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Last night the Sheboygan Common Council handled a rare issue: how to respond to a Mayoral Veto.
The Mayor had issued a veto to a City Charter Ordinance that was amended by the Common Council to have the City Attorney report to the Council, rather than to the City Administrator as was the case previously, effectively making the City Attorney an appointed, not elected, position.
Attorney Nick Cerwin of Von Briesen & Roper, which is advising the City in the absence of a full-time attorney, explained that the Council had to choose to either overrule the veto by a 2/3 vote, or else file the ordinance, effectively setting it aside and allowing a new ordinance to be introduced, something Cerwin said could be achieved quickly.
Alder Perella objected to the veto message itself, which said that the ordinance was “crafted with input of the Alders, among other stakeholders”, input which she could not recall being asked for. She also objected to a lack of coalition-forming and discussion in order to achieve consensus, both of which she said the Mayor did not display.
In the end, the Council voted to file the veto rather than override, effectively sending the issue back for future discussion, with Alder Perella the only dissenting vote.
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