A local neighbor group has filed a complaint alleging Port Washington violated open meetings laws when approving a massive data center development, while the city calls the accusations "blatantly inaccurate."
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Great Lakes Neighbors United filed the verified complaint with the Ozaukee County District Attorney challenging the process that led to approval of the controversial $15 billion data center campus, which has been under construction for about two months.
The group wants the developer's agreement voided, claiming the Port Washington Common Council improperly met in closed session to discuss the agreement before it was made public and approved in August of 2025.
The complaint focuses on two instances last summer when the Common Council went into closed session to discuss the development agreement before its public approval, on July 1 and August 6.
Watch: Port Washington neighbor reacts to claims city violated open meeting laws in $15B data center approval
Lori Travis, a lifelong Port Washington resident who served on the local school board in the 1980s, is indifferent on the project but believes the group should have been acting earlier.
"Any board I've been on, you have closed session for certain topics, but I know that the plans, everything was out there," Travis said. "Where were they when the meetings were first held? I don't know if the mayor and the Common Council were having secret meetings; if they were, it's too late anyhow."
While the group called this a lawsuit on their social media pages, legal experts say this complaint represents just the first step in that direction.
TMJ4 spoke with Christa Westerberg, a partner at Pines Bach LLP who has litigated and won open meetings cases before. She said there is potential for significant consequences if violations are proven and that any entry into closed session by a public body must meet a clear and specific exception.
"This tends to happen fairly often, I would say in cases involving the competitive and bargaining exemption," Westerberg said. "The judge can void what occurred at the illegal meeting. The judge doesn't have to do that, but it is an option."
However, the case remains far from reaching a judge. We're told district attorneys rarely act on open meetings complaints like this, typically leaving action to the plaintiffs themselves. Filing the complaint with the district attorney means the group must wait 20 days before filing a lawsuit.
The city of Port Washington vehemently denied the accusations in a statement, criticizing the group for what it called basic factual errors.
"Inaccuracies in this complaint are so blatant and easily disproven that we wonder whether they are simply the result of sloppy work, or committed on purpose to continue pushing false narratives," the city said in a statement to TMJ4 News. "Knowingly signing a complaint that contains false information is a potential criminal violation."
Great Lakes Neighbors United sent TMJ4 the full verified complaint, but declined a request for an interview. The group is also behind a failed effort to recall Port Washington mayor Ted Neitzke.
The complaint and city's full statement are below.
Verified complaint:
Verified Complaint OM Claim 2.11.26 by TMJ4 News
City's full statement:
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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