By Kim McDarison

Larry Kachel, a former member of the Whitewater Community Development Authority (CDA), arriving at the public podium during Tuesday’s Whitewater Common Council meeting, delivered remarks regarding the city’s recent internal investigation involving monies lent by the CDA to Meeper Technology, and subsequently written off, among other findings.

Within his remarks, Kachel expressed frustration with what he described as the selective naming of some individuals involved with the lending process, while others, he said, who also were involved, and served on the CDA board of directors during the timeframe that was investigated, went unnamed.

Holding a printout of a story published last week on WhitewaterWise, Kachel said he had been out of town for several days and had returned to find a story, which, he said, had within its contents remarks from Whitewater City Manager John Weidl, which he described as false.

At the podium Tuesday, and during public comments, Kachel said: “I’m here in response to this article that ran last Friday. In it, the article, I found it very unprofessional, naming some board members.” 

He then read a statement included within the story, which quoted from a letter written by Weidl to members of the city council in advance of the release of the investigation, which stated, Kachel said:  “the investigation found that during the tenure of certain CDA members, including Larry Kachel, Jeff Knight, Jim Allen, and Stephanie Ann Goettl, loans were made and written off.”

The full quote from the memo reads: “the investigation found that during the tenure of certain CDA members, including Larry Kachel, Jeff Knight, Jim Allen, and Stephanie Ann Goettl, loans were made and written off without proper documentation and approval, resulting in losses of approximately 90% of every dollar loaned out, losses,” Weidl wrote, “far exceeding what we have seen in other communities.”

Addressing the city council Tuesday, Kachel said: “There are seven members on that board.”

Recalling the timeframe identified within the investigation, beginning in 2014, Kachel said: the council’s current president Patrick Singer “was one of them.”

He continued: “I believe Jim Winship was a member, and I believe Bruce Parker was a member.

“From the gist of the article, it makes it seem like I — and I’ll let other people speak for themselves — had an active role in loan documentation, and writing them off.”

Kachel said he has not been a member of the CDA board for five years.

Referencing the findings in the investigation, he said: “This is 10 years ago.”

Kachel said a process to vet and approve loans in place during the time included a review made by the Seed Capital Committee, which, he said, was composed of a “group of business people.”

The information next came before the CDA, Kachel said. 

“Most of those meetings were attended by the (then) city manager, the (then) city’s finance director, and often, the city’s legal counsel,” he added. 

He said the attending counsel was not the current city attorney, Jonathan McDonell, adding, as he addressed McDonell: “Not you Jonathan, but your dad, I think.”

He said the process next required approval by the CDA and the city council.

“The CDA director at that time, I believe, was Patrick Cannon, who worked for the city on an independent contractor basis, for, I believe, Kristen Fish’s company.”

Addressing specifically a decision to loan funds to the companies named in the investigation, including Meeper Technology, Kachel said: “I believe Mr. Weidl knows how I voted on it, those businesses that were mentioned. I didn’t vote for them. Not that it matters, but I didn’t.

“I believe false statements were made that harm my reputation and done so with actual malice by Mr. Weidl.”

Kachel said Weidl also named one of his employees, Stephanie Goettl.

Referencing Weidl’s memo to council, naming Kachel, Goettl, Allen and Knight, Kachel said: “You wonder why only those four were named, and you go later on into your report, at the end, and then it comes out: some of these people disagree with some of the things you’ve done, and have voiced it, publicly, I think in a professional way.”

Kachel said he believed Weidl was motivated to name individuals in retaliation whom, he said, “don’t agree with you on every issue.”

Said Kachel: “Mr. Weidl has, I’ve been told by both current and former employees of the city, that Mr. Weidl has made defamatory statements about me and my family’s business. I’m not going to go into numerous other battles that Mr. Weidl and I have had at this time. I’ll leave that for discussion in the future. This type of behavior is unprofessional, and does not meet the standards of a city manager’s  behavior.”

He next addressed the city council members, saying: “Council, do your job; get involved in oversight on this issue. This needs to stop. Press releases done — it’s just not right.”

An earlier story outlining the findings of the city’s internal investigation of some CDA approved loans, including those extended to Meeper Technology, that were written off by the CDA is here:https://whitewaterwise.com/city-officials-internal-investigation-finds-cda-engaged-in-lack-of-proper-documentation-communication-and-transparency-when-it-wrote-off-more-than-750000-in-loa/.

The findings of the city’s internal investigation will be presented to the CDA board during its upcoming meeting, to be held this Thursday, at 5:30 p.m., in the city’s Municipal Building, 312 W. Whitewater St., Whitewater. The meeting’s agenda is here: https://meetings.municode.com/adaHtmlDocument/index?cc=WHITEWATWI&me=e5460bef0aab47569d224e0f905b5c0f&ip=True.