Thiensville village head: In-person meetings ‘superior’
Jan Heinitz stood outside Thiensville Village Hall this week, distributing flyers to those venturing out to attend a meeting. It was part of her campaign as a write-in candidate to unseat Village President Van Mobley, who has become a polarizing figure in the small Ozaukee County village because of his staunch refusal to allow virtual or even hybrid meetings during the pandemic.
Concerns over the potential health implications of meeting in person have led many municipalities to establish ways to safely conduct meetings, including offering virtual or hybrid options.
In Thiensville, it hasn’t been so simple. Discourse among officials there has become a microcosm of the division being seen nationwide over how to handle the coronavirus pandemic.
In the early days of the pandemic in March 2020, Thiensville initially held virtual meetings, too. But meetings shifted back to in-person by July.
Mobley did not start wearing masks to meetings until September, a trustee confirmed.
Officials and others attending meetings have worn masks and practiced social distancing since resuming in-person meetings.
Despite requests from some trustees and residents who have expressed concerns about their health, Mobley remains reluctant to offer virtual meeting options.
Mobley has cited costs, legal concerns, competing priorities and increased productivity during in-person meetings as reasons why a hybrid meeting option would prove cumbersome for the village.
During a tension-filled Thiensville Committee of the Whole meeting Monday night, trustees unanimously approved a motion by Trustee Rob Holyoke to further discuss offering hybrid meetings until July 1.
Trustees amended the motion to ask that Village Administrator Colleen Landisch-Hansen conduct research on the issues before that discussion continues. Landisch-Hansen is slated to present her findings March 15 on meeting expenses, legal implications and meeting options, including remaining in-person or shifting to virtual.
Before the committee discussed hybrid meetings, Thiensville Deputy Fire Chief Joel Deutsch detailed the department’s staffing struggles in a presentation to the board.
Mobley cited potential costs related to solving the department’s staffing issue as another reason against going hybrid.
“If I had to choose between running all hybrid meetings and keeping the Fire Department going, I would say those who can’t (attend meetings), can resign and then we’d put them back on later, and we can save our pennies because I will go ahead and tell you this: This village faces large expenditures quickly,” said Mobley during the meeting. “They’re gonna be big.”
“I don’t see it costing anything,” Holyoke said.
When Holyoke reminded Mobley that other municipalities have held virtual meetings for nearly a year, Mobley said, “That doesn’t mean that they’re doing it all legally.”
According to the state attorney general’s office, open meetings can be conducted by teleconference or videoconference, but meetings conducted remotely must be reasonably accessible to the public.
Counsel for the Wisconsin Newspaper Association said the way other communities have operated virtual meetings seems to be consistent with the state’s open meetings law.
But Mobley maintains that in-person meetings are “qualitatively superior.”
“There have been serious problems generated in southeastern Wisconsin,” Mobley said. “The Fire and Police Commission in Milwaukee has had serious difficulties, and I think a large portion of that — I don’t know, but we can do a study — is generated by the fact that they’ve been on Zoom the whole time.”
Mobley said the FPC has faced issues with communication and important decision making, particularly while under pressure.
Officials resign
The question over whether to require in-person attendance at meetings has led some officials to simply opt out.
On Feb. 15, the board accepted the resignation of Tom Streifender, a member of the historic preservation commission who cited health risks related to meeting in person as a contributing factor in his decision.
“In-person attendance at indoor group meetings exposes me and my family to a health risk that I am not willing to take,” Streifender said.
Commissioner Bob Blazich said Mobley gave Streifender two options: attend meetings in person or resign.
Blazich and fellow commissioner Jamie Awe followed in Streifender’s footsteps and submitted their resignations Feb. 19.