Click here to read Part 1, Corruption at City Hall

Click here to read Part 2, Corruption at Sheboygan City Hall: Mayor Sorenson Leads Attack on Your Community and Your Values

Click here to read Part 3, Corruption at Sheboygan City Hall: Mayor Sorenson Violated City Ethics Policy

Part 3 of this multi-part series documented a recent situation in which Mayor Ryan Sorenson violated the City Ethics Policy. Part 4 provides an update on the coverup of that violation. (Several paragraphs of Part 3 are included for context.)

Part 4: Corruption at Sheboygan City Hall: Removal of Facebook Post Supports Ethics Violation

The following photo was posted on the Visit Sheboygan Facebook page on June 24, 2023 from the Pride event in Sheboygan. Mayor Sorenson is pictured below with members of the Abbey of the Brew City Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence. According to their website they want to bring comfort to the disturbed and disturb the comfort of others. On the Brew City Sisters website, it lists a retired member as Guard Rex Uranus. Here is the link to the site: https://www.brewcitysisters.org/portfolio

If Mayor Sorenson’s DEIB (Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, Belonging) commitment is not about sexualization, but about love and acceptance, how does a member of a group he poses with go by the name Rex Uranus? That name is heavily sexualized and illustrates that this group views this as humorous!

It seems that Mayor Sorenson and his supporters’ version of DEIB stands for DIVISION, EXCLUSION, INDOCTRINATION, and BLASPHEMY!

This post on Visit Sheboygan’s Facebook page generated 29 comments. The comments were debating support or disdain for the post. One woman from Illinois posted, “Really? Do we really need to feel proud of how people have sex? I love going to Sheboygan to escape the nonsense of the bigger cities. Disappointed.” This was followed by comments that stated “don’t like it, don’t go!!!!!!” This woman was then told to stay in Illinois by another commenter.

This post was removed from the Visit Sheboygan Facebook page on July 5, 2023.

Mayor Sorenson was clearly operating in his official capacity as mayor in this photo. Mayor Sorenson is wearing a City of Sheboygan hat and a nametag that identifies him as the mayor.

This violates the City of Sheboygan ethics policy in that Mayor Sorenson is not exhibiting behavior that is above reproach. Above reproach means that you are acting in a way that does not bring criticism.

The fact that Visit Sheboygan was driven to remove the June 24 post of Mayor Sorenson clearly shows that Mayor Sorenson’s behavior was not above reproach. The post invited criticism and caused harm to the City of Sheboygan. In an attempt to mitigate the damage that Mayor Sorenson caused to Sheboygan, Visit Sheboygan removed the Facebook post on July 5!

You must act to protect the future of Sheboygan!

Plan to attend the next Common Council meeting on July 17, 2023 at 6:00 p.m. Show your concern over Mayor Sorenson’s actions and his direction for the City of Sheboygan! Your attendance will help remove the power from Mayor Sorenson and the DEIB group and return it to the people, the taxpayers!

To speak at this meeting, you must email the Common Council. You can write your own email, or you can send the following message to the Common Council. If you do not act now, you are sending a clear message to Mayor Sorenson that you support this direction for Sheboygan!

Email this message to your alderperson:

As a concerned citizen of the City of Sheboygan, I demand the convening of the Ethics Committee to investigate Mayor Sorenson’s violation of the city’s ethics policy. Section 2-246 Responsibility of Public Officials and Employees states:

• Public officials and employees are agents of public purpose and hold office for the benefit of the public. They are bound to uphold the Constitution of the United States and the constitution of the state and carry out impartially the laws of the nation, state and city and, thus, to foster respect of all government. They are bound to observe in their official acts the highest standards of morality and to discharge faithfully the duties of their office regardless of personal considerations, recognizing that the public interest must be their primary concern. Their conduct in both their official and private affairs should be above reproach so as to foster respect for all government.

Mayor Sorenson’s actions on June 24, 2023, at the Pride event violated this policy when he posed for a picture with members of the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence. The members were dressed in outfits mocking nuns and the Catholic religion.

Mayor Sorenson was acting in his official capacity as mayor due to him wearing a City of Sheboygan hat and a nametag that states his name and title as mayor.

Mayor Sorenson’s behavior violated the policy by not remaining above reproach. Remaining above reproach is defined as not inviting criticism. The June 24 post on Visit Sheboygan’s Facebook page had to be removed on July 5, 2023, due to the damage that Mayor Sorenson’s actions caused the City of Sheboygan. The removal of this post clearly illustrates that Mayor Sorenson’s actions invited criticism and caused harm to the City of Sheboygan. This violates the policy in that Mayor Sorenson’s behavior was not above reproach.

Due to the actions of Mayor Sorenson, I respectfully request the Ethics Committee convene to investigate the actions of Mayor Sorenson on June 24, 2023, at the Pride event.

CALL TO ACTION: Send emails to the following:

• barbara.felde@sheboyganwi.gov – District 1
• roberta.filicky-peneski@sheboyganwi.gov – District 2
• amanda.salazar@sheboyganwi.gov – District 3
• betty.ackley@sheboyganwi.gov – District 4
• Angela.Ramey@sheboyganwi.gov – District 5
• dean.dekker@sheboyganwi.gov – District 6
• grazia.perrella@sheboyganwi.gov – District 7
• zach.rust@sheboyganwi.gov – District 8
• trey.mitchell@sheboyganwi.gov – District 9
• joe.heidemann@sheboyganwi.gov – District 10

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