(Facebook.com)
Kenosha, Wis. – A City of Kenosha employee has been charged with one count of misdemeanor theft, according to court records. Jamie D. Watkins, a 54-year-old arborist employed by the city, is accused of stealing Menards rebate checks meant for the Parks Department. Watkins is scheduled to make his initial court appearance on February 27, 2025. If convicted, he faces a maximum sentence of nine months in jail, a $10,000 fine, and possible restitution.
City Administrator John Morrissey confirmed that Watkins has been on paid leave since the theft was discovered. However, Mayor David Bogdala told KCE “Every employee, no matter what the circumstance, is afforded their due process and that is what occurred in this case.” Watkins is still employed and could be on the payroll while the criminal case unfolds—a process that could take over a year. Watkins earns almost $30 per hour.
The Investigation
According to the criminal complaint, Detective Buchanan reviewed surveillance footage from Menards, located at 7330 74th Place, spanning from July 28, 2024, to October 20, 2024. The footage allegedly captured the same man—matching Watkins’ description—on multiple occasions. The suspect, often seen wearing a white baseball cap and sunglasses, was observed driving a 2019 white Toyota Tacoma, registered to both Jamie D. Watkins, and his wife.
Detective Buchanan presented still images from the surveillance footage to Parks Director Katie Elder and other employees. Elder identified the individual in the footage as Watkins.
Elder, who has served as director since April 2023 and oversees purchasing for daily operations, explained that Menards is frequently used for city purchases due to its convenience and rebate program. Employees are required to submit receipts for rebates, which are then processed through Rebates International.
On October 28, 2024, a city employee inquired about missing rebate checks. By mid-November, Elder and other employees noted several rebate checks had disappeared. Further investigation revealed that rebate checks, amounting to $610.84, were used exclusively on Sundays—when the Parks Department is closed.
Confession and Consequences
Detective Buchanan interviewed Watkins, who admitted to taking five to six rebate checks over the past seven to eight months. Watkins reportedly stated that he used the rebate money for personal purchases, including household items and food such as gummy bears, Febreze, and Sprecher root beer. He explained that financial struggles, particularly supporting a daughter in college, motivated him to take the funds.
Despite the allegations and admission, Watkins remains employed by the city, sparking questions about administrative policies on employee misconduct. City officials have yet to clarify why he continues to receive pay while awaiting trial.
As Watkins prepares for his February 27 court appearance, the case has raised concerns about oversight in city financial practices and employee accountability. More details are expected to emerge as the legal proceedings continue.
119 Responses
He will probably get off Scot free, just like the
guy named Pat did from police fleet services for
the scrap brake rotors and repairs he did off hours and the rebates.
Nothing to see here. Move along folks.
Menards allows and honors rebates up to a year old.
They used to have printed on the receipts that they needed to be mailed in in 30 days or so.
No more. Rules changed.
That said, you don’t need to total them up. Don’t need to Rip of the rebate part or anything other than to drop them in the mail with their return form. Any village or city could decide that all receipts go in one place in a basket all year long. And twice a year a single person can just stuff them in an envelope and put in the Menards return address card and drop it in the mail.
Simple.
The process described allows for corrupt people to be corrupt.
Simplify the process. End abuse and theft.
It’s not that hard folks for the taxpayers to get the 11% rebates and have them used by honest people for honest city purchases.
Just fix the process
Menards should not allow Gov agencies to take the rebate. Also, why do we allow for the allegedly corrupt employee to be on paid leave? He even admitted to doing it. He should be fired immediately! Or non-paid leave since he admitted it. And when fired they should loose the coveted retirement. Since most “public servants” work just for the multi-million $ retirement, If that is at risk it will deter them for doing the corrupt deed.
Paid leave ? No. It’s not like there is an ongoing investigation where he might be vindicated. He’s on Camera ! Guilty.
Fired immediately ? Yup !!
Lose retirement ? That’s in the vesting rules. But at least not be allowed to be a government employee in the retirement system again. After conviction.
As for Menards. You can’t stop who buys or who returns rebates. Never gonna happen. But like said above. Menards allows rebates up to a year. Limit who sends and receives the mail.
Hey! Here’s a thought. Were these rebates “stolen out of the mail”
That’s a Federal crime !!
No paid leave unless his is cleaning the bathrooms!! Put his ass to work cleaning up the parks or bathroom.
Menards rebates do not expire once received.
Correct.
But the issue here is the procedure to send them in !
It’s in the story.
Limit that process and you remove temptation and the city maintains the proceeds
Must have learned his craft from John Steinbrink. Maybe they could be cell mates?
