UPDATE, February 21, 2012: Sheboygan mayoral recall: Mayor Bob Ryan ousted from office by challenger Terry Van Akkeren
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UPDATE, July 28, 2011: Sheboygan Mayor Bob Ryan says he will not resign
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Sheboygan Mayor Bob Ryan is struggling again with his alcoholism.
In 2009, Ryan was filmed at a bar, apparently drunk and making sexual remarks about his sister-in-law.
The antics of Sheboygan's mayor became fodder for comics, like Jay Leno.
JAY LENO: Oh, well, here -- here is another one of those stupid men behaving badly stories. The mayor of Sheboygan, Wisconsin, a man named Bob Ryan, has apologized after he was caught on a cell phone -- He was at a bar, and somebody had a cell phone camera, and he's talking to the guys about his sister-in-law, and saying that he heard she was good at one particular sex act.
Well, he gave a press conference, and his wife was standing next to him. The sister-in-law wasn't there... Well, she may have been under the podium, but she wasn't at, she wasn't at, you know, at the press conference.
(Laughter, applause)
But anyway, so far calls to his office are split down the middle -- half want him to resign, the other half want the sister-in-law's phone number. So, I don't know what's going on there.
Very embarrassing.
Now, Ryan is involved in more embarrassing public incidents, this time in Elkhart Lake, a small town in northwestern Sheboygan County, home to Road America and resorts.
From the Sheboygan Press:
Mayor Bob Ryan — an admitted alcoholic who a year ago said he was seeking treatment — confessed Tuesday to having a "couple drinks" over the weekend.
But while Ryan downplayed the relapse as one night out with friends, employees and customers at two Elkhart Lake nightspots said Ryan had been an obnoxious regular for at least several days, drinking from mid-afternoon until closing time while being rude and vulgar, especially toward women. They said he passed out at least once and was even seen getting into his car after drinking.
"He basically came to town on a rampage," said a bartender at the Barefoot Bay Tiki Bar in Victorian Village, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
"He's been on a bender," said another man, who saw Ryan over several nights.
This comes three weeks before he is scheduled to face a judge over a sexual harassment complaint filed after he allegedly made drunken advances on Angela Payne, then the city's director of human resources. Payne filed a complaint with the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development that will be heard before an administrative law judge Aug. 16-19.
City officials responded Tuesday by scheduling a closed session Committee of the Whole meeting for 6:30 tonight.
Ryan on Tuesday called the matter a "setback" to his ongoing treatment program — the same term he used after a relapse last July.
"It's not that big of a deal, anything that transpired," Ryan said. "I got off my program a little bit here, had a little minor setback, was out in Elkhart, went to a different couple places, end of story."
Ald. Eric Rindfleisch, president of the Common Council, said he was concerned with Ryan's version of events and information making its way to him and other leaders.
"I feel that (Ryan's comment) minimizes what took place and I feel that whatever did happen was far more serious than the mayor is discussing at this time," Rindfleisch said. "As a city leader and a resident and a taxpayer … I'm again appalled that the person that occupies the office of mayor has dragged the city through the mud."
...Witnesses at the Brown Baer grill and tavern said Tuesday that Ryan became a regular in recent days, arriving in the afternoon and staying until near closing time.
Three witnesses — two women and one man — said Ryan was at the Brown Baer after hours Sunday night, drinking Jack Daniel's whiskey and diet colas. Ryan made rude and sexually explicit comments to staff and patrons — when he wasn't passed out, said the witnesses, who asked to not be identified.
"He said some really inappropriate things (to women). Things you can't print in your newspaper," one woman said.
Ryan was passed out for long periods of time, during which bar patrons took pictures with him.
In one case, two women bared their breasts next to the passed-out mayor, the witnesses said. In another instance, a man took Ryan's watch off and put it on his own wrist, had his picture taken wearing it and then put it back on Ryan's wrist, they said.
"There are probably some pretty good pictures on the Internet by now," a witness said.
One man, who declined to give his name because Ryan is a "pretty powerful guy," said Ryan's comments led to a physical altercation at the Brown Baer.
"(Ryan) was basically being a (jerk)," the man said. "After a while, one guy got sick of it and punched him twice. Bar stools went flying; glasses went flying."
Both men were kicked out of the bar and Ryan sat outside the bar until police arrived. They did not arrest Ryan but told him to move on, the man said.
Yikes! The patrons at the Brown Baer sound like a real classy bunch, don't they?
...On another night after Ryan had been drinking, one woman said she saw him leave the Brown Baer and get into his car, a metallic blue Corvette convertible.
"He couldn't even focus," she said.
At the Tiki Bar, Ryan also was rude and vulgar to waitresses and other women, said a bartender, who also asked that his name not be used.
"He would show up in the early afternoon and stay pretty near closing time every night," he said. "Two nights in a row I had to cut him off."
I imagine Sheboygan residents must be losing patience with their mayor.
Perhaps he should focus on battling his alcoholism and step down.
Ryan is downplaying the reports of his drunkenness in Elkhart.
Ryan said he was out drinking Saturday with several business owner friends who live in Elkhart Lake, whom he declined to identify. He said he was only in the village on Saturday, and he stayed the night before driving home Sunday.
"I was not drinking and driving if that's the question," he said.
When questioned about reports of sexually inappropriate comments, he denied anything the various allegations.
...And Ryan denied ever passing out: "I was not passing out in any bars," he said.
Ryan said in April 2010 that he realized through the two-pronged scandal that representing the city is a 24-hour job, saying, "I thought I could keep a private life and be the mayor at the same time. I realized that is not possible."
But Tuesday he took the opposite tact in explaining his behavior, adding that the incident is mitigated because he wasn't in Sheboygan.
"Is it a newsworthy story? No, I would hope it would not be. Nothing happened. It's not a story. It's my personal life," Ryan said. "I was out and about in Elkhart Lake. I was not in Sheboygan. … It's a different city."
Ryan acknowledged being part of a physical altercation, which he said started when a man he didn't know at the Brown Baer confronted Ryan about being out drinking.
"Not that I should be out drinking alcohol, but if I can't even go to a place for year after year without people giving me a hard time, something's wrong with that picture," Ryan said. "I think there might have been a little pushing and shoving on his end toward me, but it was nothing major. It wasn't a big deal."
Ryan's excuse that his drinking and alleged bad behavior took place in another city is ridiculous.
That doesn't make it OK.
Sheboygan aldermen will meet tonight to discuss the matter.
Here's video, from FOX 6 News:
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