Juan Perez (born 1956) is an American municipal politician and lawyer. He is the former

Mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well a ...

of Sheboygan,

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

. Perez is the first Latino mayor in Wisconsin.

Early life and education

Perez was born in Carrizo Springs,

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

. He and wife, Sylvia, first moved to Sheboygan in 1984 before to Madison. Perez earned a J.D. degree from

University of Wisconsin Law School The University of Wisconsin Law School is the professional graduate law school of the University of Wisconsin–Madison. Located in Madison, Wisconsin, the school was founded in 1868. The University of Wisconsin Law School is guided by a "law in ...

in 1988 and returned to Texas to work as a law clerk in the Travis County District Attorney's Office. After failing the Texas State Bar, he left the attorney's office. He also earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from

Texas A&M International University Texas A&M International University (TAMIU) is a public university in Laredo, Texas. It is part of the Texas A&M University System and home to over 8,500 students each academic semester. TAMIU offers over 70 undergraduate and graduate degrees in f ...

Laredo, Texas Laredo ( ; ) is a city in and the county seat of Webb County, Texas, United States, on the north bank of the Rio Grande in South Texas, across from Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas, Mexico. Laredo has the distinction of flying seven flags (the flag of t ...

with a major in English and a minor in political science. Before being elected mayor, Perez worked at the University of Wisconsin–Sheboygan as an academic advisor.

Political career

Sheboygan Board of Education

In November 1999, Perez was appointed to the Sheboygan Area School District Board of Education. With his appointment to the board, Perez became the first minority to hold office in Sheboygan County. After being elected mayor in 2005, Perez resigned from the Board of Education.

Sheboygan City Council

In 2001, Perez was elected by alderman to fill an open City Council seat with then-Mayor James Schramm casting a tie-breaking vote. He would continue serving the Sheboygan Board of Education while an alderman and won re-election to the City Council in 2002 and 2004.

Mayor of Sheboygan

In November 2004, Perez announced his candidacy for mayor of Sheboygan and would challenge two-time incumbent Mayor James Schramm. Perez served one term in the office, as he was unable to advance in the February 18, 2009 primary election against two other candidates. Alderman

Bob Ryan Robert P. Ryan (born February 21, 1946) is an American sportswriter, formerly with ''The Boston Globe'', and author. He has been described as "the quintessential American sportswriter" and a basketball guru, and is well known for his coverage of ...

won the later April 7 general election and succeeded him in office on April 20, 2009.

Failed recall effort

Perez was the subject of a failed

recall Recall may refer to: * Recall (bugle call), a signal to stop * Recall (information retrieval), a statistical measure * ''ReCALL'' (journal), an academic journal about computer-assisted language learning * Recall (memory) * ''Recall'' (Overwatch ...

in mid-2006, which was coordinated by the Sheboygan branch of Citizens for Responsible Government. The recall effort had a racial tone to their recall effort but the group claimed that Perez "fail(ed) to uphold his mayoral duties in office with integrity and professionalism," based on his successful efforts to move the location of the city's new police headquarters from a local park to a site on the city's west side, and an aborted merge of the Sheboygan Police Department and 911 center into the

Sheboygan County Sheriff's Office Sheboygan County Sheriff's Office is the principal law enforcement agency that serves Sheboygan County, Wisconsin. The current sheriff is Cory Roeseler, who was elected to his first term in office in 2018. History Sheboygan County, located on th ...

, along with issues regarding coverage of the city from local radio station

WHBL WHBL (1330 AM) is a radio station in Sheboygan, Wisconsin with a Conservative talk radio format. The station is owned by Wausau-based Midwest Communications, along with three sister FM stations in the market. WHBL's programming is also carried o ...

and the city's decision to market tourism through their own city division rather than through the Sheboygan County Chamber of Commerce. 6,000 signatures were needed, but supposedly only 4,013 of the signatures required, were collected. None of the signatures were ever confirmed or verified.

Wisconsin State Assembly

Perez challenged incumbent State Rep.

Terry Van Akkeren Terry Van Akkeren (born March 10, 1954) is an American politician, engineering technician, and die and tool maker. Career Van Akkeren graduated from Sheboygan North High School and went to Lakeshore Technical College. He worked as an engineerin ...

in the 26th District Democratic primary. Perez lost the primary election with 523 votes to Van Akkeren's 2,147 votes.

Political positions

In 2014, Perez publicly supported

Terry Katsma Terry Katsma (born April 23, 1958) is an American Republican politician and businessman. He has been a member of the Wisconsin State Assembly since 2015, representing Sheboygan County. Early life and education Katsma was born in Sheboygan, Wisc ...

during his first run for the

Wisconsin State Assembly The Wisconsin State Assembly is the lower house of the Wisconsin Legislature. Together with the smaller Wisconsin Senate, the two constitute the legislative branch of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Representatives are elected for two-year terms, ...

. He also publicly supported

Glenn Grothman Glenn S. Grothman (; born July 3, 1955) is an American attorney and politician serving as the U.S. representative from Wisconsin's 6th congressional district. A member of the Republican Party, he was first elected to his seat in 2014. Grothman r ...

for

Wisconsin's 6th congressional district Wisconsin's 6th congressional district is a congressional district of the United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply th ...

in 2014 Republican primary. Perez was a dues-paying member of the Republican Party of Sheboygan County in 2017, 2015 and 2014.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Perez, Juan Living people 1956 births Mayors of Sheboygan, Wisconsin Wisconsin city council members School board members in Wisconsin Texas A&M International University alumni University of Wisconsin Law School alumni