Two Rhinelander City Council members who voted against the termination of former City Administrator Kristina Aschenbrenner have come out saying Aschenbrenner was not given a fair chance and appear to be defying a council gag order passed Tuesday. The city council passed a resolution putting a gag order on all city employees about the matter. A joint statement signed by council members Steve Sauer and Tom Gleason was distributed to the media after an city council meeting Tuesday. The meeting was held in emergency closed session conferring with legal counsel concerning strategy to be adopted by the council with respect to litigation in which it is or is likely to become involved regarding a personnel issue.
Sauer and Gleason contend the reason for Aschenbrenner's firing was never clearly put forward in closed session by the six council members who voted for her termination. They said she was an 'at will' employee, but the firing was not following standard city disciplinary rules and sets a bad example for other department heads within the city.
Sauer and Gleason enclosed their analysis of Aschenbrenner's performance, giving her positive ratings in the categories. Late last week, council member Alex Young put out a statement saying Aschenbrenner had been warned in a May review to correct some problems. No comment was immediately available from either Sauer or Gleason.
The council resolution, open letter and other documents are below.
