In the wake of Green Bay’s city hall bugging scandal, two Green Bay-area lawmakers are introducing a bill creating clear requirements for government officials to collect audio recordings.
The measure, authored by State Representative David Steffen (R-Howard) and State Senator Eric Wimberger (R-Green Bay), would establish “stringent requirements” should local or state government officials feel the need to audio record in public buildings.
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After the Park Committee voted unanimously last week to remove audio recording devices from Green Bay City Hall, the full City Council is expected to take up the issue at Tuesday evening’s meeting.
The action item comes after a Brown County judge issued a temporary injunction demanding the city shut down the bugs while a lawsuit proceeds.
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An attorney for the Wisconsin State Senate is warning Green Bay city officials not to destroy documents related to its use of audio recording devices at city hall. He said a lawsuit is coming.
Ryan Walsh, with the Eimer Stahl law firm, sent a letter to Green Bay Mayor Eric Genrich late Friday after city officials all but ignored a warning letter demanding they remove the three recording devices.
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The city of Green Bay is doubling down on its legally dubious policy on bugging City Hall, and it appears a lawsuit is in the offing.
In response to a warning letter from the Wisconsin State Senate, Green Bay’s Chief of Operations Joseph Faulds has issued a statement asserting the city will continue its audio surveillance, but it will provide notice about the recording devices.
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An Attorney representing the Wisconsin State Senate sent a letter this week to Green Bay Mayor Eric Genrich demanding he immediately disable the audio recording devices planted in city hall. The letter also demands the city destroy all illegally obtained audio recordings.
“This surveillance activity is not only disturbing. It is unlawful,” writes Ryan J. Walsh, the attorney representing the lawmakers.
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The installation of audio recording devices at Green Bay’s City Hall without the general knowledge of the public is “unsettling,” more than likely illegal and an “egregious breach of privacy,” Green Bay-area lawmakers tell The Wisconsin Daily Star.
“Whether this is sheer incompetence or malevolence, it might be impossible to overstate just how jaw-droopingly brazen a violation of civil rights [this is],” said state Sen. Andre Jacque (R-De Pere.) He added that Green Bay Mayor Eric Genrich and other city officials have exposed the city and themselves to “criminal and civil liabilities” for “snooping on citizens.”
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In an 8-1 vote on Monday night, the Columbus Civilian Police Review Board recommended the removal of one of its members due to the member posting anti-police rhetoric on social media.
The decision comes in response to board member Gambit Aragon making anti-police social media posts after the cancellation of a controversial holiday story time event at a Clintonville church featuring drag queens.
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Two Gallatin councilmen who purchased property that the city needs for a street widening project suggested that they may donate to the city the land necessary for the right of way.
The property in question is located on East Smith Street, on the back side of Sumner County’s $100 million justice center approved by the county commission in 2019 and currently under construction.
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The Metro Nashville City Council voted on an ordinance that would allow for sidewalk cafes to remain permanent on Tuesday.
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The Minneapolis Police Department has lost nearly 300 officers since 2020, and the city is trying to fund a budget that replaces those officers and protects residents from an increase in violent crime.
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey’s 2022 recommended budget would increase the Minneapolis Police Department’s (MPD) budget by $27 million, or 17%, if approved by the City Council.
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A group of north Minneapolis residents said they feel like they live in a “war zone” in an open letter to Gov. Tim Walz this week.
“North Minneapolis, the most diverse part of the state, is a war zone, with a child murdered, a man killed when a barbershop was shot-up in broad daylight, a school teacher executed by fully automatic gunfire, a drive by shooting across an elementary school playground with children at recess, a bus evacuated after being shot at. All this in little more than a week,” says the letter.
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A school board in Oregon is receiving backlash following its recent ban on educators displaying Black Lives Matter signs and gay pride symbols.
Newberg, which is situated just outside of Portland, now finds itself the site of the latest skirmish in a pitched struggle between traditional and woke approaches to education being waged in school systems across the country.
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Tennessee statutes allow recalls in any “governmental entity having a charter provision for a petition for recall.” This delegates the decision about recalls of local officials to each municipality. If a local government’s charter allows for such recalls, then state law establishes the signature requirements and filing deadlines for conducting them. This also applies to school board members. Tennessee law says, “Any member of the board of education of the city elected or appointed…may be removed from office by the registered voters of the city.”
Tennessee also allows any county with a metropolitan form of government and more than 100,000 residents to establish its own recall procedures in its charter. One example of this is in Nashville, which has a population of 715,884, according to 2020 census data. In 1963, the governments of the city of Nashville and Davidson County merged to form the Nashville-Davidson Metro Government.
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Wednesday morning on the Tennessee Star Report, guest host Ben Cunningham welcomed Grant Henry in studio to discuss the excellence of the Tennessee legislature and the importance for citizens to become involved.
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The city of Austin faces a crisis of rising violent crime after the City Council voted last year to drastically reduce the police department’s budget, interim Police Chief Joseph Chacon says.
Last summer, the Austin City Council voted to defund the police department by $150 million, which resulted in canceling multiple cadet classes and disbanding multiple units responsible for responding to DWIs, domestic violence calls, stalking, and criminal interdiction.
Instead, the council redistributed the money to other city programs and suggested that community organizers respond to 911 calls, instead of the police department.
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The Clarksville City Council is considering a Second Amendment sanctuary resolution in a meeting this afternoon.
Councilmember Jason Knight is offering “Resolution 56-2020-21 Declaring the City of Clarksville as a 2nd Amendment Sanctuary City.” The meeting starts at 4:30 p.m.
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