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SHEVEGAS Reimagine Sheboygan What’s real today
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About Mike / Why I’m doing this

Hi. I’m Mike.

Jump in. The water is fine. Mike to confirm #10

This is the page where I talk about myself. Buckle up. It’s short.

If you know me from TikTok, hi. Yes, I’m the goofy one. Mike to confirm #12

The Sheboygan river boardwalk at Rotary Riverview Park, looking along the water.
The boardwalk at Rotary Riverview Park. Photo: Michael Brunette. Mike to confirm #13

One thread among many

The camera is one thread. Here’s the rest of the sweater.

  • Neighbor
  • Photojournalist
  • Teacher
  • Dad

These four labels are about me: Mike to confirm #1, #2, #3, #7

Who I am

My roots are in Ward 13, District 7.

Ward 13, District 7. Say it three times fast. Mike to confirm #1

I’m a dad. I’m keeping that part short on purpose. Mike to confirm #2

A lifetime pointed at Sheboygan

A lifetime documenting Sheboygan. Mike to confirm #8

I have spent my working life looking at communities through a camera. Mike to confirm #3

A photographer learns one thing early: people trust what they can see for themselves. Mike to confirm #3

My archive is big. Original stills of Sheboygan and the Midwest: parades, bars, civic life, several cities. Mike to confirm #8 That is a lot of parades.

I photograph because I want to remember. Mike to confirm #10

What I believe

Seven things I believe

Short list. Big feelings.

  1. Longevity in motion.

    The whole idea, in three words.

  2. Everyone gets everywhere, together.

    When everybody can get everywhere, the world runs better.

  3. An open city. Every word on the record.

    I want government every resident can see, read and check, any time they want.

    Yes, including this page. Especially this page.

  4. Adults should play like kids.

    Grown-ups on big swings and in play-scale parks.

    Nobody is too cool for a swing.

  5. Make Sheboygan work in winter.

    Priority-cleared or heated walks, warm stops, lit paths.

    Yes, January. I said it out loud.

  6. Residents first.

    Make the city better for the people who live here, and it gets better for the people who visit.

  7. Positive. No blame.

    I’m not trying to win every argument. The point is what we build next.

    A swing beats a win anyway.

The beliefs and their wording: Mike to confirm #9, #10

Why I’m doing this

I’ve been asking the same question for years:

What do you offer people? How does it make life better? Mike to confirm #10

I look at a city and I don’t ask how we keep it exactly the same. I ask what it could become.

I photograph because I want to remember. I archive because I want the material to survive. I build because I want those memories to become useful again.

I’m trying to leave the world a little more interesting, a little more open, and maybe a little better than I found it.

Is it fun? Yes. Is it a little stupid? Also yes. Both can be true.

What I can do for Sheboygan

Use me as a tool. Mike to confirm #11

I want to be a tool you can pick up.

Ask me to find a document, chase a question, or put an issue on the table, and I will, in public, with what I find posted for everyone.

I photograph, archive, question and build because I want the place around me to become more useful, more interesting and more alive. Mike to confirm #10

Batteries not included. Fun included.

I also dream out loud. Here’s a taste. Each one is a proposal, and each has its own page.

This is a proposal. It is an idea for Sheboygan, not a city plan or a decision.

Grounded in what’s real

What exists now. What I’m adding.

The dream is the fun part. The documents are the grown-up part. We need both.

Exists today, from documents

  • On August 17, 2026 the Common Council adopted the Waterfront and Marina Master Plan and Schematic Design (Resolution 78-26-27) by a 10–0 vote.

    Source: RESULT-lakefront-fact-base-2026-10-03.md, line 26

  • There are 9 regular routes plus 1 seasonal route. The seasonal Route 40 runs mid-June to the Saturday of Labor Day weekend and serves downtown, the riverfront, the lakefront and South Pier.

    Source: RESULT-transit-downtown-fact-base-2026-10-03.md, line 34

  • All routes meet at the downtown Transfer Station, in the block bounded by N 9th St, Center Ave, N 8th St and Pennsylvania Ave.

