Sheboygan’s mayor and Common Council do not see eye-to-eye on an issue regarding the future of the City Attorney Position.
Mayor Ryan Sorenson has vetoed a unanimous decision by the Common Council that would have seen the City Attorney report to the council rather than the City Administrator.
At the June 2nd council meeting, Sheboygan’s Alders moved to make the City Attorney position one appointed by a majority vote of the council rather than via an election as it was in the past.
However, before that was voted on, Alder Grazia Perrella made the motion to have the attorney report to the council, and that passed by a 6-4 vote.
Following the amendment, the Common Council voted unanimously to move forward with changes to the City Attorney’s role.
In response, Mayor Sorenson stated in a letter dated June 4th that the unamended ordinance was worked on for months by many City employees and outside legal counsel.
He added, “Unfortunately, the actions taken at the City Council meeting on Monday do not reflect sound policy-making practices. The process fell short of the standards of good policy development and results in less effective governance.”
Mayor Sorenson also feels the amended ordinance would result in a lack of effectiveness and accountability and said, “As mayor, I have a responsibility to ensure that our actions are both principled and informed. For these reasons, I am compelled to veto the ordinance in its amended form. We have to get this right.”
