North Prairie Board Votes Tuesday On Dissolving Police Department; Councilman Puchalski Silent

NORTH PRAIRIE — The village board will vote Tuesday on whether to permanently dissolve the North Prairie Police Department, a 34-year-old municipal service that has been inactive since April and whose formal existence, according to the posted agenda, is currently "pending."

The item is listed as Item 7 of 9, between a discussion of culvert maintenance and a proposed change to the meeting start time. A representative of the village clerk's office confirmed Friday that the ordinance is on the agenda as written and declined to characterize the likely outcome, saying only that the department's remaining inventory has been itemized. The list runs to two vehicles, 11 folding chairs, and one laminated map.

If the ordinance passes, the department will cease to exist in law as it has ceased to exist in practice for the last five months. Residents interviewed this week described the vote as overdue, inevitable, or, in the case of one man at a gas station, "a Tuesday."

The Silence

The story in the village, however, is not the vote. It is Councilman Gary Puchalski, who has said nothing about it.

Puchalski sits on the Waukesha Common Council, a body whose jurisdiction does not include North Prairie, a fact he has never treated as a constraint. According to this newspaper's archive, he has commented publicly on every village decision affecting 6 or more residents since at least January 2024, including a 4-foot fence variance (6 residents affected, statement issued in 40 minutes) and a change to the mulch pickup calendar (statement issued in 22).

The dissolution of a police department affects all of the village's residents, a threshold Puchalski has exceeded on more than 30 occasions. As of Saturday morning, 5 days after the agenda was posted, his statement total on the matter stands at zero.

"the silence is deafening and i don't like it"

— North Prairie resident, Nextdoor, Wednesday

The post, which appeared Wednesday evening under the heading "Anyone else notice," drew 47 upvotes within 24 hours, making it the most-supported item on the village's Nextdoor feed since a July thread about a loose beagle. Below it, 19 replies offered theories. Among them: that Puchalski is drafting something long; that he is at peace; and that his phone is charging.

Attempts To Reach

This newspaper called Puchalski's office three times Friday. The voicemail greeting, which runs 48 seconds, covers trash pickup, the location of the recycling drop-off, and the office's hours, and does not mention police departments. A message left at 2:15 p.m. was not returned by 5 p.m., a delay Puchalski's staff has historically described as "unheard of."

Carol Rausch, 66, who has lived in the village for 41 years and wrote one of the 19 replies, said the quiet has been noticeable on other channels as well. "He usually weighs in before the agenda is even printed," Rausch said. "Last spring he had a view on the fire hydrant flags. I don't live near a fire hydrant. Neither does he."

Rausch said she does not know whether the department should be dissolved. "I'd like to hear what Gary thinks," she said. "It would help me feel like this is a normal decision."

What Happens Tuesday

The board meets at 6:30 p.m. The public comment period allows three minutes per speaker and has, by village practice, always included Puchalski's name on the sign-in sheet, either in person or by proxy. As of Friday afternoon, the sheet was blank.

Should the ordinance pass, the village will begin the disposition of the department's assets, including the 11 chairs. Should Puchalski speak, residents said they would be relieved, and would probably learn what they were supposed to think about the whole thing.