That’s what I was thinking. Steinbrink got such a slap on the wrist! It’s pathetic! I hope he plans on moving when he gets out! I have looked up his sister’s address ( the one next to his that was built a few years ago, that nobody REALLY lives in) to see who her house is registered under and who pays the taxes on it, can’t find it. I wonder if it’s a house Pleasant Prairie “owns” and then gets sold and one of the Steinbrinks( or someone else in the corruption clan) pocket the money. I would love to see the permits that were pulled for that house and whi built it and what they got paid and bottom line…who is the person paying the taxes in it?
The Steinbrinks own everything out there .
Crooks one and all .
That is why we need to vote for Eric!!
Huh, a politician above the law. Who knew.
Royalty of pleasant prairie. Probably inbred
Anyone that can’t understand the ramifications of risking losing their GOVERNMENT JOB where in his case, he would have to drop a tree on his boss to even get a reprimand much less lose his job, risks it all for $600. ?!?!?!?!
Any employee that can’t figure that math out doesn’t deserve to be trusted with tools that can hurt people !!
Could have made that much cash delivering pizzas on just a few weekends.
Can’t fix Stupid !!
That’s all he got CAUGHT with doing….I mean, even Steinbrink was caught doing SOOOO much more and he got NOTHING compared to what he should have gotten for what he stole from the people in Pleasant Prairie! This guy will walk away without anything happening to him. My question is, if he IS charged, will he have to pay back the money that was paid to him while he was on leave? Did Steinbrink have to pay back all the money Pleasant Prairie paid him while he was on leave? I doubt it.
Tim Katt
Why dosent anyone ever look into the misspending within the Kenosha police department and the Kenosha sheriffs OFFICE, if you are really worried about tax dollars. Look at all the wasted money and misspent use of funds just in the two departments. Who cares about the rebates,at the end of the day would he get in trouble if they where just throw away or never sent in..
Perhaps you didn’t read the story? These weren’t receipts to be sent in for rebate checks, these were rebate checks from receipts already sent in, and where the printed out ones you get in the mail to go spend immediately at a store. What he took were actual negotiable properties that he did not own, and spent on himself. Don’t care if he only gets 30 days, convict and lock him up, then he can be fired. Sometimes it’s not just about giving someone a spanking, it’s about changing the behavior of all the siblings at the same time, when they find out about the spanking.
Do u have any examples?
This is the exact same thing a pleasant prairie public work employee did.
Question I have is did this city employee make these purchases during working hours? Stealing city time as well!
Just one of the many issues that were a part of Salems old administration and board.
But I digress
Yes, and the new board just over-spends in front of us
Please provide examples of Salems Board over spending ?!
I see them saving money.
Old board. Keywords. Pls read
And comprehend
Hi Rita !
Do we need new furniture? Do we need a village hall vehicle? Those are just 2 very recent examples.
Don’t forget our over-budget village admin. (Who just got another raise)
Did you read the whole article? They were done on Sundays.
It clearly says on Sundays he made the purchases when the parks department was NOT open.
I’ve seen Parks people working on Sunday’s @ double overtime I’m sure.
Just like Trump is doing, find out where my tax dollars are going. This guy should be fired for stealing but instead is getting a paid vacation. Can’t make this shit up
I see a promotion in his future.
He wouldn’t be the first thief to be promoted within the city. He might even end up director of the parks department.
In this case it’s a little vague as to how the department head who was responsible(?) actually caught this through ongoing audit/accounting or more by what is becoming common in Kenosha where someone not responsible blew the whistle.
Wonder how much loss Kenosha actually experiences due to lax accounting and supervision?
Might start with simply pulling random audits of Menard’s transactions.
Dept head probably went to use them for himself and couldn’t find them.
Save big money with Menards!
The bigger scam is the city paying “arborists”to kill time driving around and cutting down a tree every couple months. or the pothole crew and street sweeper wasting time.
They don’t actually have any certified arborists on staff, including the City Forester.
Enjoy those gummy bears!
Ate gummy bears and drank root beer.
That calls for febreze !! Lol
So what? You have to mail in those rebates then wait for weeks. The city was never going to go through that trouble and it would have went to waste. Someone might as well get it.
Not the point
We should all get it (use it to buy something we have to pay for anyways).
This is pretty much exactly what Pat Sepanski, the Fleet Maintenance Manager, did and he got NOTHING! No fine, no suspension (other than the paid vacation he got during the investigation), no termination, NOTHING for stealing THOUSANDS of DOLLARS. Why would this guy be treated any different?
The Parks director seems to be on a witch hunt since they took over. Fired employees for less than that.
Either trying to make a name for herself or trying to get who she wants in those positions. Either way all the employees, up to and including supervisors shouldn’t piss her off or they might find themselves in the unemployment line. I wouldn’t want to work for someone like that unless I was one of her favorites.
