Judge denies trustee’s request for legal fees from village

An Ozaukee County judge ruled last week that Grafton does not have to pay the more than $16,000 in legal fees and court costs Village Trustee Susan Meinecke racked up suing officials over records she claimed would reveal a conspiracy to undermine her 2018 re-election campaign.

In addition to rejecting Meinecke’s request for $15,789 in legal fees and $534 in costs, Judge Sandy Williams ruled Meinecke is not entitled to the $100 in damages — the minimum amount allowed by law — she requested.

Lawyers representing Grafton Village Administrator Jesse Thyes and Fire Chief Williams Rice, who were named as defendants in the lawsuit Meinecke filed on Feb. 19, 2019, noted that the law allows judges to award attorney fees, costs and damages if the person making the request “prevails in whole or in substantial part,” which Meinecke did not do, they argued.

Meinecke’s lawsuit sought a writ of mandamus, or a court order, compelling Thyes and Rice to release emails she had requested under the open records law and they had withheld.

During an Oct. 18 hearing, Williams ruled that several of the emails Thyes and Rice did not release were properly withheld under exceptions to the open records law.

Among those emails were a to-do list Thyes created for himself and personal emails between Rice and his wife that have “no nexus to government business,” the judge said. Other records were properly withheld because they dealt with protected personnel matters, she said. 

Williams granted a motion for summary judgment filed by Thyes and Rice, effectively dismissing parts of Meinecke’s lawsuit that pertained to those records.

Noting that Thyes and Rice had released more than 1,000 records in response to requests from Meinecke, Williams said in October, “I think the respondents (Thyes and Rice) have engaged in an incredibly good-faith effort in complying with the open records law.”

Still at issue, however, were 32 emails  and attachments that were not released on the grounds they are protected by attorney-client privilege. Following an in camera, or confidential, review of the emails, Williams determined that 17 were protected by privilege, 10 were a mix of privileged and non-privileged material and five did not contain privileged information. She then released the non-privileged records and granted summary judgment for both Meinecke and Thyes and Rice regarding that part of the lawsuit.

“The judge ruled that we acted appropriately in carrying out our duties and did the best we could, that we acted in good faith,” Thyes said during an interview Tuesday. He declined to comment further on the advice of attorneys in case Meinecke appeals Williams’ decision. 

Noting that insurance is paying the village’s legal expenses, Thyes said he does not know how much they cost. 

Meinecke said Tuesday that while she does not fault the judge’s rulings, she is not convinced the village handled her open record requests properly.

“This did not build trust in the village’s process, the Village Board or the administrator,” she said. “There was a lot of back and forth and smoke and mirrors. It was not a transparent process.”

When asked if she plans to appeal Williams’ decision, Meinecke said, “I’m investigating my options at this point.”

Meinecke said her lawsuit was strictly about open records, but the civil complaint filed by her lawyers in support of her request for a writ of mandamus make it clear that the rationale for her requests was her belief that other officials were plotting against her. 

Although no trustees were named as respondents, Meinecke argues in the lawsuit that at least some members of the Village Board were part of a conspiracy aimed at torpedoing her 2018 re-election bid. 

“Meinecke believes that public records exist that will prove that members of the Village Board, Thyes and Rice improperly conspired against her election campaign and made false statements about her,” according to the civil complaint filed by Meinecke.

Meinecke’s claims are rooted in a controversy that began shortly after Trustee David Liss was married on Dec. 31, 2017. Liss and his wife are members of the fire department and had their wedding photos taken outside the  fire station standing in a ladder truck. 

According to the lawsuit, Meinecke told  Thyes on Jan. 26, 2018 that a resident had asked her whether the village’s insurance policy provided liability coverage when firefighters used department equipment for personal photographs.

A month later, village policy was changed to prohibit the use of fire department equipment as props for personal photos.

According to the lawsuit, Thyes changed the policy but Meinecke was blamed for it, and as a result she has been portrayed as being unsupportive of firefighters.

Referring to unnamed trustees, as well as Thyes and Rice, the complaint states, “Those same individuals have a history of falsely claiming that Meinecke is generally not supportive of village fire personnel, claims that Meinecke has repeatedly and vehemently denied.”

The policy change drew criticism from some trustees and was ultimately changed to again allow firefighters to use department equipment in photos.

The controversy became fodder for Meinecke’s critics leading up to the April 2018 election.

Meinecke was re-elected in 2018 but is not running again in April. She said she is stepping down from the board because she is moving.