Decision delayed on Van de Yacht claim

WAUSAU, Wis. (WSAU) – The Wausau City Council has again put off a decision on how to handle a former alderwoman’s claim.

The Council will decide March 23rd whether to refer to the ethics board Christine Van de Yacht’s claim that city officials withheld evidence from an ethics probe against her in 2006.

Their action will also request that Mayor Jim Tipple reconvene the five-member panel, reappoint members whose terms have expired and appoint to fill the vacancy for a member who has since died.

Council members were ready to decide Tuesday night whether to refer Van de Yacht’s claim to the state Government Accountability Board but decided against that when they realized the board doesn’t have jurisdiction over the complaint.

The Council also held off immediately referring the matter to the ethics board because it was not properly posted on the agenda, said city attorney Anne Jacobson.

The ethics board recommended that Van de Yacht be censured for violating the city’s ethics code when she bought part of a property that had been cleaned up with federal blight funds.

But Van de Yacht presented new evidence last month she claims shows the city’s current and former community development directors knew about but failed to prevent her from engaging in a conflict of interest by buying part of the former Golden Gournsey dairy building.