The Eagle River City Council approved implementing staggered alderperson terms going forward at its April meeting.

Currently, all five seats are up for reelection at the same time, which could create problems in the event all seats were unelected at the same time, Mayor Deb Brown said. She noted it would be specifically difficult to manage for city staff including Administrator Robin Ginner, Clerk Becky Bolte, Treasurer Cory Hoffman, and police Chief Tyler Salvinski.

“If all five of us were to get unelected, it would be an absolute nightmare for them. It would be the hardest on them because there would be no continuity,” Brown said.

The council decided it will hold elections every year, with all four alderpersons and the mayor on the ballot next spring. In order to align the terms going forward, those in the even-numbered districts 2 and 4 (currently held by Jerry Burkett and Dan Dumas) would be on the ballot for a one-year term. Those in odd-numbered districts 1 and 3 which (currently held by Vic Washelesky and Kim Schaffer), as well as the mayor, will be on the 2027 ballot for two-year terms.

After 2027, odd-numbered districts and the mayor would be elected in odd-numbered years going forward, and even-numbered districts in even years.

Districts 2 and 4 would have to run again in 2028 for a regular two-year term.
Citizens at the meeting brought up also imposing term limits for the council.

Alderpersons and the mayor indicated that finding people to run can be very difficult with existing council members sometimes having to seek out candidates.

“Please, step up and run,” Burkett urged. “I’ve made this statement no less than five or six times; run, please!”

Burkett said when he originally ran for alderman about 30 years ago, Eagle River was the highest taxed city in the entire state.

“If you’re not part of the solution, you are complacent and part of the problem. And I decided that I was going to be part of the solution,” Burkett said. “This job carries a great deal of responsibility, and you have to face that responsibility. I’ve been an alderman for three decades.”

He again pleaded for citizens to step up.

“Please! Somebody run against me and have the public decide if I’m still the person for them or somebody else should do this job. Let the people decide,” he said.

Brown supported his comment, saying serving on the council is “an indication of what it takes to run a city.”

Washelesky asked the council members when the last time someone was opposed in an election before noting he likely wouldn’t be running again next year due to not being able to give the job the time it deserves.

“You see people come to the meetings and they get one thing, the park for instance, and you get so many intelligent responses from people and you think, ‘why aren’t you part of this all the time’?” he said.

“Jerry hit it right on the nose; you’ve gotta run for these positions. It’s interesting, you’re involved in your community, I couldn’t tell you how much fun this is. Sometimes frustrating. And it’s not the amount of time that it’s going to ruin your life,” Washelesky added.

The council said it will look into term limits at a later date, with Burkett noting they have time because there are nine months before anyone has to file any nomination paperwork.

Open records fees

The council decided in March to implement a fee scale in compliance with Department of Justice guidelines for open records requests after a number of time-consuming requests.

Burkett had asked for a breakdown of open records requests which was presented by Clerk Becky Bolte at Tuesday’s meeting. Her list included requests from January 2025 through March 2026 and indicated approximately 25 records requests were made by city resident Kathryn Craffey. Also included in the list were requests made to city Administrator Robin Ginner, who noted approximate times it took for her to fulfill those requests.

Craffey spoke at the meeting about the important things that were learned through the open records requests of herself and others, and how important it is to the community, indicating that some of those requests led to the city uploading a corrected budget.

“We’ve learned through open records requests that copies of the Zoom meetings have to be open records because the city doesn’t put them on YouTube or other free sites,” Craffey said.

“We learned through a reporter filing a request an alderman helped put a snowmobile trail on FAA-owned property, and we learned that there was no censure of this alderman ever initiated by the mayor or council,” Craffey said.
Burkett interjected, “I beg to differ and I think that is defamation of character, and I will be taking action.” He then requested a copy of the meeting at Bolte’s earliest convenience.

“We learned a lot of information and I feel that if Eagle River was a little more transparent in putting information and meetings online, we wouldn’t have to ask, or bother the clerk for information.”

Mayor Deb Brown responded with, “I’m not sure what else we can do — I think we’re very open. All you have to do is ask and we’re happy to answer your questions.”

Regarding the availability of recorded Zoom meetings, Bolte specified that it was currently an IT issue with the meetings being posted on the website, but they are looking at how to enhance that.

“They are always available through our link, and I’m happy to provide it whenever necessary,” she said, but agreed when Craffey clarified that would be considered an open records request.

It was noted during the meeting that The Lakeland Times has awarded both Ginner and Bolte with A-ratings for their transparency.

In other business

• During other council business, Mike Sanborn of Eagle River Light and Water Utility updated the council on his work with a landowner willing to allow sludge spreading on their property once all testing and permitting is completed, and the council also okayed a “half-price” cleaning and televising to be done by Aqualis at a cost of $15,000. They also approved the sale of a 2002 bucket truck and 2003 digger truck with proceeds to go back to the utility’s equipment replacement account.

• Phil Kriesel of MSA Engineering reported that he would be retiring May 8. Brown thanked him for his years of service to the city.

• The Vilas County Fairgrounds will host a small animal swap meet five times throughout the summer months where people can purchase rabbits, ducks, chickens, turkeys and other small animals. Dates of the events will be May 30, June 20, July 18, Aug. 29 and Sept. 12, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Signs will be posted to alert the public.

• Police Chief Tyler Salvinski reported the May 31 retirement/resignation of Adam Ross and updated the council on the hiring process.

• Fire Chief James Randall presented his report, saying the department is receiving far more calls than previous years and is over budget on payroll. “We have been running ragged. It’s been rough,” Randall said.

The department has sold some equipment to try to fill the coffers.

“We’re doing everything possible to try to keep money coming in, but we’re hurting,” he said.

• They also denied an invoice for damage to a pedestal damaged at 150 E Hospital Road on Feb. 21 that Project Resources Group, representing Charter Spectrum, says was damaged by city plows.

After speaking to his team, Adamovich said, “The timeline to me does not match up. I think they are just looking for someone to pay for this pedestal.”