Jim March is the Allouez village administrator.
ALLOUEZ — Jim March polished up in a blazer, white button-up, and semi-formal black sneakers to make his first public impression at Tuesday’s Village Board meeting as Allouez’s administrator
One of his first priorities: the closure of the Green Bay Correctional Institution for which the Village Board on Tuesday unanimously approved extending its contract with Platform Communications by three months to the tune of $3,000 a month to drum up support in closing the facility.
March kept litigious baggage left over from his stint as the Outagamie County town of Grand Chute administrator out of his introductory remarks.
March said he wasn’t tired of being asked about the pending lawsuit and countersuit following his dismissal as Grand Chute’s administrator without cause in 2023. He’d hit the ground running, he said, and court proceedings were “not at all” impacting his current job performance.
“Justice needs to be served if you’ve been wronged,” March told the Press-Gazette after explaining his belief that he’d had his federal rights violated in the town from which he still commutes, “and I’ve always believed you need to defend yourself. And I will — I am — serving [Allouez] with 100% effort.”
Village Board President Jim Rafter said he was “thrilled” in choosing March to replacer Brad Lange, even after March made the board’s seven members aware of pending lawsuits that he said should be resolved within a few months. Rafter extolled March’s years of municipal government experience ahead of inviting the new administrator to share his first words to the public on Tuesday.
March had been in three meetings with local businesses since his first day on Jan. 2, he said at the Village Hall podium, and praised the quality of the village’s staff, which he later told the Press-Gazette was a factor in applying to the job. It was actually the only position in municipal government he’d applied for, plus a few other job openings, he said.
“My whole life is devoted to public service and this seems like the best fit for me,” he said.
Jesse Lin is a reporter covering the community of Green Bay and its surroundings, as well as politics in northeastern Wisconsin. Contact him at 920-834-4250 or jlin@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Green Bay Press-Gazette: Jim March new Allouez village administrator confident over lawsuit