MARSHFIELD, WI (WSAU-WDLB) — The Marshfield Common Council has a new leader, and thus, a new person filling the duties of the Mayor’s office.
After two consecutive 5-to-5 tie votes by the city’s 10 aldermen last night, a coin flip put District Two representative Nick Poeschel in the role of Common Council President, replacing District Six Alderman Tom Witzel.
And since the Council voted to remove Bob McManus from the Mayor’s office on March 22nd, the Council President has been–and will continue–fulfilling the baseline duties of that office, like signing official city documents and presiding over Council meetings. The future of the Mayor’s office will be up for discussion next Tuesday, April 27th, after the Council last week decided to wait until new Alderman Brian Varsho took his seat in District Four.
Varsho defeated Ken Bargender in the April 6th election and was sworn in during the Council’s annual reorganizational meeting last night. Poeschel and Witzel were also sworn in for new terms last night, along with Peter Hendler and Rebecca Spiros, who thanked Witzel for his service as Council President.
“I think that he’s done a great job. And he’s had to face a lot of adversities and bring this council through a lot of stuff. And so I appreciate all of his efforts and his professionalism he maintained the entire year,”.
Before leaving the Council President’s role, Witzel named his citizen appointment nominations for various boards, committees, and commissions. Most notably, Randy Gershman–current President of the Fire-and-Police Commission–was not nominated for another five-year term. Witzel nominated Bill Penker to take that spot.
Gershman–along with fellow Commissioner Andy Keogh–are the targets of a formal complaint filed by a citizens’ group whose members were seeking the removal of both for various misconduct allegations. The Council is scheduled to get an update next week Tuesday on the legal status of that complaint.
Also last night, Witzel nominated Steve Meek to fill the unexpired term of Jennifer Meece, who resigned from Commission last week. Witzel noted the city has over 80 citizen appointments, and 22 of them needed filling. The Council is scheduled to vote on those nominations at its next regular meeting next week Tuesday, April 27th.
