The DPW Needs To Do Something About Julie Meyer

When I first heard of Julie Meyer, it was last year when she chose to run against State Representative Chris Sinicki.  Now, I am one that is all for primaries, especially where the incumbent needs to be challenged.  But Meyer's allegations against Sinicki - that she was pro-school choice and weak on unions - was just plain laughable.

The absurdity continued when Meyer and her husband continued to harass and attack Sinicki and her family, even after the election was over.

I was hoping that was the last we would hear from or of her, but that turned out to be just wishful thinking.

Grass Roots South Shore, a truly wonderful group of people, is putting on an event this summer that actually looks pretty good:

However, some people are noting that this isn't the invitation they had received.  A faithful friend and reader of Cog Dis alerted me that some people were receiving this modified version of that invite:

So now she's using a third party and misrepresenting herself and it for an event? How vainglorious and inappropriate!

At the Democratic Party of Wisconsin convention, through some shady machinations, she somehow managed to get elected as the chair of the Labor Caucus.  One should know that nothing good could have come out of this, since her biggest contributor during her failed campaign was Scott Mayer, Chairman and CEO of the QPS Employment Group, a temp agency.  Mayer also sits on the Board of Directors for Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce (WMC), one of the biggest anti-Labor groups in the state.

Let's think about that for a minute...someone who takes money from a WMC director is now in charge of the Dems' Labor Caucus.  Does anyone else see a problem with this?

But, as we always say around here, there's more.  There's always more.

Now, one would think that as a party official, she should and would be neutral during the primaries or at least be only positive when talking about their favored candidate.

Oh, but not Julie Meyer! She thinks she's too good to follow rules or decorum or even basic class.

Meyer supports one of the candidates in the first congressional district primary, Cathy Myer, and has said a lot of nice things about her.  Not neutral, but fair enough.

But then Meyer goes off the deep end and starts attacking Randy Bryce, using false information from a person affiliated with the Green Party nonetheless:

Now there is something very, very odd about this post.  The link in Meyer's post does not lead to the commentary in the screencap.  Instead, it leads to an even more vulgar and egregiously false attack on Randy by Angie Aker, the Greenie:

As a union officer and as a member of the Party, I can and will say that this is just wrong.  It is unacceptable that the chair of the party's Labor Caucus is using false allegations from another party to attack a giant among Labor, both in the state and across the nation and a candidate for office during the primary.  (I would hope that Cathy Myers would denounce Meyer's support for her but I don't see that happening any time soon.)

I would certainly hope that party officials would take it upon themselves to do something about it, but I'm not holding my breath for that to happen.  So I have started researching the party's constitution and bylaws to find all the violations in preparation to filing a formal complaint.

Julie Meyer Is A Sore Loser

Rep. Christine Sinicki

In the fall primary of this year, Christine Sinicki had a challenger named Julie Meyer.

Meyer's campaign was one of the most negative and most unhinged ones I've ever seen.  She made such wild and baseless accusations as saying Sincicki was weak on unions, was for school privatization and for things that Boss Abele had done to her neighborhood, like placing sexual predators two doors from her house while denying he was doing it.  I easily refuted this craziness when I endorsed Sinicki.

Sadly, Meyer's campaign kept going downhill at breakneck speed.  Zachary Wisniewski at Blogging Blue discovered that Meyer was a fake Democrat and that her top donor was a big Republican backer.

Then at a Sinicki fundraiser, Meyer's husband displayed some bizarre behaviors by stalking Sincki, asking Sinicki's husband to "step into the bathroom" and apparently challenging her son to a fight.  Randy Bryce, at his brand new blog, Iron Stache, has video of some of Mr. Meyer's strange and disturbing behavior.

Because of this strange behavior and Mr. Meyer's past history of violence, police advised Sinicki to get a Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) against Mr. Meyer, which she did.

Sinicki went on to easily win the race by a 60-40 margin.

However, when it came time for the court hearing to make the restraining order permanent, the case was dropped because Sinicki chose not to pursue it.

