A candidate for the Muskego Common Council is openly promising to give voters nearly $100,000 in exchange for casting their ballots for him in what appears to violate Wisconsin's prohibition on election bribery. Yard signs for Fifth District candidate Dr. Phillip G. Conrardy promise that he "will donate $37,000 [in] post high school scholarships" and "will donate $60,000 back to community" if elected.
Wisconsin Statute 12.11 prohibits offering "anything of value" to induce any person to "vote or refrain from voting for or against a particular person."
Conrardy is running to replace first-term alderwoman Deb Schroeder, who represents him in the fifth district.
"I feel like this is illegal, but I'm not an attorney, so I can't say for certain," Schroeder said. "But it feels wrong and I've never seen anything like this before."
Conrardy insisted that his signs are being misinterpreted, pointing to a third sign that promises that he "will donate [his] ENTIRE salary back to community" if elected. He insisted that the $60,000 in promised donations would be his post-tax salary for the two years he is in office.
Muskego Common Council members earn only $7,638.54 each year. When confronted with this, Conrardy said that he was mistaken about the annual salary of an alderman because he saw a Salary.com link in a Google search that listed the median salary of a Muskego Alderman at $37,002.
"My interest in running for Alderman is purely to serve my community," Conrardy said. "I am not interested in the money. I want to donate back to worthy causes within my community."
To clear up any confusion about his intent, he said, he is removing all signs promising "$37,000 post high school scholarships" and "$60,000 back to community" and will leave up only the signs promising to donate his entire salary.