An ethics complaint against former Madison Mayor Dave Cieslewicz will likely be dismissed, because he is no longer in office.
Davin Pickell, an Overture employee, filed an ethics complaint against the former mayor for, among other things, allowing Overture executive director Tom Carto to continue working as staff to the Madison Cultural Arts District Board and 201 State Foundation, even though the two entities were negotiating with each other over the Overture Center's future. He quotes a city rule against employees working for outside agencies "when such employment or service would impair or reasonably appear to impair her or his independence of judgment or action in the performance of official duties."
Assistant City Attorney Steven Brist says "we no longer have jurisdiction" over Cieslewicz. But the Ethics Board, which meets Thursday, must formally dismiss the complaint.
Pickell calls this explanation "a crock": "These people break rules all the time and just hope nobody catches them, because the rules are so complicated, who bothers to sit down and read this stuff?"
Cieslewicz says he's never even read the complaint: "I don't take it seriously."