EM police saga continues as village board accepts chief’s resignation

By Cara L. Dempski

ELK MOUND — The Elk Mound village board voted to accept the part-time police chief’s resignation in a special meeting held last Thursday.

It was a very short meeting that started with a motion and ended with a warning to not speak with local media.

President Steve Abraham opened the April 27 meeting by explaining there was a single motion to consider, and that was regarding the letter of resignation from part-time police chief Travis Hakes. 

The motion Abraham made read “I make a motion to accept officer Travis Hakes’ complete resignation from the Elk Mound Police Department, effective May 3, 2017, at noon Central Daylight Time.”

The move comes after Hakes’ highly publicized resignation letter was sent to the board ahead of the April 19 regular meeting. Abraham advised all board members present at the meeting the village’s municipal law firm, Bakke Norman, suggested board members not speak to members of the media regarding Hakes’ resignation.

After the motion was made and seconded, trustee Tony Schrantz asked the president for clarification that the move was Hakes’ idea. Schrantz indicated Hakes had contacted him earlier in the day asking to speak with him before the meeting, but the two were unable to connect.

“I don’t know what he wanted to talk to me tonight about. It sounded like he would like to try staying for a part-time position,” Schrantz said. “He chose, on his own, to resign?”

Abraham clarified Hakes did choose to resign his position, and further stated the April 27 motion was “just to make it good and clean, more than anything else, and allow us to go forward.”

Attorney Jacob Brasch of Bakke Norman was on hand to assist with meeting processes and particulars, and advised there would need to be a roll call vote. All trustees approved Hakes’ resignation as detailed in the motion.

Trustee Montana Boettcher asked Abraham if the position would now be posted, and was informed the decision to post the position would not be made that evening.

“We’ll be moving forward, there will be some other things that will be done in relationship to this, including posting the position,” Abraham stated. “All those things have to be worked out.”

Brasch noted the conversation regarding how to proceed can be taken care of at future village board meetings, which seemed to temporarily silence further questions regarding the police department’s future.

Abraham closed the meeting by stating “I would caution everyone again, not to discuss this with the press, make a statement to the press. We all have to remember as village board members, we are village board members 24/7, 365, 366 in a leap year. And, you know, whether we’re here at home, out of state or out of country, we’re still village board members. We have that responsibility.”

Schrantz again asked for clarification, saying “we’ve got a responsibility. If they call you and you voice your opinion, you’re not supposed to do that either? Whether it’s negative or positive?”

Brasch again spoke up, saying the discussion was not part of the board meeting, at which point Abraham noted the board could further discuss the issue at a future meeting.

Although the motion was made to accept Officer Hakes’ resignation, Travis Hakes is, in fact, Elk Mound’s Chief of Police. It was unclear from the meeting if the president meant to make that distinction, or if the motion was in error.

Since board members have been instructed to not speak with members of the news media, the question regarding the motion’s phrasing could not be clarified.