Joe Sheehan is running for Wisconsin State Assembly in District 26, which covers Sheboygan. Sheehan previously served as the superintendent of the Sheboygan Area School District (SASD). After announcing his retirement, the SASD struggled to hire a replacement. The Board of Education asked Sheehan to return for another year to allow more time to find a successor.
Sheehan agreed, but not without securing a significant pay raise for himself. In 2017, Sheehan’s salary was $156,752.
In his final year with the SASD, his salary ballooned to $175,000.
This massive raise of almost 12% came at a time when teachers’ raises were barely 3% or 4%, dictated by the Consumer Price Index.
The “WE” mentality Sheehan often boasts about doesn’t seem to apply when it comes to salary.
A significant factor is how retirement pensions work. The state retirement system calculates pension amounts based on an employee’s two highest-earning years.
This substantial salary increase was not just significant for Sheehan’s final year as superintendent; it also boosted his pension payments for the rest of his life.
The one-year salary bump increased the annual pension he will receive in retirement.
Meanwhile, teachers were setting up internet donation sites to purchase classroom supplies and were emerging from years of salary freezes during which there were NO pay raises.
This is the reality of what Sheehan’s WE mentality looks like in practice.
Is Sheehan about WE, or is he all about ME?
At the time, school funding was a concern. The ramifications of Act 10 and school choice were being blamed for challenges in public education. Money was tight.
Somehow, Sheehan managed to secure an almost 12% raise for himself.
Sheehan often states, “We are all in this together,” but the SASD staff was not part of that WE when it came to salary increases. Only Joe Sheehan was.
If Joe Sheehan gets to Madison, will he include you in his version of WE, or will he leave you out like he did the SASD staff for HIS own benefit?
Joe Sheehan failed to lead the Sheboygan Area School District (SASD) in negotiations with Aurora Hospital on the Field of Dreams sale in an ethical manner. Sheehan was sued by a group, and the SASD paid more than $30,000 in a settlement due to violations of laws, but more importantly, violations of the trust of Sheboygan residents.
The real costs of Sheehan’s unethical and shady dealings were to you, the taxpayer. The Sheboygan Press was quoted as saying the Field of Dreams sale would have “marked a more-than $6 million windfall for the district.”
You hear the SASD talk of funding challenges. Would $6 million have made a positive impact?
A group of residents were forced to sue Sheehan and the SASD for secret meetings that took place over a period of two years. Sheehan was crafting a sale of the Field of Dreams site behind closed doors and without any notice to the public.
When these shady dealings came to light and it was announced that Aurora was interested in buying the site, there was massive public outcry. This included the lawsuit. Eventually, Aurora pulled out of the deal and reached an agreement to build the new hospital on land owned by Kohler Co.
There were additional costs. Aurora was going to renovate and build new athletic facilities for the kids of Sheboygan. The Butzen Farm site was going to become a marquee athletic facility. Soccer fields would have been built to host major youth tournaments. This would have brought significant economic impact to Sheboygan, with families coming here for tournaments.
The children of Sheboygan would have had top-notch facilities. However, due to Sheehan’s shady and unethical practices, no game has yet been played on the Butzen Farm property.
Why did Sheehan negotiate behind closed doors with Aurora?
What was his motivation to violate open meeting laws?
Part of the settlement required SASD leadership, including Sheehan, had to attend training on open meeting laws. After attending the training, Sheehan was quoted in the Sheboygan Press saying, “Did we learn anything new? Not necessarily.”
This was after Sheehan was ordered by a judge to attend training due to violating open meeting laws.
If Sheehan did not learn anything new, did this mean he knowingly violated open meeting laws when dealing with Aurora behind closed doors?
Sheehan referred to the training as a “refresher.” This brazen disregard for violating open meeting laws is concerning.
Sheehan cites on his website for his campaign for state assembly, “We are in this together.” He emphasizes the word “WE” and the “WE mentality” in ads.
Where was the “WE” when he violated open meeting laws to negotiate with Aurora? As a taxpayer, were you a part of Joe Sheehan’s “WE”?
Sheehan’s actions don’t show the same commitment to WE as his words!
This blatant disregard for ethics, integrity, and including the public in decision-making is enough to cause concern with Sheehan as a candidate for the assembly.
Do you want another $6 million mistake from Joe Sheehan in Madison?