Apparently not understanding that she had been routed in the election, Meyer is still in campaign mode and used this to again attack Sinicki:

This morning, Milwaukee County Circuit Court Commissioner Susan Callies dismissed Rep. Christine Sinicki's request for a restraining order against her primary election opponent's husband, Michael Meyer. Rep. Sinicki did not appear in court to defend her allegations and the Temporary Restraining Order that was granted a day prior to the August 9th Primary Election was rescinded.

Rep. Sinicki claimed that Michael Meyer was harassing her based on his presence at the Humboldt Park Beer Garden on Friday, August 5, 2016, where Sinicki was hosting a public fundraiser. She claimed that Meyer contacted her friends and neighbors claiming that Rep. Sinicki was "peeking into his daughters (sic) windows" and that he threatened her son by saying,"if you're feeling froggy, sir, just jump." Video of the incident shows that Sinicki's son instigated the confrontation.

Sinicki's 20th District Democratic Primary opponent, Julie Meyer, stated, "this personal attack on my family has no place in politics. Rep. Sinicki has abused the deference courts give to victims of harassment by demanding a Temporary Restraining Order for political gain."

Rep. Sinicki's request for a harassment restraining order was filed under oath, but contains multiple false accusations and defamatory statements. Rep. Sinicki claims she was encouraged to file for a restraining order by the same District 6 police officer that her primary opponent, Julie Meyer, had previously filed a formal complaint against.

"If Wisconsin Democrats believe this type of behavior is an acceptable political tactic, it will be repeated until there is a change in the law that prohibits this conduct. However, any additional legal restrictions would also endanger victims of domestic abuse, so I am calling on Chairman Robert Hansen and all Milwaukee County Democratic Party leaders to unequivocally denounce Rep. Sinicki's deplorable behavior to ensure that this type of political attack never happens again," Julie Meyer said.

Michael Meyer explained that "Representative Sinicki's restraining order references a horrible incident involving our neighbor, who happened to be a police officer, that verbally assaulted my 13-year-old daughter. It is no coincidence that the police officer that Rep. Sinicki sought out for her restraining order was the same officer that my wife filed an official complaint against for covering up our neighbor's offensive conduct."

"My wife had nothing to do with that incident and I am outraged that our State Representative would seek out a person that caused so much damage to my family to use in a political attack against her," Michael Meyer said.

Now this may come as a surprise to the gentle reader, but Meyer was lying out of her teeth once again.

Sinicki was kind enough to send me the press release she issued in response:

“Despite the fact that the fall primary results have been in more than a week, apparently Ms. Meyer and her campaign manager, disgruntled organizer Dennis Hughes, seem to have missed the fact that the race is over. They act as if the campaign is still going on.

“In fact, their continued complaints and protests are so loud, it looks like they are trying to obscure their own bad behavior during the primary campaign they lost. That behavior includes harassment by Ms. Meyer’s spouse, Michael Meyer, of Rep. Sinicki, her family members, and supporters, including local elected officials, at a Sinicki Campaign fundraiser.

“After the incidents at the fundraiser, the Milwaukee Police Department (MPD) informed Rep. Sinicki that Ms. Meyer’s spouse, Michael Meyer, is someone whose menacing behavior should be taken seriously, based on his known history. Acting upon advice by the MPD, she was granted a Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) to prevent Michael Meyer from further harassing her family, her supporters or herself during the rest of her campaign.

“After the election, Ms. Meyer asked Rep. Sinicki to agree not to seek to make the TRO permanent against Michael Meyer. Rep. Sinicki asked to talk to her in person, which happened earlier this week. During that conversation, the Representative agreed to her request, with the caveat that if her husband from this point on exhibits any more such behavior, then Rep. Sinicki will seek permanent reinstatement of the restraining order (RO). (This would mean Mr. Meyer would be subject to the conditions of two simultaneous restraining orders, including the instructions in the first one to relinquish and not possess firearms).

