“This election, we’d be voting for Paul Pustina for Arena village president and Steve Wilkinson, Joseph Hipsky and Don Helt for village trustees. We encourage you to do the same.
We always wanted our first endorsements as an editorial board to be founded upon a well-thought out rubric that was replicable and transparent. We have not had the time or bandwidth to yet set up such a rubric. However, the stakes for the Village of Arena in the upcoming election on April 1 are so dire that we feel compelled to take a position as an editorial board. It’s certainly not our first editorial on Arena.
Yes, it’s true that Arena, both the Village and the Township, have a new joint operating agreement for fire and EMS. There are problems with it, the update as done was unnecessary and cost the village alone nearly $15,000 in what we would call unnecessary attorneys fees — and the way in which the Village treated the Township in initiating the process and throughout was inexcusable and completely lacking in good will. We will endeavor to update the community on that and point out the differences in a future edition. But that’s not what we’re talking about right now.
On the night of March 17, around 8 p.m., while one of our editors was passing by yet another vehicle accident on Highway 14 just outside of Arena, we came to the full understanding that we can’t stay silent on the upcoming Village of Arena election. As we watched the volunteer firefighters and EMTs clear the scene along with the hard-working law enforcement, we were reminded of the utter disrespect and disregard in the way they were treated by the Village of Arena Board of Trustees, namely: village president Kate Reimann and trustees Melissa Bandell, Kathy Stoltz, Kristen Shea and Brittany Carney. The blame for the Village of Arena — one of the busiest villages in the area in terms of traffic, along Highway 14, along the river, straddled by two other counties and in the corner of another and seeing over 400,000 vehicles pass through it every week — not having a police department and throwing its EMS service into disarray, lies squarely on those trustees.
Read our award-winning Arena public safety series:
We feel compelled to remind some and inform others, that the village and town went without fire and EMS coverage for over 17 hours on August 1, 2024, specifically because the Village kept changing the goal posts with little notice to the Town while renegotiating the joint fire and EMS agreement.
This agreement was not discarded by the Village for any obvious actual logical, tangible reason — despite what some trustees may argue — other than the ego of some of its trustees. Several of the trustees made claims about slush funds, upcharges and overcharges, and when public records did not bear those astonishing claims out, these officials simply doubled down and made fools of themselves and of Arena. Showing that they simply did not understand budgeting, accounting and could not read records. If these trustees have records that we don’t have to justify their actions, then the Village has withheld them from our records requests.
This is not a choice between two rational actors. Pustina is the only candidate for village president that has the best interests of the Village and its residents in mind.
For those that do not know how to vote in the village president election between candidates Stoltz and Paul Pustina, for those who don’t always understand Pustina’s strong and passionate personality, or for those that have been on the receiving end of him meticulously dotting every ‘i’ and crossing every ’t’ when he previously served as village president — this is not an election where you can make a protest vote. This is not a choice between two rational actors with the best interests of the village in mind. Pustina, for all of his passion (and sometimes stubbornness) in following things to the letter, is the only candidate for village president that has the best interests of the Village of Arena and its residents in mind.
Stoltz has allowed the village to flirt with disaster and her words and actions indicate she doesn’t care — in the past and recently.
Due to a hostile work environment perpetrated by the Board, the village water supply almost ran dry in August 2019. The public works employee in charge of municipal water got an alert on his phone saying the Village’s water tower pump had stopped working — while he was on his way to the village hall to turn in his keys. Stoltz referred to the water tower issues being made public as a “shock tactic” and after a village employee raised the concern, she stated: “You’re just being crazy!”
Stoltz was the head of the personnel committee when the Village of Arena Police Department was begging the Board to come talk to them, to do a ride along, to have any sort of engagement that would help the Board understand the rigors of the job and the necessity for it in the village. Yes, most villages this size don’t need their own police department, but Arena is in a unique place.
At the March 20 candidate forum, Stoltz stated: “I am not opposed to having a village police officer, but not a whole department. I think the village officer would be responsible for within city limits only, calls for township and farther can be answered by county.”