TBS has been reflecting on the moral ineptitude of the local leadership, driven by the local Democratic Party. This came full circle yesterday with a high-level Democratic operative being officially charged with election fraud.
That’s right—election fraud right here in Sheboygan, in the most basic form of our democracy, for a seat on your Common Council.
A theft of a political opponent’s election literature.
An act of election fraud recorded on camera—a suspect who admitted to stealing a political opponent’s literature.
Something that is so fundamentally wrong it should be assumed everyone can agree on this.
That assumption has been proven false.
Local Democratic supporters denounced the story’s relevance. Some suggested on social media that the theft was a kind act by Deb Klock because it prevented the candidate from committing a federal crime by placing election materials in a mailbox.
An extensive police investigation uncovered only one crime: election fraud by a member of the local Democratic Party in coordination with Alder Zach Rust’s re-election campaign.
It seems like an easy political opportunity to own the mistake and apologize.
Far from it, Zach Rust, who is running for re-election and was questioned in the criminal investigation, has neither apologized nor acknowledged his campaign’s mistakes.
A local Democratic Party activist’s account on X, GoSheboygan, referred to individuals and the Sheboygan Police Department as a “bunch of retards.”
A local political activist, identifying as Blossom on X, “liked” the tweet.
The term “retard” is considered outdated and offensive. It is a hurtful word that diminishes people with disabilities. It is regarded as hate speech. A campaign called “Spread the Word to End the Word” raises awareness of the need to eliminate this term.
Yet, local Democratic Party activists have used and “liked” the term.
Candidate Roberta Filicky-Peneski, running for re-election for the 2nd District seat on the Common Council, was recorded using the N-word.
She has not acknowledged her mistake or apologized during this campaign, stating instead that she was in the comfort of her own home and recorded without her knowledge.
People show their true selves in the safety of their homes. When someone like Filicky-Peneski tells you who they are, believe them.
City Attorney Chuck Adams ardently defended former Human Resources Director Adam Westbrook, who has since been charged in federal court with sex crimes against children.
None of them, nor anyone else from the City of Sheboygan, has denounced Adam Westbrook’s actions.
Mayor Sorenson appeared in a photo that mocked the Catholic faith. There were concerns about religious discrimination. Sorenson removed a citizen complaint from a Common Council agenda, effectively silencing the community.
Mayor Sorenson could have simply acknowledged the feelings of others and apologized for making city employees and residents feel small by apologizing for minimalizing the religious beliefs of residents and employees.
Co-chair of the local Democratic Party, Mary Lynne Donohue, described herself as the chair of a social justice project and encouraged DEIB work in city government.
Donohue is on record at a school board meeting referring to the “growth formula” of the state report card as an intergalactic formula that nobody can understand.
The formula, a DEIB initiative, gives schools credit for increasing achievement among traditionally underperforming groups: kids of color, kids living in poverty, and kids with disabilities.
Kids with disabilities, the same group GoSheboygan carelessly referred to as “retards” on X.
Kids that need support from a true social justice warrior.
Donohue also serves as the School Board President of the Sheboygan Area School District, which is under scrutiny for allowing a sexually graphic book titled ‘Push’ in the North High School library.
This is the second incident involving graphic sexual content in a SASD library in the past 15 months. Donohue has taken no action as School Board President to prevent this from continuing to happen.
These individuals tell you that you lack understanding of:
Diversity
Equity
Inclusion
Belonging
Yet none of these actions demonstrate a commitment to genuinely enhancing any of these principles. The controlling Democrats’ reckless behavior in Sheboygan has resulted in two federal lawsuits.
In one suit, the Federal Magistrate indicates there is reason to investigate a hostile work environment that was not prevented but was perpetuated by Mayor Sorenson — a suit that is moving forward based on a white, Christian, heterosexual male being discriminated against.
A second complaint with the Department of Workforce Development has forced the city to hire outside lawyers. That complaint states a white, heterosexual female was harassed while working for the City of Sheboygan.
The actions of the members of the Sheboygan County Democratic Party are rooted in:
Division
Exclusion
Indoctrination
Blasphemy
Take a look at the well-documented evidence of what DEIB looks like in Sheboygan under the leadership of the Sheboygan County Democratic Party here:
When is enough going to be enough for you? Are you ready to take action?
Filicky-Peneski and Rust are unfit to serve.
