Today the mayor of West Bend accepted the resignation of suspended city administrator Thomas Justice.
Justice is facing a pair of felony charges in connection with an April 21 incident in Muskego where, according to the criminal complaint, Justice “did intentionally solicit a child to engage in an act of prostitution a Class D Felony and upon conviction may be fined not more than $100,000 or imprisoned not more than 25 years or both.
According to a criminal complaint, Justice had been sending provocative text messages to a teenage girl for nearly a year — including offering her money for sex.
Justice’s resignation is effective May 13.
“A legal process requires specific steps be taken to terminate an employee including a hearing and a review, etc.,” said Mayor Kraig Sadownikow. “This process would have taken the same amount of time, if not longer – probably past May 13 with a more uncertain outcome.”
Justice had a contract with a 6-month severance payout. “We’re happy to have avoided that and are looking to moving forward as a leadership team and as a community,” Sadownikow said.
The city of West Bend has an employee handbook. Questioned whether Justice violated those standards Sadownikow said, “I will leave the legal judgement up to the attorneys.”
Justice is due in Waukesha County Court on May 2.
The city of West Bend Common Council will also move into closed session on Monday, May 2 to fill in the council on the dynamics surrounding this case. The mayor is then expected to address the public in open session.