City Of FDL Ethics Board Member Doesn’t Live In County; City Attorney Says He Won’t Be Appointed To 2nd Term

The Fond du Lac City Council will meet Wednesday night, and among the items on the agenda will be a presentation by City Attorney Deb Hoffmann regarding proposed changes to the city’s Ethics Code.

One of those changes would require that only eligible voters from the City of Fond du Lac be able to file an ethics complaint with the City Attorney’s office, who would then make the decision on whether the Ethics Board receives the complaint.

If only eligible voters within the city limits are allowed to file complaints with the Board, shouldn’t Board members then also have to be residents of the City of Fond du Lac?

KFIZ News learned that Ethics Board member Bojan Ljubenko does not reside in the city or county of Fond du Lac County. We reached out to Ljubenko multiple asking for an update regarding his residence status, and did not receive an answer.

KFIZ News also reached out to City Attorney Hoffmann, who replied Tuesday afternoon, and told us “Ethics Board Commissioner Bojan Ljubenko switched jobs from Moraine Park to UW Oshkosh during his term of office.  (A quick search by KFIZ shows Ljubenko actually accepted a position as Director of Institutional Strategy and Effectiveness at UW-Green Bay Jan 11, 2021).

Hoffman went on to say “He does live in Oshkosh.  He met the criteria of our ordinance when he worked in Fond du Lac full time to be appointed to the Ethics Board. 

“In Wisconsin, elected and appointed officials that move may continue to complete their term of office and their actions remain valid and cannot be attacked collaterally. See Burton v. State Appeal Board, 38 Wis.2d 294, 304-05, 156 N.W.2d 386 (1968); 77 Op. Att’y Gen. 228, 229 (1988).  He won’t be appointed to a second term when his current term ends since he no longer works or lives in Fond du Lac.”

The Ethics Board items on the City Council agenda for tonight are input items only, so no action will take place. It is expected that Council will bring the changes up for vote at their November 23rd meeting.