02/13/2017 UPDATE:
UPDATE 2: Green Bay Mayor Jim Schmitt Returns Illegal Campaign Donation To Oneida Seven Generations Corporation
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Even more OSGC corruption on WLUK Fox 11 News:
FOX 11 found $9,782 in illegal or wrongly recorded contributions in [Green Bay Mayor Jim] Schmitt’s finance reports.
By state law, $1,047.43 is the maximum amount an individual can contribute in Green Bay’s mayor race. FOX 11 found at least 17 people exceeded that limit. Our check also found two corporations listed as donors to Schmitt. Corporate contributions are against the law.
According to documents posted by WLUK (page 21), Oneida Seven Generations Corporation, which is wholly owned by the Oneida Tribe of Indians of Wisconsin, was one of two corporations which violated Wisconsin’s election laws (fifth item below):
At the time of the illegal donation OSGC Board member Nathan King was simultaneously acting as the Oneida Tribe of Indians of Wisconsin’s Director of Legislative Affairs, thus he should have known that Wisconsin election laws prohibit campaign donations from corporations.
Prior to Nate King, OSGC CEO Kevin Cornelius had been the Tribe’s Director of Legislative Affairs and he also should have known that a direct donation by OSGC on his watch would have violated the law.
At the time that OSGC’s illegal donation was made to Mayor Schmitt, Oneida Business Committee Member Brandon Yellowbird Stevens was the OBC Liaison to OSGC. Records show (page 15) that on April 14, 2013, a donation was made to Mayor Schmitt’s re-election campaign by the National Indian Gaming Association (NIGA) whose Chair & National Spokesperson is OBC Member Brandon Stevens’ adoptive father, Ernie Stevens, Jr.
OSGC’s unlawful campaign donation was made while the Tribally-owned company was seeking a site to build a municipal waste incinerator claiming they could profitably turn garbage into electricity.
Mayor Schmitt supported the plan and OSGC received a Conditional Use Permit, but the Green Bay Common Council voted on October 3, 2012, to rescind OSGC’s CUP after concluding that OSGC had misrepresented zoning, pollution, and health aspects of their project.
OSGC sued the City of Green Bay and lost on January 7, 2013. The Wisconsin Court of Appeals overturned that decision on March 25,2014. The City of Green Bay has appealed that ruling and the Wisconsin Supreme Court is scheduled to hear oral arguments this week on Thursday, January 8, 2015.
Oral arguments before the Wisconsin Supreme Court will take place in Madison, WI at 1:30 p.m. and can be listened to live at this link:
See also:
On December 15, 2014, the General Tribal Council of the Oneida Tribe of Indians of Wisconsin voted to dissolve OSGC:
The dissolution of OSGC has been put on hold by the Oneida Business Committee pending the conclusion of the lawsuit against the City of Green Bay and a $400 million lawsuit against the Oneida Tribe, OSGC, and OSGC subsidiary Green Bay Renewable Energy, LLC, filed in Cook County, Illinois, by ACF Leasing, ACF Services & Generation Clean Fuels:
UPDATE: This morning Green Bay Alderman Chris Wery said on the Jerry Bader Show that he’s heard there was another campaign finance check made directly from Oneida Seven Generations Corporation to Green Bay Mayor Jim Schmitt in a previous election.
Wery notes the obvious differences between a corporate check versus checks from individuals, and the clear need for a fully “open and transparent” investigation of the physical records by objective parties rather than a closed-door “nothing to see here” session.
Audio available via TuneIn Radio Listen Here.
In the Green Bay Press Gazette Mayor Schmitt claims there were recording errors and that the donation was from an individual OSGC “officer.”
Oh, okay. Show us the check. Because we’ve seen OSGC’s attorneys try to justify OSGC officers using OSGC letterhead, business cards, and P.O. Box for various roles in several distinct subsidiaries, meaning OSGC was playing fast and loose, or maybe just sloppy and dumb.
So who was it?
- President & Chair Atty. William Cornelius? (Shouldn’t an attorney understand campaign finance law?)
- CEO Kevin Cornelius? (Shouldn’t the Oneida Tribe’s former Director of Legislative Affairs understand campaign finance law?)
- CFO Bruce King? (Shouldn’t an officer understand corporate limits on giving?)
- Secretary/Treasurer Mike Metoxen? (Ditto plus?)
Or maybe Becky Demmith forgot she shouldn’t use OSGC’s checkbook for political donations while seeking deals?
More to come?
