2 Mequon officials met privately with police chief candidate, reports say

In an illegal meeting at a Port Washington restaurant, two members of the Mequon Police and Fire Commission allegedly offered to hire one of the three Mequon police chief candidates if he agreed to promote a certain sergeant to captain.

Thomas Luzinski, commission chairman, and Commissioner Charles Neman were charged in Ozaukee County Circuit Court with violating the Wisconsin Open Meetings Law.

They have reached a plea agreement with the Ozaukee County Sheriff’s Office and have resigned from the commission.

The commission was in the process of hiring a chief to replace Chief Steve Graff, who retired in May.

In a closed session meeting Oct. 1, the commissioners agreed that Luzinski and Neman should meet privately with one of the police chief candidates. Three days later, Luzinski and Neman allegedly met the candidate at Dockside Deli in Port Washington without the required public notice, according to the complaint.

Although the candidate’s name was redacted from the complaint provided by the City of Mequon, the complaint indicates the candidate is the captain of the Police Department. The three candidates under consideration were Mequon Police Capt. Pat Pryor, Racine Police Lt. Steve Wagner and Fort Atkinson Police Chief Adrian Bump.

At the meeting, Luzinski told the candidate that two of the commissioners planned to vote for him and two members planned to vote for another candidate, the complaint said.

Luzinski told the candidate he would switch his vote to support him if he promised to promote a certain sergeant to the captain position that would be vacated by his promotion to chief, according to the complaint.

The candidate for the chief ’s position shared the details of the illegal meeting with Mequon City Administrator Will Jones and Interim Police Chief Dan Buntrock, who submitted a complaint to the Ozaukee County District Attorney’s Office.

In the complaint, Buntrock said he believes Luzinski and Neman want certain individuals within the command staff to implement the policy desires of the Police and Fire Commission, even though the commission’s powers are mostly limited to hiring and firing.

As a result of the alleged misconduct, Mequon Mayor Dan Abendroth will start the selection process over.