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Mitchell leaves Hortonville

Hortonville Village Administrator J. Everett Mitchell gave his resignation to the Village Board and will leave his office Friday, Oct. 1.

In a telephone interview with the County Post Thursday, Sept. 30, he stated personal reasons for leaving. “This has been on my mind for a while now,” said Mitchell, who has been in the position over eight years. “That’s long enough for an administrator.”
Mitchell went on to say that he is really pleased with the progress Hortonville has made in the years he has been administrator. “When I came in 2002 and met people at regional meetings they would chide me about “Hooterville”, stating it was a bunch of bikers and bars. In recent years they notice the growth and improvements that have taken place. I believe I am leaving this community in better shape than I found it.”
Improvements during Mitchell’s time with the village include development of a second insutrail park and securing 12 new companies to the area, the fire station, recently completed Water Treatment Facility, and improved infrastructure of roads, curbing and gutters.
“I have tried to give people ownership of their town and encourage them to work together to solve problems while looking also at the future.” Mitchell says he is leaving the board with many long range reports to his credit.
He is also proud of the Community Hall Options Committee, a group of citizens who did their homework and made solid recommendations to the village board for use of the old Community Hall. “We’re very limited with where we can meet in this town, and the Community Hall should be utilized and given a purpose.”
“Anything I do gets evaluated by using the four “E’s”: Efficiency, Effectiveness, Economics and Enhancement. I try to steer the board away from any idea that doesn’t meet this criteria. But ultimately it comes down to what the board wants to do.”
Mitchell could not comment on the pending trial of Ron Austreng, the former public works director. On May 5, Austeng was charged with intimidating or threatening a witness, two counts of resisting an officer and one count of disorderly conduct.
Austreng walked into Mitchells’ office on May 4 and demanded he call in Police Chief Michael Sullivan to a meeting so they could “get to the bottom” of a theft investigation that began a year earlier and involved equipment from Boldt Construction Co. in Appleton. Austreng’s trial takes place Jan. 11 and 12 in Outagamie County.
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