NEW GLARUS — The Village of New Glarus is filing a complaint with the Green County District Attorney for records the New Glarus Area EMS has refused to share with the village.

A piece in the Feb. 26 issue of the Post Messenger Recorder in New Glarus described the filing. According to the story:

Following a closed session, the board voted on Wednesday, Feb. 18, to authorize Village Attorney Bill Morgan to prepare a verified complaint of action for a writ of mandamus to the District Attorney relating to the open records requests to NGAEMS submitted by the village. 

NGAEMS’ attorney Allen Reuter indicated the service does not have to comply with the state law because it is a private entity. Morgan wrote in a letter last year that he didn’t believe Reuter’s contention was correct. “It has come to my attention that Kristie Mueller, the NGAEMS Director, is a current enrollee in the Wisconsin Retirement System (WRS) through her employment with NGAEMS. As I am sure you are aware, the WRS is a creation of the State of Wisconsin and is only available for participating employers,” Morgan wrote.

“Employers eligible to participate in the WRS consist exclusively of state and local governments, and instrumentalities of two or more units of government ... If you go to the ETF website, you can search for participating employers. I have done so, and the NGAEMS is listed under the title ‘New Glarus EMS’,” Morgan wrote in a Dec. 11 letter to Reuter.

“It appears to me that one of two things is happening. Either NGAEMS is an authority because it is a governmental and quasi-governmental corporation and therefore properly enrolled in the WRS, or NGAEMS is inappropriately enrolled in the WRS, but perhaps still an authority due to its status whose source of funding is primarily governmental. I believe that the former conclusion is correct,” Morgan wrote.

“As further anecdotal evidence supporting that conclusion, it is my understanding that Ms. Mueller also receives comp [or compensatory] time in lieu of overtime. As you know, comp time is not available to private employers, only municipal/governmental employers. I have not seen time payouts, but I have no reason to doubt accuracy of the information I have received,” Morgan wrote.

The complaint reflects that latest steps the village has taken in an effort to gain cooperation from NGAEMS with regard to its records, of which both Morgan and Village Administrator Kelsey Jenson have maintained the village has a right to inspect and receive copies.