FDL County DA Releases More Info Regarding Ethics Complaint

Ahead of an Ethics Board Review into Fond du Lac City Council member Ben Giles, comes the release from the FDL County DA’s Office of the details of the complaint that initiated the investigation. The complaint was in regards to three apparent violations of the City of Fond du Lac Code of Ethics, including Dedicated Service, Fair and Equal Treatment, and a potential Conflict of Interest.

In the letter, District Attorney Eric Toney said “it was reasonable to consider that Giles received a reward for his votes and advocacy as a councilmember in favor of development at Lakeside Park.” Giles has been a central figure in a push to implement an Alternative Master Plan in Lakeside Park, including a much-talked about bistro that is set to be located on the lighthouse peninsula, as part of the plan put together by the group, Lakeside Forward.

Giles recently accepted the position of Executive Director for the Fond du Lac Historical Society, which, according to the release “involved mutual donors of Lakeside Forward and the Historical Society allowing their previous donations to the Historical Society to be reallocated from the capital account to the operations account for an increase in salary and/or benefits when compared to the previous executive director.” The letter goes on to say the investigation appears to show “donors were aware Councilmember Giles was being considered for the Executive Director position and that Councilmember Giles was aware of the specifics that donors had or would be approving the transferring of money from one account to another to allow for increased salary and/or benefits.”

Giles is set to appear before the Ethics Board Friday morning for a rescheduling hearing.

You can view the full letter from the District Attorney here:

https://kfiz.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/DA-No-Prosecution-Letter-Giles-Ben-1-1.pdf