Election Trouble in Little Kronenwetter
Election Trouble in Little Kronenwetter
Ken Charneski filed a WEC complaint against Kronenwetter Clerk Bobbi Jo Birk-LaBarge, whom he is already suing
Village of Kronenwetter Board Member Ken Charneski did not approve of how Bobbi Jo Birk-LaBarge handled elections in 2023.
UPDATE: The complaint was filed this spring but the complaints stem from 2023. This post has been updated to reflect that.
That goes back to a TV interview The Wausonian covered (as well as covered on its primary election night livestream) in which LaBarge talked about getting new faces on the village board, which Charneski and others interpreted as a call to replace them. And now, according to a WEC complaint filed on March 25, Charneski did not like how LaBarge handled the spring elections in 2023.
According to the complaint, Charneski alleges that LaBarge removed election inspectors from polling lists that were either Republican or Unaffiliated and replaced them with “people off the street” who were not from either party’s lists and were not approved by the village board.
In full, Charneski alleges LaBarge:
1. Removed and/or disregarded available duly appointed election inspectors, both Republican and unaffiliated, in at least 4 separate elections and primaries, and instead arbitrarily hired workers for those positions "off the street" who were not submitted by either of the main political parties, nor were they approved by the Village Board.
2. There were two other elections which likely involve similar violations, but for which LaBarge has not provided worker schedules (see EXHIBIT Q).
3. Apparently no effort was made to achieve the statutory balance between Republican and unaffiliated workers at any of the elections conducted by Ms LaBarge.
4. Split shifts without a Village Ordinance to authorize such action, in violation of.
5. Openly admitted to removing at least one election inspector without cause, documentation, or notification. (see EXHIBIT K)
6. For all practical purposes, she removed other workers from the Republican list, as some of them have never been called in to work the polls, while others, often unapproved, have been called in numerous times.
7. Submitted the election worker names to the Village Board for approval, without breaking down the list by party affiliation.
8. Removed names from the list submitted by the Republican Party, before forwarding that list to the Village Board for approval.
9. Hired at least one worker who is not a resident of the municipality, in preference over other approved workers from within the municipality who, according to statute 7.30 (4) (c), must be used first. There may be other workers from outside the municipality being being given preference as well. We do not know, because Clerk LaBarge has not provided information on any of the unaffiliated workers for us to confirm who they are, or where they live.(see EXHIBITQ)
The full 55-page complaint includes a long explanation of the charges above and includes as evidence numerous email exchanges going back to 2023 and including conversations with former interim director Kim Manley, who Charneski is suing along with LaBarge (village attorney Lee Turonie had also been named but a judge last week dropped him from the case).
The emails contain some interesting exchanges, including LaBarge telling Charneski at one point to “hang on, antsy-pantsy” and Charneski telling Manley he was not being combative in an email exchange. In another, Charneski references Village President Chris Voll saying at one point that Charneski has been “micro-managing” (which he disputes).
That exchange, which began before 8 am in the morning, seems to indicate the whole thing stemmed from a complaint from an election worker who wasn’t getting called to work the elections. That led to a series of inquiries and eventually led to Charneski filing charges.
The WEC sent LaBarge a letter notifying her of the complaint filed by Charneski on April 4. The letter states that LaBarge is alleged to have violated state statutes 7.15(1) and 7.30 involving the appointment of election inspectors.
LaBarge has 13 days to respond, which means April 17. The Wausonian will keep an eye out for the response.
NOTE: For newer readers, the title is a reference to a series The Wausonian published in 2022 about the major staff exodus from the village of Kronenwetter. The original title is a reference to the movie “Big Trouble in Little China.”
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