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Council members trying to block replacements

Four suspended city council members are trying to block the Lake Geneva mayor from appointing replacements.

Mayor Bill Chesen on Thursday filed petitions for removal of council members Mary Jo Fesenmaier, Arleen Krohn, Penny Roehrer and Tom Spellman. He also immediately suspended the four, barring them from secure areas of City Hall and requiring them to relinquish their keys to City Hall offices.

Chesen scheduled a meeting tonight to appoint Robert Flemming, Larry Magee, Michael McBride and Sturges Taggart as city council members. Flemming, Magee, McBride and Taggart ran against the four suspended alders in the latest election.

If the appointments proceed, the new council members could be able to vote on whether to remove Fesenmaier, Krohn, Roehrer and Spellman from the city council.

Attorney David Williams on Monday filed papers asking for immediate reinstatement of the suspended alders. Williams also on Monday filed a motion for a restraining order and a temporary injunction to prevent the mayor from appointing the four to the council seats.

The motion also asks the court to not allow the four would-be alders to vote on action pertaining to the matter.

On Monday, Judge John Race declined to act without a formal hearing including both parties, according to his clerk.

Williams said would try to file a motion with the District 2 Court of Appeals in Waukesha.

“It would be unusual if the court signed this order without the other party present,” Williams said. “But these are unusual circumstances.”

For a full story, read Tuesday’s Walworth County Gazette, read online in the Gazette’s E-Edition or check back at WalworthCountyToday.com or GazetteXtra.com.