Incorporation review rejected
Judge Hassin says his court cannot review decision
Waukesha - It took Waukesha County Circuit Court Judge Donald J. Hassin Jr. about eight minutes last week to toss out of court Lisbon-Inc.org.'s latest effort at incorporating the Town of Lisbon into a village.
The judge rejected requests by the citizen's group that he reopen the incorporation case in circuit court and that he review a decision made in June by the state Incorporation Review Board denying the petition to incorporate Lisbon into a village.
He also described as "totally inappropriate" a letter sent to him by Denise Wenger, one of the founders of the citizen's group. In the letter, she described why the group believed the town was qualified to become a village and why they believed they were denied a fair hearing by the incorporation review board. Hassin indicated he did not read the letter.
The incorporation issue landed on the court docket two years ago because state law requires that circuit courts determine whether petitions seeking incorporation meet state requirements before they are submitted to the incorporation review board. After several hearings, Hassin determined in late 2010 that the petition met the state standards to be filed with the review board.
In a succinct ruling issued from the bench on Wednesday, Sept. 7, Hassin said that while state law gave the court "administrative" responsibilities in the incorporation process, it did not empower him to make "an appellant review" of the decision issued by the incorporation review board.
The judge also refused to reverse a decision he made on July 15 to dismiss the incorporation issue from the court docket. Hassin noted that, on that date no one objected to him dismissing the case.
Michael Krill, attorney for Lisbon-Inc.org, argued that he did not object to the dismissal prior to July 15 because he was not properly notified of the court's intent to dismiss the case.
Krill said he did not receive until July 11 an email sent to him on July 5 by Attorney Stanley Riffle that included a proposed order to dismiss the case.
Riffle represents the villages of the Sussex and Menomonee Falls who have objected to the incorporation of the town into a village.
After the incorporation review board rejected the petition, Riffle filed with the local court a proposed order dismissing the case.
Court officials said that Riffle had filed the proposed order on his own initiative and it was not requested by Hassin. However, Hassin did set July 15 as the final day for anyone to voice an objection to dismissing the case.
Hassin ruled that he did not believe Krill's failure to receive the proposed order until July 11 was sufficient reason to reverse his initial decision.
Krill said after the hearing Hassin's decision, he and his clients have not determined whether to appeal Hassin's rulings.
Lisbon-Inc.org members have alleged there were "irregularities" in the incorporation review process. They noted that there were three different board chairs while hearings were conducted and the petition was reviewed by the staff of the Department of Administration. Citizen's group members argued that Dawn Vick, the chairwoman who rendered the final decision, did not properly understand state laws that were applicable to Lisbon's incorporation petition.
E-mail Newsletter
Top stories from the Lake Country area. Tuesday afternoons and Thursday mornings.
Enter your e-mail address above and click "Sign Up Now!" to begin receiving your e-mail newsletter
Get the Newsletter!
If I could travel in time ...Judging is currently in progress with an anticipated publication date of June 3 for winning entries.
Lake Country residents share their views on news, happenings and current events.
LivingLakeCountry.com features more than a dozen community bloggers - a group of volunteer conversation leaders who are up on the latest topics and never short on an opinion. Just a few are pictured here. Check out the rest and see what they have to say!
View All Blogs
Discussion Guidelines
Do you want to become a Community Blogger? LivingLakeCountry.com welcomes your thoughts and opinions. Contact us for more information:
I want to blog
Posted Friday, May 18 |
|
Photo of the Week by Todd Ponath: ROCKIN' IT - Fred Eide, left, and his daughter Ashley, of Eide Painting and Sandblasting, use spray guns to paint the individual rock shapes on the underside of the I-94 overpass at Highway P in Oconomowoc Wednesday, May 16. Each "rock" is painted individually and then speckled with black paint to make it look like granite.
News or Feature Story of the Week by Andrea Budde: Bigfoot sighting in Eagle turns out to be less than meets the eye
Sports Story of the Week by JR Radcliffe: Netters win 'unofficial' titles conference
Page or layout design of the week by Lisa Leonard: Drop a line and relax
|
MORE: See full gallery
SUBMIT: Post Your Photos now
Do you have news or an event that you would like to share with the community? Whether it's a community organization, a business, a local school, or a notable neighbor, we'd love to hear about it!!
- Discover Composting
- Christ the King Church of Delafield Resumes Summer Service Schedule
- Greendale Schools June 1 Celebration of Education
- “Savvy Social Security Planning” Seminar to Detail Strategies for Maximizing Benefits
- U.S. Cellular Hosting Free Device Workshop
- Tour Our Very Special Gardens - free - June 25
- Host Daniela from Mexico at Oconomowoc HS
- Very Special Garden Tour - Free - June 23 and June 25
- Wisconsin Chapter of The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society Hits Home Stretch of Annual Milwaukee Man & Woman of the Year Campaign
- Neuroscience Nurse Appreciation Ceremony
MORE: See the rest of Your Stories
SUBMIT: Post Your Story now
Information on Mukwonago Publications
We encourage your comments but will strive to remove discussion that contains personal attacks, racial slurs, profanity or other inappropriate material as outlined in our guidelines. We post-moderate comments on most content, but may choose to pre-moderate some comments so please be patient if you don't see yours appear right way. We also ask for your help by reporting comments you think are inappropriate.
Please login or register to post a comment.