WAUPUN — A County Supervisor who represents Waupun has been absent from more than half of the Dodge County Board meetings and committees over the last year.
Dodge County Supervisor Kira Sheahan-Malloy represents the 25th Supervisory District, which covers much of the southeast section of the City of Waupun. According to the Dodge County website, she is seated on the Executive and Finance committees, and was previously on the Audit committee in 2022.
But according to documents obtained by Waupun Pioneer, Sheahan-Malloy has been absent from more than half of her assigned meetings, and allegations of board members intending to keep the 25th District seat absent.
On May 5th Dodge County Sheriff Dale Schmidt sent an email to County Board Chairman David Frohling and County Executive Cameron Clapper bringing these concerns to light.
“I am not able to confirm this claim, but it has been brought to my attention that there may be a movement by some on the county board which prevents the citizens of Waupun from having proper representation by their supervisor on the county board,” Sheriff Schmidt states in the email.
While Sheriff Schmidt could not speculate on who may be involved, he emphasized that there’s no good reason for the Board to leave the seat empty due to Sheahan-Malloy’s absence.
“My information is that there is an intent to keep Supervisor Sheahan-Malloy on the board as long as possible to be a permanent no-vote on every issue as an absent vote counts as a no-vote on every vote except those specifically designated as votes of members present,” he said.
Sheriff Schmidt’s email included a table of meetings with her attendance record, noting that Sheahan-Malloy has attended only one meeting in the 2023 calendar year so far, but this attendance was marked as virtual and even notes that she left the meeting early.
Of the 88 total meetings since the beginning of 2022, Sheahan-Malloy is marked absent for more than half of them at 45 absences. Since the email on May 5th, there has been another meeting that she was also absent from.
“On behalf of my constituents in Waupun and as the Sheriff acting to ensure that the law is followed, I respectfully request that action be pursued to require Supervisor Sheahan-Malloy to: 1. Show intent to return and actually begin attending meetings to represent her district, or 2. Resign or be removed from the position of District 25 County Board Supervisor,” Schimdt said.
Sheahan-Malloy’s declared residence is a Wilcox Street property in Waupun, which is listed on the Dodge County website. But according to public records collected by Sheriff Schmidt, Sheahan-Malloy has not lived at her property since about spring of last year, and has been primarily living in Florida since then.
Schmidt pointed out that Kira Malloy and her husband, Michael, were quoted in a Watertown Times article last September, which described their experience in Florida during Hurricane Ian. According to the article, Michael had been working as a general contractor for a construction company in Florida “for the better part of a year” and was living in an apartment complex during that time.
On top of that, the property the Malloys claim as their permanent residence in Waupun has been rented out for several months in the last year, according to public records.
Waupun Pioneer contacted Mayor of Waupun Rohn Bishop for a statement.
“It’s concerning that a county board supervisor appears to not live here and isn’t attending meetings,” Mayor Bishop said. “If this is the case, she’s obviously not representing Waupun in Dodge County. I would ask her to return to Waupun, or step down to allow someone who will represent Waupun to serve.”
While Sheriff Schmidt pointed out that the Malloys may occasionally visit Wisconsin every few months, the fact that she is absent for most board meetings calls into question whether she should remain on the board.
“This type of attendance certainly would never be tolerated of any of our employees,” Schmidt said. “Elected Officials should be setting the standard and this is an example of an example being set which is not acceptable to the voters and tax payers of Dodge County.”
It is currently unknown whether action will be taken on the matter.