    Source: RESULT-transit-downtown-fact-base-2026-10-03.md, line 35

Added by the proposal

  • The bus is free.
  • Free to enter. No fee, no membership, no sign-up.
  • A dozen big swings on one painted line.

This is a proposal. It is an idea for Sheboygan, not a city plan or a decision.

Open every fact, with its source

Come on in. The water’s fine, and every word of it will be on the record. Mike to confirm #10

Back to the start What’s real today
Review note for Mike (remove before publishing)

Every line that is about you carries a “Mike to confirm” marker. Jokes are not facts about anyone. Employment dates are left out on purpose. No family member is named or shown. Nothing here asks readers for anything, and no new campaign words were added.

  1. Mike to confirm #1. Roots: Ward 13, District 7. Shown only as roots. No candidacy wording is added; the only candidacy sentence stays on /open-water/.
  2. Mike to confirm #2. The dad line (“I’m a dad. I’m keeping that part short on purpose.”). It is the only mention of family. Family details stay private unless you say otherwise. Is it OK to mention being a dad at all?
  3. Mike to confirm #3. Photojournalist, and “I have spent my working life looking at communities through a camera” (your Open Water words).
  4. Mike to confirm #4. Albert Lea Tribune, described as “a Thomson paper” (the Thomson chain).
  5. Mike to confirm #5. Primary sports photographer at the Green Bay Press-Gazette, covering the Packers (Open Water says only “covered the Packers”).
  6. Mike to confirm #6. “Also worked with Gannett and Thomson papers”: this comes only from earlier notes (spelled “Thompson” there) and was not directly confirmed. Cut it if it is not right.
  7. Mike to confirm #7. Taught photojournalism and digital imaging at the University of Iowa and NWTC (Open Water says photojournalism only).
  8. Mike to confirm #8. “A lifetime documenting Sheboygan” and the archive line: large original stills of Sheboygan and the Midwest: parades, bars, civic life, several cities.
  9. Mike to confirm #9. The seven beliefs. The titles are your confirmed list; the one-line explanations are taken from your Open Water text and the one-city master plan draft. OK with the wording?
  10. Mike to confirm #10. The “why” lines and a few others are your words from the Open Mic 001 script (Sept 30). Do you still want them said this way?
  11. Mike to confirm #11. The “Use me as a tool” offer (your Open Water wording). It sits near candidacy territory, so it waits on the campaign-disclaimer review. Cut it if counsel prefers.
  12. Mike to confirm #12. “Yes, I’m the goofy one” on TikTok. Sources: Chief of Staff and profile notes (“goofy style”, a SheVegas TikTok account). Keep, change or cut?
  13. Mike to confirm #13. Photos: the boardwalk picture is the one already used on /open-water/, credited to you. The portrait is a labeled placeholder. Please supply one approved photo of you (you choose; kids’ photos are OK when you say so).
  14. Mike to confirm #14. Tone and jokes: all jokes were written to claim no fact (including the Packers line). Are they the right kind of goofy for you?
  15. Mike to confirm #15. The new landing lines “Here’s the website. Talk to me.”, “I just want to be part of it. A neighbor, saying hi.” and “I’m having fun, and I’m happy to be here.” come from your reframe as relayed by Grok Bot on Oct 4, not from a text you wrote. Keep, change or cut?
  16. Mike to confirm #16. The “Talk to Mike” box is a placeholder with no real channel: nothing is sent, saved or collected, and no contact detail is shown. Pick the channel (who reads it, what is kept, what is promised back) before anything is turned on.
  17. Mike to confirm #17. The five idea prompts for residents (for example “What would get you out of the house in January?”) are questions only and nothing is collected. Right questions? Who reads the answers once a channel exists?
  18. Mike to confirm #18. The “Exists now” lines on the four idea cards are my picks of DOCUMENTED lines from the fact pages (park ownership, bus routes and fare, parks along Broughton Drive, the seasonal bus). They state facts about the city, not about you. Better pairings?