There is a local election today. Polls close at 8:00 p.m.
Go vote!
Today’s election does not mean an end but rather a beginning.
Take Back Sheboygan County knows that many former and current City employees have been reluctant to share their stories for fear of retaliation. If you are one of these, we welcome you to contact us. Your name will not be shared without permission. You can contact us at https://takebacksheboygancounty.com/contact/.
You are the solution! Be part of a movement to improve your community!
The challenges that Sheboygan faces in poor student achievement at the high schools in the Sheboygan Area School District (SASD) and the lack of direction and leadership in the City of Sheboygan’s government have a common denominator in Mary Lynne Donohue. Donohue serves as the current School Board President of the SASD and Co-Chair of the Sheboygan County Democratic Party. Donohue has also previously served on the City of Sheboygan Common Council.
Donohue’s ties to everything happening in Sheboygan are deep. Donohue uses those ties to influence key decisions, and as evidenced in the previous post, she is comfortable advocating for causes by directly emailing the Common Council to publish a Request for Proposal that her organization drafted for the Common Council and would likely compete to secure the funding and contract for executing the work. Donohue’s connections also run into major budgetary decisions made by Sheboygan.
In the 2023 City of Sheboygan budget, the Sheboygan Press published an article on November 3, 2022, discussing the budget. Sheboygan Press reporter Maya Hilty states, “An increase in the budget for Mead Public Library is the largest proposed change in department budgets from 2022 to 2023.” The same article quotes Mead Public Library Board President Maeve Quinn on how the board unanimously approved a wage increase and expressed gratitude for the increased spending in the budget to do so.
Mead Public Library received a greater increase in funding in the 2023 budget than any other department. This increase was larger than the Police Department, Fire Department, and every other department that provides essential services to you as a taxpayer. The Mead Public Library Board President Maeve Quinn is also co-Chair of the Sheboygan County Democratic Party along with Donohue.
The following photograph comes from media reports on December 9, 2022. This illustrates that Donohue was serving as co-Chair of the Sheboygan County Democratic Party with Mead Public Library Board President Maeve Quinn at the same time the library received the largest increase in funding of any department in our city.
Donohue has been involved in the recruitment of Common Council members and has close ties to Mayor Ryan Sorenson. Mayor Sorenson has referred to Donohue as a mentor and, at one time, stated that he views Donohue as his second mother. Donohue’s involvement with the Common Council and Mayor Sorenson led her to be named in a current lawsuit against the City of Sheboygan. She is the only non-City employee or official named in this lawsuit.
When City Administrator Todd Wolf was fired without cause in January, there was a lack of clarity on who would manage the operational responsibilities of the City Administrator due to the vacancy. The Finance and Personnel Committee passed a resolution numbered 153-22-23 that appointed the Chair of the Finance and Personnel Committee to take on some of the authority of the City Administrator. This was requested by department heads of Sheboygan to ensure day-to-day operations could be maintained and not require the two-week wait for Common Council approval. This went before the Common Council for approval on March 20, 2023.
Alder Amanda Salazar asked for an amendment to the resolution and asked for the body of the Common Council to make changes rather than allow just the Chair of the Finance and Personnel Committee to make decisions. City of Sheboygan Assistant Attorney Liz Majerus commented that the majority of these decisions would be Human Resources-related and also Finance-related.
Alder Grazia Perella stated that she does not see much of a need for the resolution and does not see any daily tasks or responsibilities that would, in fact, hinder or prevent the Common Council as a whole from making the decision rather than one individual.
Alder Salazar made a motion to file the resolution. This means that the resolution would not be voted on, and the resolution could not be brought up again for one year. It was stated that all decisions would need to come before the Common Council.
On the roll call vote to file the resolution, Alder Mitchell abstained due to being the Chair of the Finance and Personnel Committee. The motion to file the resolution passed on a 5-4 vote. Alder Roberta Filicky-Peneski voted in favor of the motion to file the resolution. She is the Vice President of the Finance and Personnel Committee, who approved the resolution and sent it to the Common Council with the recommendation for approval. Alder Filicky-Peneski was also the alder that brought the motion forward to the Council for a vote. The resolution was filed and could not be brought forward for a year. The City of Sheboygan moved forward with a lack of clarity and understanding of who was responsible for decisions on the day-to-day operations of running the City of Sheboygan. The understanding was that decisions that the City Administrator was required to make would come before the entire Common Council.