She definitely has her a•• kissing favorites. They are known.
It sounds like someone was aware they were missing, so spending them was in the future.
they have a program to catch the rebates, that’s how the moron was caught, missing rebates. It’s literally in the story.
Risks losing his job for $600. Stress of paying for college blah blah blah. My 4 kids basically paid for their college degrees by working and student loans. He should tell his daughter to pitch in. Doesn’t his wife work? I think he should be ordered to reimburse the city and lose his job. Don’t waste the jail cell on him.
And for gummies,root beer and febreze. Really
Yeah…the stress of cost of groceries going up! That’s what I would buy if I was in a financial bind!
If he admitted to it, why is there a trial?
Because he broke the law??
This is all Nothing, he has been caught peeping through windows watching women change”which he got out of”. Has Gambling problem thats why “financial issues” Note his Daughters school look him up on CCAP, unpaid credit cards reverse mortgages unpaid payday loans! These people need to do more investigating on this guy this is nothing he has a problem. His wife same thing on ccap unpaid credit cards pitiful
Let’s add the time his wife feared for her life, and was running to neighbors’ home to get away from him, Humm who is protecting this guy, seems to get out of a lot of trouble. ccap only shows a small part of this guys issues.
Menards needs to be in jail. Rebates are a scam. Just lower the prices.
Exactly, that is why I never step foot in Menards. They also don’t support their veterans like Home Depot and Lowe’s, so it’s been years since I’ve gone to Menards.
Btw, old Menard is a mean old basturd. Look him up. Cheapskate to the max.
I haven’t given Menards any business since they wouldn’t allow any children under the 16 years olds in the store during that flu season those few year(s) and they required everyone to wear the suffication device. A waitress ( single mom) was bringing her 6 year old in the store with her, masked up( poor kid) and all, but they wouldn’t allow her to shop there because he wasn’t 16! Literally told her she couldn’t bring her son in the store because he was under 16! Sick! I will never go back there!
Covid scamdemic. F Menards
Clearly someone who has no idea how rebates work in the supply chain especially at menards.
Call him Mr Pay day loan. Sad. Fire him now
Why is he still on payroll???
Innocent till proven guilty. Its all red tape.
Correct. Due process. But how long that process takes is very interesting
Bet he makes less than the $8000.00 per month the “long time Kenosha detective” is currently getting paid while he’s “not allowed” inside the police department for over 2 full months. At least KUSD fires people who did wrong within a few days. How long does it take an employer whose primary job is to investigate to actually investigate at $8000 per month?
Any updates chief?
Name please?
Jason
Wait, KUSD “fires people who did wrong within a few days”????
WHAT? Who, and when? They could almost make up their “deficit” if they fired all the “people who did wrong”.
The ones that are caught, yes. They aren’t on administrative leave for months.
Look up the stories KCE has published. The KUSD employees who were fired were usually fired quickly. I’m not even debating the ones that weren’t, or why or how they kept their jobs.
Just do yourself a favor and watch this story/non story of the long standing detective on leave with full pay for months, who is not allowed to enter the police station currently. If the person is that bad, why not fire the person.
What’s taking so long for the police department to investigate this person???
It’s because they don’t want egg on their face, and their golf buddies with the person, so It serves 2 purposes. Save their golf and drinking buddy’s job, save the reputation of the supervisors who were paid handsomely to oversee this person, but neglected their duties.
Incompetence or neglect, you be the judge. But every taxpayer should have the information to make that informed decision.
Sweep, sweep,sweep…. The sound of the chief and administration trying to sweep this under the rug to save face. Not in line with the new mission statement though. So this will be interesting how this particular issue play$ out. I’m willing to bet the long standing detective has many, many, many things he could point out about his bosses who have suspected him, and I’ve heard that’s the plan how he’s going to squeak by keeping his job.
Biggest fraud of all- at 54, you know he’s using some just for men in that beard!! No way it’s that dark naturally!!!
Yes it is.
Can we talk about having way too many city employees when you see 10 guys always watching the new guy do the work?
Typical government Union jobs all run that way.
Government unions have been gone for 10 years in WI
Yes but government jobs work that way. I work for the government and it is very, very, hard to get fired. We work for good benefits.But I also work a part time job Because the pay is not all that great.
Firefighter?
Public works
Act-10 eliminated all government union representation jobs in Wisconsin
Bogdala talks a big game. He should have been fired immediately.
The mayor is worried about photo ops and Facebook. Lol
It can be expensive buying North Face and Columbia clothing. Idiot.
Did we learn nothing from Pat and Sebastian at Kenosha Joint Services????
Not real clear on this, if i steal from my employer and admit it to police, guess what? I don’t have a job no more, how does this guy still have a job?