This is a terrifying vision for the village and the surrounding area. It’s a vision where people needlessly drown in the river and you die at the village limits if you’re not careful where you crash your car. She goes on to mention what seems to be an allusion to mutual aid, but her main concern is that the Village gets reimbursed rather than health and safety being the top priority. Her view completely disregards the role mutual aid has in fostering goodwill and strengthening relationships between neighboring jurisdictions.
Read our previous deep dive into an audit in Monticello that has ramifications in Arena:
In the candidate forum Steve Wilkinson and Don Helt came across as informed and passionate. Wilkinson brings prior local governance experience and Helt brings pragmatic common sense. Joseph Hipsky submitted written answers that were thought-out and innovative. Above all, these candidates all support or indicated they would look into a forensic audit for the Village. Something our editorial board supports as well.
Now that discussions of the joint fire and EMS agreement are over, we have been forced again to file an open meetings violation complaint against the Village of Arena. In the complaint Valley Sentinel alleges that the Village of Arena Board of Trustees has repeatedly and knowingly violated Wisconsin’s Open Meetings Law — laws meant to ensure government transparency and protect the public’s right to know. The complaint lays out a disturbing pattern: board members held multiple closed-door meetings about critical public safety issues without giving proper notice or legal justification, even after being warned their actions were likely illegal. Despite being put on notice, the board continued to meet in closed session, excluding the public and the press while making decisions that directly affect the safety and well-being of Arena residents. Despite being warned the very first time, it appears that every closed session, four in total, from October through February was held improperly.
That’s four times discussions about village health and safety were held in secret, behind closed doors, that the public had the right to hear.
Trustees who tried to speak up were ignored, and the same handful of officials — Reimann and trustees Bandell, Stoltz, Carney and Shea — voted again and again to shut the public out.
Perhaps most concerning, we believe that evidence indicates a “gathering notice” for one meeting — the March 20 candidate forum — was forged by Village Clerk/Treasurer DaNean Naeger after the fact to cover tracks, raising questions not just of open meetings violations, but potential criminal misconduct. It also appears that not only were public records forged regarding the candidate forum, but they were also concealed and withheld from at least three parties that requested them, which is also criminal misconduct. The public has a right to these records.
This isn’t just sloppy governance — it’s a deliberate erosion of transparency that inevitably has led to a profound erosion of trust, and Arena residents deserve far better.
Now legal complaints are flying, a bulk of which have been filed by a trustee against members of the same voting bloc — Reimann, Stoltz, Bandell, Shea and Carney. These complaints are credible, sourced well and alarming. (In fairness, complaints have been filed against Pustina as well — and were provided to Valley Sentinel by Pustina. While they may not meet the legal threshold of frivolous, they appear meritless, easily dismissed and products of poor communication and poor understanding at best, and election interference influenced by Reimann’s voting bloc at worst.)
A Wisconsin Ethics Commission complaint, provided to Valley Sentinel by the complainant, alleges that Stoltz committed two types of ethics violations under Wisconsin law.
Elections Law Violation: Stoltz handed out a campaign flyer on March 13, while canvassing, without including a required “paid for by” attribution. This is a clear violation of the campaign finance disclosure rules, which require that any printed materials advocating for a candidate expressly state the sponsor.
Why it matters: The attribution requirement is the most basic safeguard for transparency in campaign finance. Stoltz’s omission of the disclosure undermines voters’ ability to trace campaign messaging back to its source.
Ethics Law Violation: Stoltz failed to recuse herself from votes in which she had a direct financial interest, in violation of the state ethics law for local government officials.
The clearest example cited: At the January 7, 2025 Village Board meeting Stoltz made a motion to spend village money on a feasibility study for water drainage improvements that would directly benefit her own property.
The minutes and audio reflect her argument that the improvements would help landowners improve their property valuations.
