Four non-government members of the Wisconsin Department of Transportation (DOT) Drunk Driving Task Force have resigned from their place on the task force, citing procedural issues and conflicts of interest with the Tavern League of Wisconsin’s involvement on the board.
Those who resigned, two doctors and two Wisconsin health professionals, explained in their four page letter to DOT Secretary Mark Gottlieb that the involvement of the Tavern League of Wisconsin as the only nongovernmental partner working on the task force was a conflict of interest. The letter from the members also highlighted what they believed to be factual issues with the research used to create the Strategic Highway Safety Plan.
Secretary Gottlieb told one reporter that the he “hoped to meet with the four soon” to try and address concerns, and potentially have them re-join the task force. When asked about the members’ resignation, Governor Walker stated, “If I was one of those task force members, if I had a concern, I would contact either the secretary or the governor. They didn’t (do) either.”