“Yesterday morning (Thursday, August 18, 2016) Rep. Sinicki sent Ms. Meyer a text confirming again that she will not pursue a permanent restraining order, and that on advice from the restraining order office she would not attend the hearing scheduled for today, Friday, August 19, 2016, for that purpose.

“As promised, Rep. Sinicki did not attend the hearing this morning, which signaled to the court that she is not pursuing an RO at this time.

“Going forward, Rep. Sinicki hopes that Ms. Meyer will see the wisdom in refusing to respond to any more provocations to cry wolf from Mr. Hughes, who has had his own serious, ongoing problems with harassing and disruptive behavior. He clearly incites much of Ms. Meyer’s “sour grapes” behavior, even to the point of writing her media releases for her. It is time for Ms. Meyer to recognize Mr. Hughes’ input for the bad advice it is, and distance herself from it.

“It is also time for both Ms. Meyer and Mr. Hughes to lay down this pattern of continued outbursts of resentment and bad temper. We need to direct our personal and communal resources to make sure that, in the November 8 general election, we elect leaders who will focus on the good of everyone in our communities. That is how Rep. Sinicki intends to direct her energies between now and Nov. 8th, and it is her hope Ms. Meyer and Mr. Hughes will join her.”

It's obvious that the voters in the 20th Assembly District chose wisely when they overwhelmingly reelected Sinicki. I just hope that the Meyers seek out the help they so obviously need to that they can move on and enjoy their lives.

Endorsement: Christine Sinicki For AD 20

Ever since I started doing political endorsements, one of the people I have gladly endorsed each cycle was State Representative Christine Sinicki.  I am proud and happy to do so again this year.

Unlike other years, Sinicki has a primary challenger, Julie Meyer, a MPS schoolteacher.  Their August 9th primary will be a winner take all situation as that no Republican was foolish enough to challenge Sinicki.

Now, I am one all for primaries and people stepping up to represent the people but I have to admit that this one makes no damn sense. Meyer is running a completely negative campaign, trying to make a number of rather absurd claims, among them being that:

• Sinicki doesn't represent the district well;
• Sinicki is weak with the unions; and,
• Sinicki is for the privatization of the Milwaukee Public Schools.
• A group home for the mentally ill/developmentally delayed that opened in Meyer's neighborhood.

Like I said, this one is making no damn sense.  Each and every one of Meyer's talking points is just plain laughable.

Sinicki is one of the most available elected officials that I have ever seen on any level of government.  She is always available to her constituents and even to people outside of her district. If someone comes to her with a problem, she does all she can to try to find a solution, no matter how big or small the issue may be. 

One of the things I learned long ago is that it is important to see what happens when you contact a politician, especially during election times.  If the person asks what they can do for you, they are a keeper.  If they ask what you can do for them, see if there is someone better.  Sinicki definitely fits into the former category.

Likewise, Sinicki has been a long time friend of the unions. She is just as approachable to members of the workforce as she is to her constituents.  She has been a fierce defender of workers' rights and has consistently put up a long, hard fight against the Republicans' war on workers.

As for MPS and the group home, Sinicki has been quite vocal and quite visible in her opposition to both of these issues.  On top of that, the group home is a county issue, not a state one, which makes one wonder if Meyer even knows what she is running for.

It should be noted that, regarding the MPS issue and that allegations that Sinicki is weak on the unions, Among the many union endorsements for Sinicki is both WEAC and MTEA, the teachers' unions for the state and Milwaukee teachers.  Coincidentally, Meyer's website doesn't show any endorsements from anyone - not a single one.

To be even more clear on the point, Meyer's own union endorsed Sinicki over her, which should tell the gentle voter a helluva lot.

At first, it was hard to tell if Meyer was possibly a fake Democrat or a gag candidate, but she appears to be legit, if rather naive.  

Regardless of where Meyer is coming from, the facts are the same.

Sinicki has been a very good and very able representative of the people, not only of her district, but of the city, county and state, for many years and has more than earned to be reelected again this year.   Please join me in supporting Christine Sinicki.  To find out what you can do to help her, go to her website.