County to meet about clerk's comments on Facebook

Marathon County

Kim Trueblood

County Clerk Kim Trueblood

Marathon County's Executive Committee is expected to meet Monday to discuss the county clerk's comments on a Facebook page dedicated to opening schools in person.

The meeting is in reference to a comment County Clerk Kim Trueblood made on a Facebook group called Parents for Wausau Schools Reopening.

The Facebook group has gathered a petition with more than 600 signatures as of Friday afternoon asking the school board to reconsider its decision Monday to open schools virtually in the fall.

According to screen shots sent to City Pages, Trueblood said in a public conversation with someone on the page that she had to be careful what she supports publicly, but said "I can get info and do anything behind the scenes." She went on to say that school board elections are different than other state, county or local elections. The comment was part of a thread asking about recalling the six school board members who voted in favor of opening Wausau's schools virtually in the fall (three voted against the plan).

Marathon County Administrator Lance Leonhard told City Pages it's likely the county's executive committee will meet in special session Monday to discuss if it needs to take any course of action. "As the Administrator, I take our organization’s commitment to core values and ethics exceedingly seriously," Leonhard told City Pages. He says his position doesn't directly supervise elected officials, but said upon receiving the information he directly contacted County Board Chair Kurt Gibbs.

The special session has not yet been called as this story was published.

Members of the group were also considering a protest at School Board President Tricia Zunker's house, Zunker told City Pages. Some members of the group debated whether that was a good idea or really promoted the group's goals of opening schools in Wausau to in person learning.

Zunker will be filing a complaint with the state ethics commission about Trueblood's comments, she told City Pages.

City Pages reached out to Trueblood, who said she was working on a response about her comments. City Pages will update the story with her comments when they are received.