He should have been fired immediately. What the heck ? is going with are city.
Let’s talk about Smetana being a lying jerk. Here is another official that has no integrity.
Genuine question. I’d like to know what he did. What did he lie about?
He also thought it would be a good idea so no one parked on his side of the street to grab some “no parking by order of police department” signs and put them on his parkway.
o yea that also seems like another intitled city employee using the city to his advantage , try being in the same Neiborhood with this guy who thinks he is something and intitled. very agree person this guy is
Nosy much? Did work on the property need to be done? How were you affected? Get a life!
FIRE HIM
If you’re in the private sector, not a city, taxpayer funding job that has a union that would be considered theft from the company and I’d fire your ass.. And why do we have a city administrator in this town and a mayor? I’d fire the city administrator too.
Yep- useless position that is overpaid. But if you buy a fake college degree, you can apply too.. (if they post the job). Remember, they didn’t post the job last time
The City of administrator Morrissey should have been fired. He has had that fake degree for years and then let him sit there and collect over $200,000 in pay a year. Wow.
Bagdala only cares about Facebook pictures. Well he cares about one other thing protecting his wife’s job.
Policy is BS, the very people he stole from have to continue to pay his wage I’m sorry this is backassword.
He needs to be FIRED at the least, he stole from the company… it’s really a no brainer !
Bogdala is just as much of an idiot as Antaramian. Fire the guy or suspend him WITHOUT pay. Now, he gets to collect his salary while lying around at home. How stupid
This isn’t the first time he’s stolen from a job. Dude has a gambling problem.
Proof?
Wanna bet?
Thief, stooled from a lot of people and past places, All the Watkins boys are something else. liars, cheaters, wife beaters, thieves, Low life group of offspring.
fire him, hold him accountable for his action it’s the only way this guy may learn.
How about the new parks Director, going to the Wisconsin Dells staying at a water park for management training with three younger male employees that she favors all the time on city tax payer dollars? This stuff shouldn’t be on tax payers dollars. Parks department is a wreck!
Maybe there’s a different issue.
Bogdala during his campaign promised to open the downtown hospital. He was all over it in the beginning when he closed it. My wife that works at the hospital. Just told me that his daughter got a big cushy job straight out of college. Probably making around $75,000 a year. I guess that’s how you keep quiet now about the hospital.
No surprise!
Parkside Grounds Dept is just as bad. You arrive and go to the shop. Gotta finish the coffee before starting… get some tools needed for the job assignment and load into the Gator. First though you gotta drive around to look at and admire the female students arriving for school. More time wasted. Then eventually you get to where work to be done. Call over the radio to come back to the shop. “Boss” says to grab a bag of corn and head out to remote spot to feed deer. ( illegal) They eventually get pictures then venison later in the year. Go back to area where work assignment was. Drag the rake around and shovel some dirt and mulch for a few minutes. Ut oh … lunch time in 20 minutes… time to go back to shop. Can’t be late for lunch! Then lunch is over ( 10 minutes ago) and we take our time to head back out. Need to admire again. Boss comes by and sees we are behind schedule. Then determines they need to hire a third party to finish the job. Complete waste of tax payers money every day. Everything outsourced at a cost
You forgot the 9am union break.
You forgot overtime to finish the job
This is pretty much exactly what Pat Sepanski, the Fleet Maintenance Manager, did and he got NOTHING! No fine, no suspension (other than the paid vacation he got during the investigation), no termination, NOTHING for stealing THOUSANDS of DOLLARS. Why would this guy be treated any different?
Why ? Why was nothing done , yep sweep sweep sweep under the rug.
never any follow ups on the story , what about the long term detective that is on leave or was in the hot seat ,
Nothing more on that either ,
Kenosha dont we want to better then this and get these bad seeds out
come on lets get this done and out there
Make are city the city we all love .
Good taste in root beer for someone struggling and on a tight budget.
The pitchforks are out! Love it! I saw Elon heading for the Rex plex!
Let’s try to be a bit nicer here folks, what’s done is done and unfortunately his father passed on Monday.
That’s correct. But He needs to get his life in order. Definitely has a problem. I know him.
Sorry to hear that, I guess the stealing is ok then
And you are perfect correct?
Perfect to the fact I’m not a thief.
Once a stealer always a stealer
Wife Beater , thief , low life scum
What a waste of time and resources.
How about the fact that Russle Schneider one of Katie’s little pets was allowed to frequently while on the job allowed to use city vehicles to grab plywood from Menards while on city time with tascko Ferati and bring it to his personal house. She has her three best little boys that are untouchables. Her husband should also question why she is frequently going to lunch with the same guy Brad.