, arguing that the restrictions were not in the best interest of the city nor aligned with city ordinances and state statutes. In a social media post addressing the cancellation of the November 4 session, Browne noted that while special meetings are typically arranged in coordination with the city administrator, recent circumstances led her to collaborate with three city attorneys and the city clerk to prepare the agenda.
Expressing frustration over the meeting's cancellation, Mayor Browne encouraged public engagement and claimed that the city administrator and certain council members would prefer for the meeting not to happen, and have made decisions to keep information away from the public.
Todd Coppernoll oversees local news for WRCO and WRCE radio in Richland Center. Having served Richland Center as Mayor for three terms, Todd brings a unique perspective, and a familiar voice to the news. The focus is local, and so is the reporter.
Adam Hess has been involved in radio broadcasting since 1990, with many of those years spent on the air at WRCO FM in Richland Center. Currently, Adam hosts the Weekend Wake-up and Prime Mover Saturdays on WRCO FM, jumps in and helps out with news duties, handles Social Media duties for WRCO and WRCE, and is the Director of Technology at a Southwest Wisconsin School District. Reach him at adam.hess@civicmedia.us.