Superior’s 2024 Parental Leave Policy Just Another PR Stunt ?

 Jim & Jenny Paine’s “Modern Family” Facade Implodes in Federal Filings

Pregnant Cop Sues the City After the Mayor’s Wife Sold Progressivism on Layaway

Welcome to Superior, Wisconsin, where Mayor Jim Paine plays woke cosplay at City Hall while his department allegedly stalks pregnant cops with GPS trackers and lets them lactate in shower stalls like government livestock.

Now that Investigator Mikayla LeRette is suing the city (and half the police brass), one detail slipped into the foggy spin machine like a fart in an elevator:

That “progressive” paid parental leave policy the city loves bragging about?

Yeah—it was introduced by Paine’s voted out wife, just 12  months before another civil rights lawsuit blew the doors off City Hall.

Translation: This was a policy Band-Aid on a bullet wound, and the mayor’s inner circle knew the gun was already loaded.

Jenny’s Preemptive PR Push Fails Spectacularly

Let’s connect the dots, shall we?

• In April 2024, Jenny Van Sickle pushes a glowing proposal for paid parental leave to the Human Resources Committee.

• It’s packaged like an Oprah giveaway: “Six weeks for everyone!” Cue applause, rainbows, and performative feminism.

• But wait—is this after LeRette said she’d already been :

  • Punished for getting pregnant

  • Reassigned to the property room like a disgraced janitor

  • Told to wear a matron skirt

  • Pumping milk behind a shower curtain next to a janitor’s mop

So either:

1. Jenny knew this was happening and tried to cover it up with a shiny policy,
   or

2. She had no idea, and the mayor’s house runs on secrecy and plausible deniability

Either way? It’s a bad look that screams “We support moms—but only in the PowerPoint deck.”

Maternity Theater, Mayor’s Edition

Jim Paine, in his finest PR tap dance, told Fox21:

“The City of Superior has both the facilities and policies necessary to fully support pregnant and breastfeeding mothers over and above the requirements imposed by law.”

Above the law?
Buddy, a city employee pumped breast milk in a public shower stall while male janitors walked in like it was a bathroom at a Packers tailgate.

That’s not “above the law.” That’s “another lawsuit” taxpayers have to cover.

Policy for Headlines, Not for Humans

Let’s be crystal clear: this parental leave policy wasn’t born out of empathy.
It was birthed by an impending civil lawsuit, and horrendous employee misconduct. And was a desperate scramble to modernize after LeRette had already been tossed aside like an expired evidence bag.

And the numbers? Oh, they crunched them:

• Police = 252 hours leave

• Firefighters = 336 hours

• Office drones = 240 hours

All meticulously calculated after the fact, like a retroactive bandage with Excel formatting.

Van Sickle herself admitted:

“It didn’t translate cleanly for public safety workers.”

The Mayors Wife dropped a slick policy while her husband’s incompetence was again sabotaging some of the very people he should be helping.  Where is the massive city council on this ? just crickets.

More City Hall Theater Than Governance

While Jenny played the role of Progressive Policy Mom™, her husband’s city was running what looks more like a 1950s frat house.

And instead of owning it, Jim Paine did what Jim Paine does best:

• Issued a bland PR statement loaded with empty calories.

• Blamed ambiguity and nuance instead of his leadership failures.

• Let his police brass twist in the wind while pretending this lawsuit fell out of the sky.

And somehow, this man still thinks he’s the adult in the room.

So, Let’s Summarize Jim Paine’s Scorecard:

• Pregnant officer punished?

• Breastfeeding officer harassed?

• Warrantless vehicle tracking?

• Entire government center ban?

• Internal investigations leaked to federal partners?

• Wife floats feel-good policy after damage is done?

That’s not leadership—it’s crisis mismanagement with a reusable coffee cup.