Legal standard: Wis. Stat. § 19.59 prohibits public officials from using their office to obtain financial gain for themselves or their immediate family. Even where the conflict is more appearance than actual, best ethical practice dictates that the public official recuse themselves. Recusal during a conflict of interest is a basic understanding of ethical conduct in public office.
The complainant also alleges a pattern of Stoltz refusing to recuse herself even when concerns are raised by other trustees, asserting her belief that votes affecting her or her family’s finances aren’t conflicts. It’s our understanding that Stoltz is the subject of multiple complaints to the Wisconsin Ethics Commission regarding conflict of interest.
At the forum Stoltz stated: “I believe in the adherence to the rules of order, and will fully support abstaining in a vote if there is a true conflict of interest.”
The more alarming issue here is that — despite other trustees having raised concerns about conflict of interest in Stoltz’s motions and votes — Stoltz doesn’t believe these things are a “true” conflict of interest.
The complaint against Stoltz isn’t the only election related complaint officials in the Village of Arena are facing.
A pair of complaints filed with the Wisconsin Elections Commission, provided to Valley Sentinel by the complainant, allege serious misconduct by Naeger in the administration of the April 1 election. According to the complaints, Naeger violated state election law by failing to conduct a legally required second random drawing of candidate names to determine the order on the general election ballot following the February primary. Instead, she simply reused the primary ballot order — minus the eliminated candidate — placing administration-backed candidates in the most favorable positions on both ballots.
Why does this matter? Ballot order can make or break a local race. Studies repeatedly show that being listed first can give candidates a 1-3% edge, especially in nonpartisan elections. The odds that the top four candidates in the primary (all aligned with the current administration) would be drawn randomly in that exact order is just 1 in 35 — or 1 in 70 if you consider that Stoltz also appears at the top of the ballot for village president over Pustina as well. But when the same favored candidates appeared in the exact same order on the April 1 election ballot, the odds of that happening randomly—without manipulation—shrank to a mere 1 in 50,400. That’s not just suspicious. It’s statistically damning.
Worse yet, when asked for records of a second drawing, Naeger admitted there were none. She had written her intention in advance to “renumber” the order after the primary — effectively ignoring a black-and-white legal requirement. As a certified municipal clerk, Naeger knew better. Her failure to follow election law didn’t just tilt the scales — it undermined the public’s trust in fair and impartial elections. Whether this was gross negligence or intentional misconduct, the result is the same: a manipulated ballot that gave a measurable advantage to political allies of the administration. Arena voters deserve an election, not a setup.
Both complaints were accepted by the Elections Commission and await a response from Naeger and then a decision by the Commission.
A criminal complaint for misconduct in public office against Naeger has been submitted to the Iowa County District Attorney as well. The ballot order you see when you step into the village hall April 1 is a result of a procedural violation at best and election fraud at worst. Another complaint was filed April 1 against Naeger alleging misconduct in public office, tampering with public records and forgery.
All together, the complaints and recent events paint a picture of village governance in Arena still in chaos and escalating, moving from one constructed and unnecessary crisis to another — culminating in what now appears to be election fraud that undermines the integrity of the election in the village April 1.
Enough is enough.
We suggested in our last Arena editorial that — at that point — an entirely appropriate solution was mass resignation by these wayward trustees. That has not happened. We also suggested that the alternative was them being voted out in disgrace over the next election or two.
With Arena residents now paying attention, let’s hope the latter will begin April 1.
This editorial has been updated from its March 20 print version for clarity, elaboration and with the addition of information as documents and public records became available.
April 1 update: This editorial has been updated to reflect that another complaint was filed April 1 against Naeger alleging misconduct in public office, tampering with public records and forgery.
Editorial Policy
On certain topics in areas of great community interest, the editors of the Valley Sentinel may take positions they believe best represent and serve the interests of the community. Any opinions or positions taken by the editorial board are separate and distinct in labeling and substance from the objective community journalism that appears in the rest of the publication and does not affect the integrity and impartiality of our reporting.
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