The mayor of Milwaukee and an alderman there are involved in a feud over a mannequin displayed in the alderman's office. You read that right. These two are squabbling over a mannequin. Unfortunately, the feud has become so heated that the judicial system is now involved.

From The Associated Press:

The lawsuit contends the mannequin, clad in a baggy T-shirt and jeans, "serves as a social equalizer designed to facilitate communication with persons he invites into his office."

Pietrowski seeks to have a judge declare that Mayor Timothy Seider violated his privacy rights when he unlocked his office door and allowed a Milwaukee Journal Sentinel photographer to photograph Madeline April 30. Pietrowski also seeks compensatory damages.

"It is indeed unfortunate that Alderman Pietrowski has chosen to take the mannequin issue to this level," Seider said in a prepared statement.

The city has no choice but to defend the lawsuit, "an absolute waste of taxpayer dollars," he added.

Pietrowski put the mannequin in his office in August 2003.

Since March, complaints from some female city workers who call it offensive have led to the feud between Seider and Pietrowski.

So what's dumber, the fact that Alderman Pietrowski thinks the mannequin somehow helps him do his job or the fact that female city workers are offended by something as mundane as this:



Do you see anything offensive about it? Sure, its odd, but offensive? C'mon...

But if its bothering some people that much would it have been that big of a deal for Pietrowski to take it home? It seems rather obstinate of him to take the issue this far.

Either way, it seems like there's quite a few Milwaukee city officials on both sides of this issue who need to start acting like adults.