Hearing On Councilman Ben Giles’ Civil Suit Against Ethics Board To Be Held Friday (4/23/21)

Fond du Lac City Council member Ben Giles will be in Fond du Lac County Circuit Court today, where Judge Tricia Walker will hold a hearing on the civil suit Giles filed against the city’s Ethics Board last month.

Giles filed the petition back on March 1, asking for a reversal, based on judicial review, of the findings the Ethics Board made back in February.

Giles claims the decision made by the board negatively affects him. The Ethics Board made the decision that Giles violated one of the sections of the city’s Code of Ethics, and specifically one of the sections of the city of Fond du Lac’s Code of Ethics regarding dedicated service. At issue was Giles seeking outside legal input on whether he needed to recuse himself from voting on matters involving the Alternative Master Plan for Lakeside Park.

While the board did find Giles violated the dedicated service Code of Ethics, they did leave the disciplinary action up to the City Council. As of Friday, there has been no official disciplinary action handed out by Council.

The Ethics Board did rule that Giles did not violate the sections of the Ethics Code involving fair and equal treatment or conflict of interest.

Daniel Bach, the lawyer representing Councilman Giles, is expected to make the case that the Ethics Board decision has affected his client in a negative fashion and that Giles’ right to due process was violated.

The hearing is set to begin at 3:00 p.m. in the City-County Government building in downtown Fond du Lac.