WAUPUN — The 5th Aldermanic seat was left vacant after Mayor Rohn Bishop was sworn into office at the Special Meeting of the Common Council last month. Initially the Common Council intended to immediately fill the alderman seat with Justin Landaal who had already expressed interest in the position. The Common Council decided to postpone until the next meeting held Tuesday, May 10th, to allow for others who were interested to make their case to be chosen for the seat. There were three individuals who submitted letters to the City Hall to be considered for the Alderman position. These three were Justin Landaal, Tracie Nichols, and Dan Siebers. Also in attendance was former mayor Kyle Clark.
Justin Landaal was unable to attend the meeting due to a work conflict, but due to his changing schedule told the Council in an email that he would still be the alderman if no one else would be able to. Tracie Nichols has lived in Waupun for the last seven years and is the secretary for the Waupun Historical Society and has been involved with various local events mostly related to the museum. Dan Siebers has lived in Waupun for more than thirty years and retired two years ago from Faith Technologies in Menasha.
Nichols and Siebers each made their case to the Council, and after both had completed their speeches, former Mayor Kyle Clark took the podium himself. He addressed the Council regarding the ethics of the appointment, stating his concerns about appointing acquaintances, as well as wishing to make sure the vote was fair and had not already been decided. Clark did not submit an application letter to be considered for the appointment and did not immediately state whether he was submitting his name for consideration when taking the podium. Upon being asked, Clark replied “sure” without elaboration to being nominated for the appointment, giving no explicit reason for why he should be on the City Council.
The Council was left in shock when nominations began. Alderman Kazmarski and Alderwoman Vanderkin nominated Kyle Clark for the Alderman seat. Alderman Matoushek and Alderman Westphal nominated Dan Siebers. But due to Alderman Langford’s excused absence, the Council’s vote was left on a tie. With the vote deadlocked, Mayor Bishop initially intended to vote again when Alderman Langford returned at a later meeting, but City Attorney VandeZande informed the Mayor that he had the power to vote in the case of a tie even for council appointments. Mayor Bishop voted for Dan Siebers, breaking the tie.
Both Kyle Clark and Tracie Nichols endorsed Bishop’s opponent, Zac Dickhut, for the 5th Aldermanic District race in 2021. Zac Dickhut is the President of the Waupun Historical Society and Executive Director of the Waupun Chamber of Commerce and recently resigned from his seat on the Waupun Police and Fire Commission. The vacant seat on the P&F Commission was filled at the Tuesday meeting by Bambi Buchholz.
Alderman Dan Siebers took his seat after being appointed and was congratulated by those in attendance. “I’m honored to serve,” Siebers told the Waupun Pioneer in a phone call. Alderman Siebers will be officially sworn in at a future meeting, and will serve out the remaining year of the two-year term.
