KAREN BONG
What do you call it when a Grand Chute Town Supervisor is targeted for a residency issue, proves his residency and then has his homes and businesses raided, his freedom threatened by multiple-year jail time, and a jury finds him innocent of all wrong doing? Sound like a Hollywood movie, yet? Would you call the above a conspiracy theory, a mistake, or a personal attack on a man who asked the wrong persons, the wrong questions regarding the amount of money spent on previous town projects and special assessments, which led to the personal attacks?
It is now known through depositions that one person used his connections with Outagamie County District Attorney Melinda Templis, the former Grand Chute Administrator James March, former Grand Chute Police Chief Greg Peterson, Grand Chute HR Director Sue Brinkman, and met with the Wisconsin Department of Justice (DOJ) agents 5-15 times to file a residency violation complaint against this targeted Town Supervisor in an effort to get him to resign and ruin his reputation. When intimidation didn’t result in a resignation, the DOJ raided this Town Supervisor’s homes and business by ramrodding his doors like a high-profile criminal instead of a local businessman.
When the residency issue was resolved due to Grand Chute Clerk Angie Cain dismissing the complaint as it was not supported by Wisconsin law, these same people listed above had to formulate another plan of getting this Town Supervisor to resign and they together set the trap of offering a contract with Grand Chute for prairie work which was over the dollar amount that was allowed legally. As a new Town Supervisor, he was unfamiliar with the dollar limits and conflict of interest regulations. When there were no other bids, he completed the work that his business had been hired to perform and approved by the Town Board. After hearing the case, the jury voted 12 to 0 to dismiss the charges against Town Supervisor Ron Wolff.
In a movie, after all the above, you would see ‘The End’ and see the credits roll. However, this story has multiple more lawsuits and counter suits involving Grand Chute and their Insurance Company, and other Town Supervisors who became targets of this one-person, former Outagamie County Sherriff, Town Supervisor Brad Gehring, who used his connections to try and destroy reputations, of not only Ron Wollf, but lives of additional people.
It doesn’t appear the turmoil in Grand Chute is nearing completion anytime soon. There are many Town Board closed sessions where when completed, the residents of Grand Chute citizens are never told the details. Will there be another lawsuit due to Richard Downey, the last administrator, being recently removed?
For some reason, Brad Gehring was intent on harming Ron Wolff, by getting him removed from the Town Board, fined and imprisoned. However, the answer of, ‘why’, has still not been answered. The above article was formulated by trial records and depositions. If you would like to read more of this story, please visit https://appletonwi.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Lawsuit-Filed-Against-Grand-Chute-Insurance-Company.pdf or take a picture of the URL Code to take you to the additional information.
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