Bar owners call for police dept. closure

IOLA – The need for a police department in Iola has been questioned by audience members at recent village meetings, starting with a village board meeting on Jan. 14 where bar owners within the village came to voice concerns over law enforcement targeting their businesses.
Since then there has been two police committee meetings and another village board meeting to address claims and concerns that have arisen amongst bar owners in the community.
The March 4 police committee meeting lasted about 15 minutes, with people in the audience both speaking both for and against the disbandment of the local police department, overall the conclusion the police committee came to was that the police are not targeting bars and that claims made were not backed up with evidence.
Sheri Miller, the owner of the Thirsty Perch, said she did not start the notion of the disbandment of the Iola Police Department, instead saying the issue she has is with Police Chief Paul Zierler.
She said she believes common ground could be reached through transparency and honesty, wanting to know what calls the police are responding to and how the budget is getting spent.

She said she grew up in Iola, but feels because she currently resides outside of the village limits that she is made to feel as if her voice isn’t being heard.
“I graduated from Iola High School. I have lived here since I was ten years old. My heart, soul, and roots are in that town, in that community. I am doing everything I can to help that community thrive,” she said. “And to be treated like I don’t have a say because my physical address isn’t the Village of Iola, but I pay more taxes than probably two homes combined because I own two properties.”

Compared to Fremont
Both Miller and Mark McCoy, owner of Mark McCoy’s Flat Tracker Tap, have both voiced that they would like to see Waupaca County take over law enforcement in the Village of Iola, citing the size of the annual police budget.
The Iola Police Department has the lowest budget in the County at $325,357 for 2024, this includes all expenses that incurred over the year, with the police chief and officers the lowest paid of all police departments in the county.

The March 2024 disbandment of the police department in the Village of Fremont came up several times throughout the recent meetings.
The Village of Fremont has a population of just under 700 and a police department that had only one officer prior to the disbandment, said Village Clerk Megan Wunderlich. She said it rotated between one to three officers generally when they did have a larger department.
Bobbi Marks, the Village of Fremont president, said that one of the factors that led to the disbandment of the police department simply came down to not being able to maintain officers due to the low pay and the lack of benefits.
The cost of maintaining the police department prior to disbanding in the Village of Fremont was $152,400, which was the money allocated to the department in 2024, Wunderluch said.
The current annual contract and budget for law enforcement in Fremont is now $109,262.40, which Wunderlich said got them one dedicated officer.
According to the contract between the Village of Fremont and Waupaca County, the officer works a total of 80 hours throughout a14-day rotation that include mostly 12 hour shifts.
Marks said the set up with the county is working well for the small village and they are happy with the decision the board had made last spring.
“[The dedicated officer] has an office in our village hall, but when he is off duty then it’s the same as everyone else, the county still answers the call,” Marks said. “I haven’t heard, as far as I am concerned, I think the response time is fine.”
McCoy said he would be more than happy to have one dedicated officer on, believing that to be adequate for Iola, citing that Amherst does not have a police department, but they are bigger and it is not a lawless town.
“I think the people that are all behind the Iola Police Department, which I’m not actually in favor of getting rid of it … if we have one officer for eight hours a day at a cost of $100,000, I think that’s fine,” said McCoy. “I own several buildings in town. I don’t want anything to happen to them, either. I don’t have a problem with the officer, but most of the people that are stuck on this think there’ll be a vacuum here where it’ll be lawless.”

Police presence
McCoy said the fire and ambulance departments are much more critical in an emergency and that an excess in budget could be allocated to them instead.
Jennifer Schustek, the village president, said she has an unwavering support for the Iola Police Department, believing it to be essential in maintaining safety.
“I believe that there is always potential for reconciliation, but it will require a commitment to moving beyond past misunderstandings and working toward a respectful and constructive resolution,” she said. “These views reflect a broader political stance that is in direct opposition to the support I and many others have for the men and women of the Village of Iola Police Department.”
The officers present at the drop off and pick up areas of the school can also vary from county or Iola officers, with an officer at each school being mentioned at a recent meeting as well, citing that the county is in the village doing what local law enforcement should be doing.

Chris Nelson, the district administrator for the Iola-Scandinavia school district, said the schools and police have a collaborative relationship when dealing with situations that could arise within the community.
Nelson said these things include safety and crisis response and the need for fast response times in urgent situations, assisting with community events such as sports, dances and parades, student support that could include their welfare and safety and legal matters such as illegal substances and threats.
“We strive to balance maintaining a positive school climate with ensuring appropriate and timely responses from our local police officers,” said Nelson.
The matter continued into the March 11 village board meeting, where Schustek relayed a message from Waupaca County Sheriff Timothy Wilz in an effort to set the record straight.
“He wanted me to share with the board how proud he is of the officers in Iola and their work that they are doing here. It is their job as officers to serve and protect and because we have a viable police department he would not consider taking on the Village of Iola,” said Schustek, saying the matter should be considered officially put to rest.