9/21 Updated Story...
The Mayor of Green Bay is expected to plead guilty in early October to three misdemeanor charges of campaign finance fraud. The mayor has already gone on record through his lawyer stating that he doesn't plan on stepping down from office but as NBC26 reports some city alderman are asking their peers to take a vote on the matter.
Mayor Schmitt has already admitted to accepting donations that exceed the allowed limit, changing the names of donors on record and falsifying campaign finance reports. But it's in light of these admissions that some aldermen are asking their peers to vote him out of office.
At Tuesday's Green Bay city council meeting Mayor Jim Schmitt wasn't supposed to be a topic on the agenda.
"After the meeting there was a lot of discussion certain alders in the media had about the mayor’s predicament," says Alderman Randy Scannell of District 7.
"This man should step down or be removed by the council and I just put it in play," adds Alderman Guy Zima of District 9.
Alderman Zima formally requested a special meeting of the city council for a vote following the mayor’s court appearance in October. He would like the council to take a vote that could determine if Mayor Schmitt can hold his seat.
"With a three quarters vote of the council the mayor can be removed for cause. I think there's plenty of cause," says Alderman Zima.
But not every alderperson is ready to condemn the mayor just yet and would like to see the matter play out in court first.
"I think the public has every right to express their opinion on what they feel is going on. I just think as elders we have responsibilities we should be a little more circumspect," adds Alderman Scannell.
Because while Mayor Schmitt has gone on record indicating plans to plead guilty in court to three misdemeanors, some alderpersons would like to hear more details about the case before casting judgment.
Additional details about Mayor Schmitt’s falsifying campaign records and donations are expected to come out at his initial appearance.
On October 5th Mayor Schmitt will go before an Outagamie judge for the charges against him. It's possible that Green Bay city leaders will call a special session following that appearance to vote whether he should be forced to step down from office.
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9/20 Original Story...
A Green Bay alderman who has called for Mayor Jim Schmitt to resign over campaign finance violations has taken action to get him out of office.
At Tuesday's Common Council meeting, District 9 Alderman Guy Zima petitioned to gather signatures for a special meeting of the Common Council in order to discuss removing Mayor Schmitt from office.
A majority of the Council needs to sign in order to hold that special meeting.
From there, Zima said a state statute would allow the Council to remove Mayor Schmitt from office with a three-quarters vote. Zima believes Schmitt should be removed from office if he does not step down himself.
"There seems to be a certain amount of cowardice," said Zima. "I don't know why nobody else will step forward besides myself, but I want the process to continue."
If the process does continue and the Common Council removes Mayor Schmitt from office, Alderman Thomas De Wane would become the interim mayor. De Wane ran for mayor against Schmitt in 2015.
"If he was taken out of office or he did resign, I would be the mayor until the Council either decided that I would remain for the rest of his term or they'd have a special election," De Wane explained.
Zima asked that the special meeting be held as soon as possible after October 5th, which is when Schmitt is scheduled to appear in court on three misdemeanor charges of violating campaign finance laws.
According to the special prosecutor on the case, Schmitt plans to plead guilty to those three charges.
