Whitewater swears in new police K-9 Ruso, handler Justin Stuppy

Ruso is a 28-month-old male Labrador retriever from Mexico. He graduated from Little Rock K-9 Academy, a nationally-known training facility, and is trained in both drug detection and tracking.

Stuppy began his career as a Whitewater community service officer on April 15, 2013. On March 9, 2015, he was promoted to patrol officer and currently is serving on the midnight shift. A Whitewater resident, he is a 2017 University of Wisconsin-Whitewater graduate with a major in Letters and Sciences with a focus on criminal justice.

Stuppy is a member of the Crime Prevention Team, assists training new community service officers and helps with the Whitewater Volunteer Ca­det Program, and was the past-president of the UW-Whitewater campus student organization Law Enforcement Organization.

Ruso and Stuppy replace the department’s first K-9 unit, Officers Joseph Matteson and Boomer, who left the department earlier this year.

“I want to express to everyone here how essential this K-9 program is to our department,” police Capt. Dan Meyer said. “It allows us to interact with community members; it helps us meet operational objectives such as school sniffs, drug detection, tracking; and it is amazing to us, as a department, how it can just light-up a room.”

Meyer explained that there were two searches: one for a dog and one for a handler.

“It became clear to us, from day one, that Justin was committed to being a K-9 handler,” he said. “He went through internal and external panel interviews, as well as a home visit, which earned him the position. You will notice that his greatest strengths are enthusiasm for the job and his approachability, which are both assets to the community. We are confident they will make an impact on our department and the community as a whole.”

The K-9 program is funded through grants and donations from private citizens; no taxpayer funding was used in its creation.

As they did with the previous K-9 unit, Eric Lang and Mary Horing of M.E. & My Pets will continue covering the cost of food for the canine, and Dr. Mike Newell of the Animal Medical Center of Whitewater has agreed to continue covering the annual medical care.

Meyer thanked them, as well as Lisa Berglin of K-9 Hair Care, members of the department and Police and Fire Commission, and “everyone who has donated to this program — we would not be here if were not for all of that effort.”

The cost of the new Labrador retriever, handler training in narcotics and tracking, and housing will be approximately $8,950, according to the department.

Community support for the K-9 unit is still needed. For information on fundraising events, to purchase a K-9 T-shirt or seek additional ways to financially support Ruso and Stuppy, visit the Whitewater K-9 or Whitewater Police Department Facebook pages, the City of Whitewater website, or stop at the Whitewater Police Department in person.

Once the new K-9 Unit was sworn in, the council continued with its regular session, the highlight of which was setting the schedule for appointing a new council member to represent Aldermanic District 2.

On May 16, James Langnes resigned from the District 2 position. Originally appointed to fill the seat on May 2, 2015, after the departure of Sarah Bregant, he was re-elected to the seat in April 2016 to a two-year term that is set to expire in 2018. He resigned three days after graduating from the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater.

Whitewater Common Council seats are elected on staggered terms; along with one of the council’s two at-large seats, even-number districts are elected in even years and odd-numbered district in odd years. Seats slated for the April 2018 election include District 2; District 4, currently held by Lynn Binnie, and one at-large seat, currently held by James Allen.

According to state election laws, when a person is appointed to fulfill an unexpired term — as is the case with Langnes’ resignation — that person must be on the ballot for the next available election. Therefore, the council appointee will be on the April 2018 ballot unless he or she chooses to not seek the seat.

Paperwork, such as gathering signatures, will begin in December 2017 for the April 2018 election. Primaries, if needed, will be held in February 2018.

The council’s appointment method was codified several years ago into a policy that sets forth a standard process that the council usually follows. That process has become quite a familiar one as at least four former councilpersons — Phil Frawley, Brienne Diebolt-Brown, Patrick Wellnitz and Langnes, — have been appointed to fulfill unexpired terms since July 2013.

