Four members resign from Sheboygan Mayor’s International Committee
The committee had been organizing a delegation from Tsubame, Japan
SHEBOYGAN — The Mayor’s International Committee is down four members after they resigned during a period of 16 days.
The first resignation was submitted on May 13th from Sarah Engel-Streicher, a dedicated member of the Mayor’s International Committee. "It's truly been a pleasure to be part of this group-to connect with our community, support international understanding, and contribute to our sister city relationships," said Engel-Streicher. She cited her commitments with the AFS Exchange Program as the reason for her resignation. Three days later, Lisa Salgado resigned.
In Salgado’s resignation letter, she expressed concerns with Mayor Ryan Sorenson's leadership. "It has become clear to me that this administration welcomes volunteer labor but not meaningful input," said Salgado. "I cannot continue to support an environment where city officials are either unaware or willfully indifferent to the consequences of their actions on the community they serve."
The third and fourth resignations came from Minami Beaudry and Jon Beaudry. While they cited demanding professional and personal responsibilities as a reason for their depture, they also stated they felt some imbalance in how committee responsibilities were distributed. "Combined with a gradual shift in the tone and direction from what initially drew us to join, these experiences have led us to the decision that now may be the right time for us to step back."
The Mayor’s International Committee had been organizing a delegation from Tsubame, Japan. This month, a group of students from Sheboygan's sister city were scheduled to visit for a week. Now, that visit has been shortened to just 48 hours. "We were shocked that Sheboygan could not accept the delegation anymore," Fumiko Yokoyama told TMJ4 News in June. "That was a little disappointing."
WKTS News submitted a request for the resignation letters on June 16th after Sorenson failed to include the letters on the Common Council agenda packet. It was not until June 27th when Sorenson provided the letters to WKTS. Usually when an individual resigns from a city committee, board or commission, a copy of their resignation letter is included on the Common Council agenda. This was the case under Mayors Mike Vandersteen, Terry Van Akkeren and Bob Ryan. Since being elected 2021, Sorenson has dictated what appears on the agendas.
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