Empower Wisconsin | Dec. 3, 2019
By M.D. Kittle
MADISON — Rhinelander’s Common Council is weighing whether to suspend City Administrator Daniel Guild, the subject of an ongoing felony investigation.
Mayor Christopher Frederickson said the council will discuss the matter at its next meeting, scheduled for next Monday, Dec. 9.
“There is an ongoing investigation. Due process will happen,” Frederickson told Empower Wisconsin. “We move forward with what we can.”
He said a good deal of city’s “work product” has been held up after law enforcement officials seized Guild’s computer and city documents.
An official with Oneida County Sheriff’s Department, which led a raid on Rhinelander City Hall last month, on Monday said there was nothing new to report in the investigation.
It’s been nearly two weeks since law enforcement officials executed warrants in search of documents and electronic devices.
Guild is suspected of records tampering and failing to release public records to law enforcement and media, according to warrants obtained Empower Wisconsin.
The city administrator, who remains on the job, potentially faces felony misconduct charges following a very public open records battle in Rhinelander — a battle that stemmed from Guild’s apparent push to get rid of Rhinelander City Council President George Kirby.
Kirby, who at last week’s council meeting broached the topic of suspending Guild, could not be reached for comment Monday. Guild has not returned Empower Wisconsin’s requests for comment.
