Grand Chute official charged with felony after his business received a public contract

An official in the town of Grand Chute is facing felony charges after his landscaping company landed a more than $26,000 contract with the town while he was in office.

On Monday, Grand Chute Town Board Supervisor Ron Wolff was charged with having a private interest in a public contract, a felony punishable by a fine of up to $10,000, three and a half years in prison or both.

The charges came following an investigation by the state Department of Justice into possible misconduct in office. Last year, search warrants were executed on Wolff, a residence in Grand Chute, a residence in the village of Nichols, and Wolff’s landscaping company, Lakeshore Cleaners, according to court documents.

That investigation spurred a lawsuit from Wolff toward investigators, a lawsuit from the former Grand Chute administrator toward Wolff and other officials, and has raised questions about whether Wolff resides in the township he was elected to serve.

The Wisconsin Department of Justice did not immediately respond to Wisconsin Public Radio’s request for comment. Wolff declined to comment.

Wolff was first elected in April 2021. His company sent a quote for a town contract to do plantings around the ponds at the Champion Center sports complex the following month, according to the criminal complaint.

The quote totaled $26,865, exceeding the $15,000 limit set by state law. The contract was approved in June 2021, in a vote that Wolff and another town board member abstained from, the complaint said.

During the DOJ’s investigation, the Grand Chute Public Works director told investigators about concerns related to Wolff’s position on the town board and the amount of the quote, but said the town administrator found a “loophole” in state statutes.

Then-Town of Grand Chute Administrator James March told investigators that Wolff previously said he intended to bid on “all town projects that pertained to Wolff’s business entities,” the complaint said.

Wolff also allegedly told March he had divested from the business when work was being done on the Champion Center contract. But March later learned that Wolff “was actually in an ownership role in the company,” the complaint said.

According to court documents, Wolff signed paperwork dissolving the company in July 2022, and was identified as the company’s president in June 2021 company documents.

In March 2022, Wolff allegedly admitted to investigators that his company received a contract to perform landscaping work around the Champion Center.

“Wolff claimed that the administrator conducted some additional research about the problem/conflict and then reportedly informed Wolff that because the project was related to erosion control, Wolff could continue with the project,” the criminal complaint said.

But the complaint said there’s no such applicable exemption. Earlier this year, the Grand Chute town board voted to fire March from his role as administrator, effective June 3.

March sued the township, Wolff and other town board supervisors in federal court, alleging he was fired for cooperating with DOJ.

“In speaking to DOJ and cooperating with the DOJ investigation, (March) was exercising his rights under the First Amendment to the United States Constitution,” the lawsuit reads. “In seeking to terminate (March), the individual defendants were attempting to chill, undermine and punish (March)’s exercise of his right to free speech.”

Wolff and his wife, Karri, filed a federal lawsuit against investigators the same month the DOJ’s Division of Criminal Investigation executed search warrants in its investigation. Wolff’s civil complaint has been heavily redacted.

In a document filed in the suit, DCI Special Agent Jay Yerges said Wolff admitted that he does not live in Grand Chute, according to the Appleton Post-Crescent. Residency is a requirement to serve on the town board.

Wolff is set to make his initial court appearance for the felony charges on Aug. 1 in Outagamie County Circuit Court.