The council will be accepting nominations to replace Langnes until 4 p.m. on Tuesday, July 11; applicants must have all of their material assembled and delivered to City Clerk Michele Smith by that time.

The council will review the applications for a week, and then, at its meeting on July 18, it will publicly interview each candidate. The council will vote, after which the appointee will be sworn into office.

On Tuesday, some concerns were voiced by council members Stephanie Goettl and Pat­rick Singer about the timing of the appointment.

District 2 is populated mostly, but not entirely, by students attending the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, with several dormitories in the district. Their concern was that the district currently is “sparsely populated” and that no one would apply until classes resume in the fall.

Additionally, council member Chris Grady suggested having a special election in November to elect a new alderman, as he felt “uncomfortable” appointing someone.

Smith said holding a district-specific election in November would cost the city about $15,000. After some debate, the council ultimately decided to try to fill the District 2 seat as soon as possible, but, if no applicants apply, it would renew the call for applicants in late August and make an appointment at its second meeting in September.

Singer commented on the timing and process after the meeting.

“The council decided to follow our existing policy and go to solicitation immediately,” he said. “We are looking at our meeting on July 18 as a potential review of applications and appointment of a member. Due to the timing, and the district makeup, there may be a need to resolicit as we get closer to the academic year. We will take that into consideration depending on the pool of applicants, or if we have any applicants at all.”

Other business

In other matters, the council:

• Approved, on its second reading, annexing two parcels into the city.

The parcels are located in the Town of Cold Spring and the Town of Whitewater, on the west side on North Tratt Street, and are owned by Carl Kienbaum and the Kienbaum family Trust. Combined, they surround the city and total just over 10 acres.

Located just north of the University Garden Apartments, they are in the city’s Comprehensive Land-Use Plan, and are within the sewer service planning area. According to the Land-Use Plan, the city was expecting growth in the areas over the next 20 years.

• Heard City Manager Cameron Clapper announce that in late May, there was multiple vandalism incidents in city parks, including the skate park. It consisted of mostly hate speech-based graffiti. Clapper said city crews were able to remove most of the graffiti in the parks, adding that a number of residents volunteered to cover up the hate speech at the skate park. The residents painted new designs over the graffiti so that the hate-speech was undetectable.

• Reviewed a list of test questions to be used on the city’s new POLCO system.

POLCO is an online platform that can be used by city residents and organizations to provide feedback on five primary city categories: common council matters, board and commission agendas, general feedback about city operations, input of possible or perspective projects and policies, and “flavor of life” questions. The issues will then be discussed by the council.

The questions reviewed Tuesday night were “light questions” to make sure the system is working correctly, such as “Is the city website helpful?” and “Are you willing to shop at a local grocery store or grocery store co-op?”

The council will address the issue again at a future meeting.

• Approved surplus items from the wastewater utility plant to be sold on the Wisconsin Surplus Online Auction website.

According to plant director Tim Reel, during ongoing facility renovations, staff scrutinized existing inventory and identified equipment that will no longer be needed. Due to the specialized nature of some of the items being auctioned, the online service would draw the greatest interest.

• Discussed having more frequent presentations by boards and commission to the council. The council ultimately decided that since most boards are related to a specific department and director — the Park and Recreation Board, for example — the directors should make those reports. For boards with specific city-related department — the Community Development Authority, for example — the council will make formal requests for updates when needed.

• Appointed Russel Walton to the Birge Fountain Committee.

• Approved alcohol license renewals for various stores, restaurants, and taverns in the city, contingent on the building passing a fire inspection.

• Formally acknowledged the findings in the annual Wastewater Utility Compliance Maintenance Report.

• Heard a presentation from Lacey Riechwald and Brienne Diebolt-Brown on the development status of the Whitewater Grocery Cooperative.

• Heard the annual preservation activities report from the Landmarks Commission by Pat Blackmer.

• Canceled the council meeting scheduled for July 4.