Portage County Gazette

By Heather McDonald

After a year at the helm, Patricia “Trish” Baker has resigned her position as president of the Park Ridge Village Board and in doing so, takes herself out of the village’s future planning.

“I am really proud of the projects that we’ve worked on in the last year, and we’ve accomplished a lot,” Baker told the Gazette Tuesday. “However, the majority of that work has taken place during regular working hours, and a response is expected during regular working hours. In all those village projects, people are waiting for and expecting well-thought and well-researched responses – what they would get from a professional government administrator.

“I have found … that the expectations of the position of Village President are just not reconcilable with the demands of my law practice,” she said. “While I love the village, I figure I have lost thousands of dollars in billable hours due to working on Village business.”

Baker submitted her resignation Monday, April 30, effective immediately. She will continue to serve in her capacity as an at-large member of the Stevens Point Area Public School District Board.

The decision to step down, she said, has been one she has struggled with for about six months. In her resignation letter to the village, Baker pointed to the workload and alluded to the new makeup of the board being pro-volunteer fire department.

“I also should add that while I had a vision for the future of the Village … there is now a quorum on the board that probably does not share that vision,” she said in the letter.

The Village Board, including its newly sworn in members, planned to meet Thursday, May 3, after press deadline to decide how to fill the void.

Three of the last four elected Village Board presidents did not serve out his/her term. The most recent was Kathy Budelier, who two years ago resigned the position due to health reasons. Bob Gifford, who was a trustee at that time, was appointed to serve in the position and an appointment was made to fill his trustee slot before Baker was elected to the position last year.

According to state statutes, the board can appoint a trustee to the president position until next April, or trustees can call for a special election for the position in November. Should the board appoint an existing trustee to fill the post, there then would be an appointment or special election to fill the trustee position.

“I hate to see her go,” Village Clerk/Treasurer Kathy Bemowski said Tuesday. “This was my first year as a clerk, and she was extremely helpful to me. With it her first year as president, we worked closely and we had a great relationship. She was a lifesaver for me in terms of doing the clerk position.

“I’m disappointed but the village will move on with all the things we have going on,” she said.

No board members who most recently served with Baker replied to requests for comment by press deadline.

In 2012, Baker was appointed to a trustee position after the late Elmer Fournier received the second-highest number of votes in that year’s April election. His position then was considered a vacancy. Baker was appointed by the four members of the board at that time, beating out the third-highest vote getter in the election, a write-in candidate who also sought the appointment.

Baker took over the president position in 2017.

Baker leaves amidst a flurry of decision making needs, including street repairs, which board members had planned to discuss Thursday during the originally-posted special meeting. The village president position was added as an addendum Tuesday.

Among her accomplishments while serving as president, she said, was hiring and training a new clerk, helping bring to approval two property developments, helping the clerk with a complete audit of all village books and the requisite resolutions that followed, obtaining the first LRIP roads grant for the village, organizing a revaluation of the village to take place this summer, overseeing the advisory referendum on fire protection and researching a variety of municipal lending options.

The volunteer fire department’s future has been the hot button topic throughout her leadership. If the village does not replace its aging fleet, the department will disband; if the village says yes to newer equipment, the department stays.

After more than two years of study, during which time Baker served as a trustee and for a year under her leadership, the board could not pull the trigger on a decision. Baker last fall pushed for an advisory referendum, which took place in February this year.

Despite the two-thirds response to keep the fire department in the referendum results, she thought the board should move forward re-examining the department needs, and she requested line item financial information for each of the next 20 years. She also wanted to more thoroughly research a fire protection services contract with the city of Stevens Point.

The March meeting – the first following the referendum – was heated, and with a board member absent, votes regarding the fire department failed in a 2-2 tie. Baker had the issue tabled to the April 16 meeting.

In the meantime, the April 3 election had two seats open. Two candidates running favored contracting with the city while incumbent Randy Busch’s reference was to keep the volunteer fire department. A last minute – exactly one week before – write-in registration came in Charmian “Charm” Fournier, the widow of former board member and Park Ridge firefighter, Elmer Fournier. Charm Fournier and Busch won.

At the April board meeting, the board could not discuss or vote on the fire department issue again, due to the way the agenda was worded, so the issue was tabled once more.

The fire department issue is expected to be on the agenda for the board’s regular May meeting.

“I have always pursued what I have believed to be in the best interest of Park Ridge and its residents,” Baker said in her letter. “”I have enjoyed my six years on the board and service to my neighbors.

“I love the Village, and as I have done for nearly 20 years or so, I will continue to do things to promote the village,” she told the Gazette.