Come and get me, Mayor Perez!
Mayor Juan Perez of Sheboygan, Wisconsin, had his city attorney send a cease and desist letter to resident Jeni Reisinger to remove a link to the city police department's web site from her own web site.
It seems Ms. Reisinger led a recall effort against hizzhonor in September of last year. She may or may not have engaged in racially derogatory tactics in her effort, and rightly or wrongly Mayor Perez may or may not have had his feelings hurt that one of his citizens was not one hundred percent in lockstep with his duly instituted regime. If she did, there is no question she deserves a chorus of raspberries and a resounding "shame on you!" The mayor just needs to get a thicker skin. If you think that all the world is going to love you and help advance your utopian ideals for a better tomorrow just because you garnered enough votes to win an election, politics is not for you.
Perez's purported concern is "People associate (Reisinger) with racism because of that website she designed during the recall when she had me holding a Mexican flag (with) 'Power to illegals?' captioned on it. They were calling me 'muchachito' and 'senor,' all these derogatory terms on that website, and she was the creator of that website," Perez said. "My concern was that people would have some concern over her linking to a city website." (Quote originally appeared in the Sheboygan Press, as noted in a story posted on WorldNetDaily November 3, 2007.)
The mayor is of the opinion that people must have permission to link to the city web site. That an outside web site linking to the city implies an endorsement by the city of that third party's views.
Mr. Perez, stop whining and start involving yourself with some meaningful business. As long as links are not using protected images or symbols you have no grounds for attempting to control access to a publicly accessible site. That a government entity would seek to exert such control is even more disgusting than if a private or publicly held entity were attempting the same thing. Government is an extension of the people, Mr. Mayor, not the other way around. Government exists and serves at our pleasure, not us at theirs. Politicians need to be reminded of that fact, loud and often.
For the record, I have neither received nor sought permission for any of the links recorded above or for those that are listed at the end of this article.
Come and get me, Mr. Perez, I won't go anywhere.
City of Sheboygan
Mayor of Sheboygan Home Page
City of Sheboygan Fire Department
Sheboygan City Attorney's Office (Since the mayor felt it necessary to involve the City Attorney in this, I certainly don't want to be accused of not being inclusive.)
No comments:
Post a Comment