The Fond du Lac County District Attorney says a Fond du Lac city councilmember may have violated the State Ethics Code regarding his involvement in a lawsuit filed against the city regarding a Lakeside Park Development project. A May 11 email from DA Eric Toney to city attorney Deb Hoffman says Patrick Mullen remained a party to the lawsuit while he was a city council candidate and after he was elected to the council. Toney says Mullen benefited from political contributions through a political action committee to pay for the legal fees of participants of the lawsuit. Mullen said earlier the city attorney assured him there was no conflict of interest. In April the city ethics board dismissed a complaint that had been filed against Mullen. Toney told Hoffman the city Ethics Code does not mirror the State Ethics Code and asked her to take this information into consideration to assist any councilmembers from inadvertantly violating the state Ethics Code. The lawsuit against the city was dismissed before the election.
