Hauser, Allmann Walk Out of Council Meeting in Protest

Tuesday’s Sturgeon Bay Common Council meeting came to an abrupt halt when council members Laurel Hauser and Barbara Allmann walked out of the meeting before a vote could be taken to select bids to raze the Granary building.

After the council met in closed session, Laurel Hauser presented two motions, both of which failed. The first called for the city to negotiate with the Wisconsin Historical Society on a plan to preserve the Granary, per legal advice from the city’s attorney.

“There are many reasons not to vote to dismantle or demolish the Granary right now and chief among them, and what concerns me greatly, is that we open the city to more legal challenges in the future,” Hauser said.

Her second motion called for the city to get a structural assessment of the Granary and let the Sturgeon Bay Historical Society present their plan for the property.

“To vote to dismantle or demolish this structure before we know what other options we have seems foolhardy,” Hauser said.

After those motions failed, Alderman David Ward began proposing a motion to accept the low bid to raze the Granary, but Hauser and Allmann walked out to applause from the crowd of approximately 40 people, and the meeting was adjourned for lack of quorum. Alderperson Kelly Catarozoli was not in attendance.