Score one for the little guy, in this case Jeni Reisinger.
From the Sheboygan Press:
Ooooh, a retraction!
McLean says, "There was never any intent to take any action further against her than write that letter."
Translation: Our intent was to harass and intimidate Reisinger, scare her, and leave it at that.
It's obvious that Sheboygan officials want this to go away with a simple "never mind" letter.
That would be letting them off the hook. I think Jeni and Paul Bucher should pursue the matter further.
The incident was so abusive and a clear violation of Jeni's rights.
So this morning, McLean is STILL claiming that the city "had basis" to tell Jeni to remove her link to the Sheboygan Police Department.
What basis? There is no legal basis. Is he talking about a personal preference?
This guy is the city attorney!
This is so typical of people caught abusing their position and power -- attack the victim. In this case, Perez plays the race card as well.
It's a misguided, and, I suspect, ultimately unsuccessful, effort to smear the victim.
Of course, it's been difficult for Jeni. It must be awful for her. It's not easy to stand up to a powerful entity.
Getting a call that you're under investigation by the police would be frightening. Getting a threatening letter from the city attorney isn't an everyday occurrence for most people.
Perez and McLean really had a serious lapse in judgment when they decided to harass a private citizen and a political dissenter.
Jeni was right to seek legal counsel. She's right to pursue the matter and expose the tactics utilized by Perez and McLean to tread on the rights of citizens in Sheboygan.
From the Sheboygan Press:
The City of Sheboygan is backing down from its demand that a Sheboygan resident remove a link from her business Web site to the Sheboygan Police Department, the city attorney said this morning.
Jeni Reisinger, who runs a Web site often critical of Mayor Juan Perez, was sent a cease-and-desist letter last month at the mayor’s request. But City Attorney Steve McLean said this morning the city informed Reisinger’s attorney in a letter sent Tuesday afternoon that it will no longer pursue the issue.
“There was never any intent to take any action further against her than write that letter,” McLean said. “We’re going to retract the cease-and-desist letter.”
Ooooh, a retraction!
McLean says, "There was never any intent to take any action further against her than write that letter."
Translation: Our intent was to harass and intimidate Reisinger, scare her, and leave it at that.
...New Berlin attorney Paul Bucher, who represents Reisinger, said this morning he has not yet received McLean’s retraction letter, but promised that will not be the end of his involvement.
“I’ll look at the letter and meet with our client and see where we’re headed from there. It doesn’t end the controversy — that’s for sure,” Bucher said. “The issue is whether or not … the City of Sheboygan or the government in Sheboygan used the powers of the government to intimidate, silence or infringe upon another individual’s right to express their political views.”
It's obvious that Sheboygan officials want this to go away with a simple "never mind" letter.
That would be letting them off the hook. I think Jeni and Paul Bucher should pursue the matter further.
The incident was so abusive and a clear violation of Jeni's rights.
...Asked this morning if the city had a legal basis to request the link be removed, McLean said the city “had basis to request that she remove it. We had a concern that it could viewed as an affiliation with the city or an endorsement of her business.”
So this morning, McLean is STILL claiming that the city "had basis" to tell Jeni to remove her link to the Sheboygan Police Department.
What basis? There is no legal basis. Is he talking about a personal preference?
This guy is the city attorney!
Perez said in an interview Friday that the city was concerned over Reisinger’s link because “people associate (Reisinger) with racism” due to an image posted on her site digitally altered to show Perez holding a Mexican flag with the caption “Power to Illegals?” Bucher said he has been told Reisinger did not post the picture, which was removed soon after being posted.
This is so typical of people caught abusing their position and power -- attack the victim. In this case, Perez plays the race card as well.
It's a misguided, and, I suspect, ultimately unsuccessful, effort to smear the victim.
Bucher said the controversy has been difficult for Reisinger.
“She’s frightened. She’s upset over this,” Bucher said. “I met with her yesterday, (and) she was visibility shaking.”
Of course, it's been difficult for Jeni. It must be awful for her. It's not easy to stand up to a powerful entity.
Getting a call that you're under investigation by the police would be frightening. Getting a threatening letter from the city attorney isn't an everyday occurrence for most people.
Perez and McLean really had a serious lapse in judgment when they decided to harass a private citizen and a political dissenter.
Jeni was right to seek legal counsel. She's right to pursue the matter and expose the tactics utilized by Perez and McLean to tread on the rights of citizens in Sheboygan.
7 comments:
This article is really excellent.
You couldn't have done a better job about the shenanigans in Sheboygan. It's just awful. The man whom we have to refer to as Mayor for now, thinks he is a King, and imagines Jeni should have asked HIS permission to link to the Sheboygan Police Department.
He thinks of HIMSELF as the CITY.
Thanks for the support.
"This is so typical of people caught abusing their position and power -- attack the victim. In this case, Perez plays the race card as well.
It's a misguided, and, I suspect, ultimately unsuccessful, effort to smear the victim."
You are so right about this - but unfortunately, our local newspaper continues to help Perez smear the victim: Jeni. They continue to call her racist and so does Perez - without any truth to any of it! When the Press ran their original article, Jeni had already removed the picture they mentioned. Even tho she never posted it, when she learned of it being there, she removed it. Would she have done so if she were truly racist?
Perez has been pulling that race card whenever he's cornered. During the recall effort, he wouldn't discuss any of the issues whatsoever - he only accused the CRG group as racist and said he had 'no idea' why they were upset with him. This was a ridiculous claim, since each person in the group had tried to talk to him about important issues DURING meetings, but were ignored and insulted by Perez and his cronies at every turn.
This man needs to be stopped - not by recall, but by IMPEACHMENT, as he breaks laws without any remorse, attacks private citizens continually, forces department heads to 'resign', and threatens to sue anybody who disagrees with him in public. What do you think the citizens of Sheboygan can do to make this happen? We've been fighting City Hall for almost three years now - and NEED your help! Thanks a lot for taking notice of our plight here, and for supporting Jeni in her quest for the truth to be heard.
The way Jeni has been harassed, threatened, and smeared really bothers me.
What the mayor and city officials have done is shocking. It's even more shocking that they thought they could get away with it.
I hope the matter will be an eyeopener for Sheboygan residents and they'll take note of the way Perez has abused his power.
Even the political supporters of Perez should be concerned about his tactics. If they continue to support him, then they're condoning his abuse. I don't know how anyone in good conscience could support an administration that stoops so low.
Perhaps if you knew Jeni, you would realize that she is not the victim here. What better way to get free advertising when you are starting a new business as a web designer!
I don't know Jeni. But I do know what Perez did. She most certainly is the victim here.
Perez and McLean and Kirk used dirty tactics to harass and intimidate her.
It's ridiculous to suggest that SHE staged this whole thing to get free advertising for her business.
That doesn't make any sense. How could she possibly predict Perez and McLean would abuse their power, lie, and concoct a scheme claiming that she needed permission to link to the Sheboygan Police Department?
With all due respect, that's nuts.
In my opinion, Jeni is a racist. If you would visit her website at sheboyganspirit.com you would witness this yourself. You would not believe some of the things that Jeni and her cohorts post about the mayor and other citizens of Sheboygan. In my opinion, she is an evil, vindictive person and anyone who supports her or defends her WILL one day regret it, because she is digging herself a big hole.
You're entitled to your opinion.
Whether or not you approve of what Jeni has to say is irrelevant.
The fact is Mayor Perez and Steve McLean and others abused their positions to silence political speech.
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