WILLMAR -- A Spicer city employee is seeking a harassment restraining order against the city's mayor, Perry Wohnoutka, and alleges that Wohnoutka is verbally abusive to him and other city employees.
Daniel Haats, of New London, is the city's public works director. Haats filed for the restraining order Monday in Kandiyohi County District Court. The request for an immediate temporary restraining order was denied by Judge Michael J. Thompson, based on the fact that there was no immediate and present danger to Haats. However, a hearing on the matter was set for 9:45 a.m. Nov. 15.
Haats declined comment on the filing Tuesday afternoon.
City Clerk LaNae Osmond told the Tribune that she received multiple phone calls from Wohnoutka on Monday, and that Haats had also received numerous calls.
Wohnoutka did not return a phone message Tuesday.
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Two Kandiyohi County sheriff's deputies were dispatched to the Spicer city offices around 1 p.m. Monday and remained there for about 45 minutes to an hour. The incident report on the call shows that Haats contacted law enforcement about harassing phone calls from Wohnoutka and told dispatch that Osmond wanted officers to come to the office.
The deputies advised the city employees about harassment restraining orders, according to the incident report. The court papers indicate that the deputies witnessed a phone call from Wohnoutka to the city employees in which the mayor "demanded to know why he wasn't informed about the lift station."
A building housing one of the pumping stations for the Green Lake Sanitary Sewer and Water District was struck by a vehicle in an accident around 5:45 p.m. Sunday.
Haats noted in the filing that the deputies believed Wohnoutka had been drinking and was verbally abusive during the phone call.
The remainder of the restraining order request includes claims that Wohnoutka was verbally abusive to Haats in a recent City Council meeting over crack-filling repairs to city streets and has been verbally abusive against other city employees and city contractors. Haats also indicated that family members are afraid that Wohnoutka will come to their home.
The civil papers are the latest in a run of legal issues for Wohnoutka, who is to be arraigned today on a misdemeanor charge for tampering with a fire alarm in a senior apartment building in Spicer.
He is also requesting a jury trial, which is set for Jan. 15, on two misdemeanor assault and disorderly conduct charges stemming from a Sept. 1 incident at a Spicer bar. Wohnoutka is accused of hitting two bar employees after a night of drinking. His blood alcohol level was 0.217 in a breath test taken after he was arrested that evening.
