Allegations from a decade marred by political scandal are resurfacing to haunt state Senate Majority Leader Chuck Chvala, D-Madison, in a time that now seems far removed from the world of the 1990s.
The Capital Times published allegations made against Chvala by a former staff member, Dan Kroll, in their Oct. 20-21 edition. He accused Chvala of using state-funded legislative staffers in campaign work.
According to Kroll, who worked as Chvala’s press secretary in 1996, he and other legislative staff conducted campaign activity with Chvala’s direction, including writing fund raising letters, making phone calls to campaign supporters and going door-to-door during their paid time as workers of Chvala’s legislative office.
Such activity is prohibited by state ethics regulations for all elected officials.
“I have a strict policy of requiring that if employees choose to volunteer on campaigns, that they do it on their own time and that they claim the appropriate leave time,” Chvala said in statement after the accusations were launched.
Chvala and his office have publicly denounced the statements as unequivocally false. Chvala referred to Kroll as “a former employee with an ax to grind.”
However, in a press conference that marked the first time he had met with reporters since the allegations were made public, Chvala refused to acknowledge reporters’ follow-up questions relating to Kroll’s statements and walked out.
“Chuck Chvala’s been a hard-ball politician his whole life. You’re dealing with a very powerful man. He’s notorious,” said UW history professor and former Republican Congressional candidate John Sharpless. “This type of
activity goes on in many different levels of government. He may just be more explicit because of how he does business.”
Chvala’s role in Democratic fund-raising activity is central to the party’s ability to raise campaign dollars across the state.
“Recent developments have focused attention on the need to again address the issue of reform in the state Senate. ? Unfortunately, Senator Chvala has taken a step in what he apparently feels is the best interest of the caucus to try to frustrate the ambitions of members of the Senate,” said Sen. Gary George, D-Milwaukee, in a letter to colleagues after the allegations.
Chvala and his office have remained silent on the issue.
“Chvala obviously has an interest in not pursuing this type of conversation,” UW professor of political science Don Kettl said.
Until allegations are more firmly resolved, it remains unclear how the public at large will react to the accusations against Chvala.
“In Wisconsin, we tend to get very indignant about things that may not cause much of a stir elsewhere. If this surfaced in a place like Chicago, the reaction is likely to be, ‘Who cares?'” Sharpless said.
Officially, because the incidents in question occurred in 1996, the State Board of Ethics cannot pursue investigation of Kroll’s specific accusations.
However, investigation into Chvala’s 2000 campaign is permissible.
“This is an issue that has been out in the public for quite a while, but so far has been far below the radar. Only when things become extended over a period of time could they truly affect public confidence in government as a
whole,” Kettl said. “However, these allegations merit further investigation.”
