"I'm about to become your tornado"

Kronenwetter hires an administrator after a raucous three-hour meeting

Peter Kampfer waited for roughly three hours before being named the village’s next administrator, replacing the departing Leonard Ludi.

Kampfer joked about being a track athlete, and that he’d had plenty of time to change his mind and book it out of there.

With a 6-0 vote, Kampfer’s hiring was one of the least contentious parts of a meeting that included revolting employees, a surprisingly controversial ambulance proposal and back and forth about background checks.

Revenge of the staff

In a scene this reporter hasn’t seen since a similar revolt in the Wausau City Council Chambers when Attorney Anne Jacobson and an embattled human resources director took to the mic to call out Mayor James Tipple, numerous Kronenwetter staff members took to the mic during public comment to call out one particular board member, Ken Charneski, who they say is the cause of so many staff members leaving.

Jennifer Poyer, the village’s Communications Specialist, is currently the senior employee in the village — and she only started in November 2021. In that time, Poyer says, the village has gone through three village clerks, two community development directors, three public works directors and two water directors. The village at no point in that time has been fully staffed.

Poyer said that blame lies with Charneski. “In my time I have continually heard complaints about Ken Charneski,” Poyer says. “I’ve watched employees leave because of how they were treated by Ken.”

(Numerous staff members also cited Charneski as the reason they left the village in our series Big Trouble in Little Kronenwetter, which detailed the staff exodus and internal fighting in the village.)

Poyer was one of four staff members to call out Charneski. But most forceful of the four was Clerk Bobbi Jo Birk-LaBarge, who defended Leonard Ludi’s time as administrator and public works director before singling him out as another employee leaving the village because of Charneski’s conduct. (Ludi hasn’t yet publicly stated why he is leaving other than to cite “considerable concerns.”)

“You’re the only board member who speaks to staff like that,” she said. She called out Charneski’s comments to various publications, including this one, questioning Ludi’s performance and qualifications.

Birk-LaBarge is currently one of the subjects of a lawsuit Charneski filed earlier this year and is also the subject of a Wisconsin Elections Commission complaint filed by Charneski.

Birk-LaBarge had strong words for Charneski. “You’re the trailer park, Ken. And I’m about to become your tornado.”

Charneski responds

Charneski didn’t respond to the accusations at Monday’s meeting, but he had some comments when asked about the accusations by The Wausonian.