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Fitchburg mayor Jason Gonzalez
An investigator appointed by the Wisconsin Supreme Court has recommended that Fitchburg Mayor Jason Gonzalez be given a rare public reprimand for five counts of professional misconduct as a lawyer. The charges stem from complaints filed by two former clients of Gonzalez, a criminal defense attorney since 2011.
Gonzalez has until Nov. 27 to appeal the recommendation by independent referee James C. Boll. Either way, the state Supreme Court will rule on whether to accept Boll’s recommendation for a public reprimand. Gonzalez did not respond to a request for comment.
Gonzalez’s attorney Peyton Engel tells Isthmus his client is considering his options.
“We’re letting it percolate right now. We’re weighing where we think this is versus where we would like to see it,” Engel says. “There is the issue of whether we are going to appeal or not. It’s one of these things where you kind of want to take your time and consider it.”
Isthmus first reported that Gonzalez was facing professional misconduct charges in March while he was a candidate for mayor. At the time, Gonzalez called it ”not news” and denied any wrongdoing.
“If [Isthmus] wants to attack the first Hispanic mayor in Dane County history, the first millennial mayor, you guys can do that all you want,” Gonzalez said at the time. “You better report that I beat the charges when this gets a hearing.”
On Aug. 31, a disciplinary hearing was held in front of Boll, the former president of the State Bar of Wisconsin, to address the charges. Bill Weigel with the Office of Lawyer Regulation — the agency that investigates attorney wrongdoing on behalf of the Supreme Court — says his office will soon draft recommendations for restitution, potentially requiring Gonzalez to pay for court costs and damages for the clients who filed the grievances.
According to his Nov. 6 report, Boll found that Gonzalez failed to “act with reasonable diligence and promptness in representing a client” and did not “promptly comply with reasonable requests by the client for information.” The referee also found Gonzalez guilty of two professional misconduct charges for providing “misstatements and omissions” to state investigators. Four other charges sought by the Office of Lawyer Regulation were found to lack “clear and convincing” evidence. The referee wrote in his report that he was “troubled” by Gonzalez’s actions in two of the dismissed charges though the allegations did not rise to the level of a violation.
The Supreme Court could accept Boll’s recommended punishment, levy a stiffer penalty or decline to punish Gonzalez.
Thousands of grievances are filed against Wisconsin attorneys with the Office of Lawyer Regulation each year. Almost all are dismissed without a formal investigation. Just 37 out of Wisconsin’s 25,000 attorneys received public reprimands from June 2016 to June 2017, according to the Office of Lawyer Regulation’s annual report. Another 20 lawyers received private reprimands.
Gonzalez was elected in April, ousting incumbent Fitchburg mayor Steve Arnold with nearly 60 percent of the vote.