By Thomas J. McKillen
Managing Editor
The Menomonee Falls Village Board recently approved the appointment of two new members to the village’s Library Board, with Village President Jeremy Walz explaining the process in which the new members were recommended for appointment to the board.
During the Jan. 15 Village Board meeting, the board approved the selection of Matthew Former to fill a seat vacated by Jessica Cole and also approved the selection of Thomas Ewig to fill a seat vacated by Coleen Leahy.
Earlier in the day on Jan. 15, Grassroots Menomonee Falls posted a “Call to Action” statement on its Facebook page to “Advocate for Transparency in Library Board appointments.” The Facebook post urged residents to email trustees “and send a statement expressing your disapproval of their lack of transparency and application process to make this decision, along with their lack of consideration of the other candidates who have applied for the post for the Library Board.”
During the citizen comment portion of the board meeting, resident Kathy McBride asked about the process to select candidates for the open Library Board position.
“How did these two gentlemen know to submit their applications? I know many in the community who are interested in serving in this way. What about the last time there were two vacancies, which rendered — at least as I understood it — 10 volunteers who submitted their applications?” McBride asked. “Were they in this vetting mix during this candidate search? Was there an open candidate search?”
When the Library Board selections came up for consideration by the board, Walz said, “There’s a lot of chatter about transparency and process. If the Village Attorney (Adam Koenings) would like to speak about the process, I would welcome that at this time.”
“There is no formal process,” Koenings said. He then explained there are several boards and commissions similar to the Library Board where the village president has appointment authority subject to majority approval by the Village Board.
Koenings said past village presidents have recommended appointment to the boards and commissions “in an informal manner, which means they generally coordinate with the village manager to review the boards and commission to determine if there are any vacancies. If there are appointments, if there are known people that are interested, if the village president knows of people who are interested, he may make those appointments. The village president may speak to people that he knows regarding whether anybody knows of anybody that would be interested.”
Koenings added there are times when no one is interested in an opening and the village president may ask the village manager and staff request residents submit applications for the open positions.
“The way in which the village president generally goes about making those recommendations is individual to each village president but I would say generally involve calling the individuals that show interest and making a determination based on the makeup of the existing board and what the village president might think is something valuable to the existing board in its current makeup,” Koenings said. “Those are all the types of things that go into the process and into consideration by the village president.”
“There’s a lot of committees other than the Library Board. This is the process to fill all of them,” Walz said. Walz said as village president he can ask the village manager if he knows of anyone who would be a good candidate for an open position, or village trustees can suggest people to fill open seats, the village can request applications.
“This is the process. This is how it always has been: The village president puts forward applicants and the Village Board approves or denies appointments. I have put up applicants for appointment and re-appointment that have been denied, it is part of the process,” Walz said.
Regarding the two selections, Walz noted he previously served on the Library Board and knows the time commitment to serving in that position. Walz said when Cole resigned from the Library Board, he talked with village and library staff and initially decided not to appoint a person to the term because it would only be a few months before the end of the term. When Leahy resigned from the Library Board, that left two openings on the board.
Walz said he talked with staff and decided to fill both open positions on the Library Board. Walz said he talked with one person who previously applied for the post who indicated they couldn’t serve due to additional work duties. Walz said he then asked village staff for resumes of the last two people to apply for the Library Board and interviewed both candidates.
“I asked what they love about the library, I asked why they are interested in serving on the Library Board and what they could bring to the board. I asked that they pledge to serve as non-partisan and for the best residents of all our residents and the best interests of the library,” Walz said.
Trustee Brad Jubber said that Former has experience in marking and communications and while Ewig has experience running financial institutions and teaching children. Walz said that Former “wants a phenomenal library for the public.” Walz added that Ewig is a financial representative and a former educator and Eagle Scout “who loves and supports the library, his kids also love the library and its programs.”
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