A Manitowoc resident and former District Five Alderman Matt Kadow has formally filed ethics complaints with the City’s Ethics Board and State’s Ethics Commission against Manitowoc District 10 Alderperson Rhienna Gabriel relating to prohibited use of public property.
With only eleven days until the spring General Election, Manitowoc City Attorney Kathleen McDaniel confirmed to Seehafer News that multiple citizens have contacted her office about the legality of campaign material where Gabriel used a City of Manitowoc email address in campaign literature distributed to constituents.
This is the latest controversy surrounding Alder Gabriel, at this week’s Common Council meeting; Gabriel was questioned by Eric Sitkiewitz on correspondence addressed to him with a street address of Alderman Steve Czekala, a return address of Alderman Lee Kummer and a salutation of “Mayor Lotz” believed to be Alderman Todd Lotz. After much discussion between council members; a motion was passed to simply place the curious correspondence into the official record.
Mr. Kadow is a former political campaign strategist who specialized in messaging voter mobilization and election and campaign finance law compliance. A statement he provided reads in part; “I’ve opted to file complaints against Alder Gabriel as a matter of accountability.”
seehafernews.com has reached out to Mr. Kadow and Alder Gabriel for comment and we’ll continue to unfurl the details of this local election story.