The vote to not identify a decision-maker on the day-to-day operations, leaving the decisions to the entire Common Council, was made with no alternative or options to a request that came from the City of Sheboygan Department Heads to allow the City to function efficiently. The day-to-day operations and the needs of the department heads were referred to by Alder Perella as not needed. She then voted to file the resolution. This shows a lack of understanding of the number of decisions made daily to ensure services are provided to taxpayers. An organization with a $124 million dollar budget and responsible for running a city with 50,000 residents requires efficiency and direction to function. Alder Salazar and Alder Perella demonstrated that they do not have concern or see much of a need for efficiency in daily decision-making power for the City of Sheboygan to provide you with daily services.
Since that vote, there have been multiple requests that have been brought forward to the Finance and Personnel Committee for consideration. Following is a document that was recently submitted and shown for your review:
Under staff comments, it states, “City staff has reviewed the above notice of claim and, under the authorization of the Mayor of Sheboygan, in consultation with the City Attorney and the Finance Department, have denied the notice of claim listed above” Previously, documents reviewed would state the decision made by the City Administrator on these claims In rejecting the resolution that would have allowed the Chair of the Finance and Personnel Committee to have the authority to make decisions on the day-to-day operations of the city it was agreed that decisions would come before the Common Council.
Mayor Sorenson has now taken the responsibility of some day-to-day decisions from the responsibilities defined in the Municipal Code to the City Administrator. This illustrates that the needs and services of taxpayers are secondary to the power grab of Mayor Sorenson and the members of the Common Council with deep ties to Donohue.
While the day-to-day operations of the City of Sheboygan have been an afterthought, the commitment to Diversity Equity and Inclusion (DEI) has been a central focus. Members of the Common Council and Donohue have advocated for a Request for Proposal to be published that was drafted by Donohue. The City’s proposed 5-Year Strategic Plan neglected priorities like Police and Fire Department and, instead, heavily incorporated elements favorable to DEI. That Strategic Plan was denied after public outcry and cost you as a taxpayer $140,000 in lost fees to a consulting company.
Budget priorities from last year, such as a new Firehouse No. 3 and development in the industrial parks have stalled. The City is moving forward with hiring a City Administrator, and the process included explicit directions from Human Resources Director Adam Westbrook that taxpayers like you, who are not City of Sheboygan employees, who attempted to attend would be asked to leave. The presentations by the two finalists for the City Administrator position were referred to as a Stakeholder Presentation. According to Mayor Sorenson, Human Resources Director Adam Westbrook and members of the Common Council, you are not a stakeholder!
Mayor Sorenson has gone rogue in approving and denying claims from residents without oversight from the Common Council. Mayor Sorenson is trampling on City Ordinances by denying resident claims that were previously the responsibility of the City Administrator. Mayor Sorenson has also trampled on the right to Free Speech by not allowing resident complaints to be on the Common Council agenda. This also prevents other residents from sharing their thoughts or opinions due to there not being an agenda item.
Again, Donohue is a major influence with the Common Council, the Mayor, and the SASD.
At a recent SASD Board meeting, Donohue referred to a Wisconsin State Report Card growth formula as “intergalactic” and difficult to explain, while the formula rewards schools that are increasing the academic achievement of students who have been traditionally marginalized by the educational system.
These are people that would benefit from relevant DEI work, work that focused on helping people of color, people with disabilities, and people who are economically disadvantaged. As Chair of the Sheboygan Justice Equity group and an advocate for DEI work, Donohue dismissed another school that is doing better than Sheboygan South in increasing achievement in these marginalized populations.
Under the leadership of Donohue, DEI in Sheboygan has demonstrated a different priority than enriching the lives of marginalized populations.
The following are pictures from Sheboygan South High School’s library of books that had to be removed after public outrage drove the SASD administration and School Board to act. These pictures were in books available to be checked out in a library of a school that was under the governance of School Board President Mary Lynne Donohue. The picture of Mayor Sorenson was from the Pride Event in Sheboygan on June 24 and was published on the Visit Sheboygan Facebook page.
We caution you that some of the images from the books that were available for students in the Sheboygan South High School Library are explicit.
This is what DEI looks like under Mayor Sorenson and School Board President Mary Lynne Donohue!
Take Back Sheboygan County 