From the February 23, 2006 Lack Country Reporter
After failing to appear at a court hearing Friday, former City of Pewaukee Alderman Anthony Balistreri threatened his family and considered suicide. He was arrested on an open bench warrant Monday.
For More Detail: http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=16180030&BRD=1399&PAG=461&dept_id=173065&rfi=6

From the February 21, 2006 Lake Country Reporter
Waukesha - A judge has authorized a warrant for the arrest of former City of Pewaukee Alderman Anthony Balistreri for not attending a court appearance Friday.
For full story, http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=16164121&BRD=1399&PAG=461&dept_id=173065&rfi=6

See JS Onlin Nov 2, 2005
http://www.jsonline.com/news/wauk/nov05/367676.asp

From the Waukesha Freeman, Published on August 31, 2005. Written by Eric Brooks


Mokros: ‘Thugs’ won’t
force him to resign
Citizen group says it has enough signatures
for Nowak recall, looks to Mokros next


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

By ERIK BROOKS - Freeman Staff August 31, 2005


CITY OF PEWAUKEE - Alderman David Mokros said he will not resign from the City of Pewaukee Common Council as suggested by a group seeking to recall City of Pewaukee Mayor Jeff Nowak.

In addition, Mokros said he is not concerned about a pledge made by officials with Pewaukeeans for Better Government on Tuesday that he also will likely be the subject of a recall once the Nowak case is settled.

Mokros labeled PBG “thugs” for its role in the Nowak effort, and criticized the media for its coverage of the story in an interview this morning.

“I think they are a group of thugs,” Mokros said of PBG. “Instead of using baseball bats and lead pipes, they use the media. They use you guys to terrorize the community.”

Mokros has come under fire for distributing a list of police calls to the home of PBG President Barb Whitcomb during an Aug. 15 common council meeting.

In response to that, Whitcomb said Tuesday that PBG would likely mount a recall campaign against Mokros provided another group of district voters does not form to take over the effort.

“If they don’t do it, it would be a safe bet that once we get a new mayor we would target Mokros,” Whitcomb said.

She added that formal action on a Mokros recall likely wouldn’t happen until at least the date of the prospective Nowak recall election, probably in early November.

The likelihood of that election has increased significantly with PBG’s announcement Tuesday that it had obtained the necessary 2,230 signatures to force an election.

For now, however, the group remains focused on Nowak, PBG officials said.

PBG plans to continue obtaining signatures in order to obtain a “buffer” and ensure a recall election even if hundreds of signatures are eventually deemed invalid, group spokeswoman Debra Kohler said. PBG has until the end of business Sept. 8 to submit its petitions to the city clerk’s office.

Still, even as the Nowak campaign continues, the police call incident has led to high-level discussions within PBG about a Mokros recall, Kohler said.

“We are still hoping that David Mokros would do the stand-up thing and resign,” she said.

Mokros, an alderman since 1999 whose current term runs until April 2007, said he has no plans to step down, and has community support to withstand a recall.

“I don’t feel I have done anything wrong,” he said. “People see through this.”

Nowak has admitted to requesting the list of 53 police calls for Whitcomb, her husband, her daughter and her daughter’s ex-husband from the City of Pewaukee Police Department, but said he threw it in the garbage after reading it.

Mokros reiterated this morning that he did not know where the list originated, only that it showed up in his mailbox without a note attached.

Whitcomb has labeled Mokros a “scumbag” for releasing the list, which surfaced less than a week after PBG announced its plans to recall Nowak.

Mokros admitted today that he wished he would not have released the list, given the outcry.

“Hindsight is 20/20,” he said.

Phone calls to Nowak were not returned.

A Mokros recall campaign will be easier than the one against Nowak, given the amount of signatures needed - less than half those needed to force a mayoral election - and the strength of the existing PBG infrastructure, said Orv Seymer, field operations manager for Citizens for Responsible Government, which is working with PBG.

Seventy-five petition circulators have already mobilized against Nowak, and could be used to gather signatures against Mokros, Kohler said.

Erik Brooks can be reached at ebrooks@conleynet.com

Former City of Pewaukee Alderman Anthony Balistreri on Wednesday entered a not-guilty plea to charges he sexually assaulted a male relative.
See Lake Country Reporter, August 25, 2005.
http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=15091663&BRD=1399&PAG=461&dept_id=173065&rfi=8

In response to Mayor Nowak's assertion that he left her personal records in an unsecure location in his office at city hall, Barb Whitcomb has asked that the Police Department investigate the theft or those records. This letter was sent to Chief Bach on August 20, 2005.

Dear Chief Bach,

I have made an extensive Open Records request, both to the Police Department and to City Hall. The reason for my request is that I have not been told that there is an investigation being conducted into the theft of mine and my family's personal, private records. I am trying to find out who took the records from the Mayor's office.

If the Police Department will be conducting an investigation into the alleged theft of the records from Mayor Nowak's office, then I will have no need for the information I asked for at this time.

After reading this mornings papers I have reason to believe that Mayor Nowak mishandled the records he received from Captain Funkhouser. Captain Funkhouser has stated that there were no other requests made for my records. That being said; Mr. Mokros distributed those records; so somehow an unknown person secreted them out of City Hall, and delivered them to Mr. Mokros. In my opinion, this is a crime, and needs to be investigated.

If you would like me to come in to file a complaint I would be more than happy to comply, but I think this request would be more appropriate coming from Mayor Nowak, since it appears they were stolen from him.

Thank You,

Barbara L. Whitcomb

From GMtoday, Alderman David Mokros has no plan to resign. Read entire story at:
http://www.gmtoday.com/news/local_stories/2005/August_05/08182005_03.asp

Pewaukee official hands out police
record of political opponent
PBG president asking for resignation. Published in the Waukesha Freeman. To read full story go to:
http://www.gmtoday.com/news/local_stories/2005/August_05/08162005_02.asp

Former City of Pewaukee Alderman Anthony Balistreri is expected to enter a not-guilty plea later this month for allegedly assaulting a male relative.
See Lake Country Reporter, August 9, 2005
http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=14998837&BRD=1399&PAG=461&dept_id=173065&rfi=8

See JS Online article dated July 9, 2005
http://www.jsonline.com/news/wauk/jul05/339368.asp