Winnebago County committee reprimands coroner
Embattled Busby claims office is ‘in fine shape’
OSHKOSH – A Winnebago County committee Monday recommended that the county reprimand Coroner Barry Busby as an internal investigation into accusations of sexual harassment, retaliation and absenteeism continues.
The county’s Judiciary and Public Safety Committee voted unanimously to approve a censure and a vote of no confidence in Busby after a closed meeting.
“We discussed further allegations and agreed that this investigation is continuing,” committee Chairman Bill Wingren said. “At this point, however, we are going to do what we can do now . ... The problem is we cannot fire the coroner; we can only urge his resignation.” None of the committee members commented before the vote. The recommendation will go to the County Board for consideration Aug. 20, Wingren said.
Busby sat outside the meeting room with supporters, including his new chief deputy, while the committee met with County Executive Mark Harris, Corporation Counsel Mary Anne Mueller and Human Resources Director Michael Collard.
Donna Francart, a former deputy coroner whom the county fired in 2015, four years after she filed a sexual harassment complaint against Busby, spoke during the public comment part of Monday’s meeting. She read from what she said was an email sent to her by a funeral home director who accused Busby of getting kickbacks from tissue and organ donation companies.
As Francart read from the email, Busby’s mouth dropped open, seemingly dumbfounded by the accusations.
“The coroner’s office is in fine shape,” Busby told journalists after the vote. “It’s been operating wonderfully for the last 22 years – nothing different than what it has in the last eight or nine months. What can I say? It’s running fine.”
Busby declined to address Francart’s comments but said he continues to work through an unspecified medical issue and has hired an attorney.
Busby, 70, has served since 1997, when then-Gov. Tommy Thompson appointed him. He is the subject of multiple local, state and federal investigations amid multiple accusations, including:
❚ Sexually harassing multiple women, including an employee in his office whom the county later fired.
❚ Firing a former chief deputy out of fear he would go public with sexual harassment accusations.
❚ Spending weeks at a time out of state since his November reelection, forcing deputies to handle his duties in his absence.