A lawyer for Sheboygan, Wis. Mayor Bob Ryan contends that 18-year-old Asher Heimermann’s @MayorBobRyan Twitter feed “rises to the level of identity theft” and warns that “if the conduct does not immediately cease, we will take appropriate action.”

The bio section of the feed originally stated, “I’m Sheboygan’s embattled mayor,” but Heimermann changed it to made it clear it was a parody site minutes after Sheboygan Press reporter Eric Litke called him this week for comment.

Asher Heimermann

The teen, who is running for Sheboygan mayor, tells the local newspaper:

It appears Mayor Ryan is more concerned about a parody Twitter account and a domain name then operating the City of Sheboygan. … He is worried (about) me challenging him in the upcoming recall election. He knows that he has a real possibility of losing his job.

Heimermann says he’s going to ignore the cease and desist notice. So what’s the embattled mayor’s next move?

“I’ll have to discuss with my client which options he wishes to pursue,” says his lawyer. “We were hoping the young man had a little bit of maturity to stop his identity theft of Bob Ryan and that he had the maturity and responsibility to restore the website to Bob Ryan that he in effect stole from him.”

The mayor, who is an alcoholic, made headlines after he was seen drinking one day last summer from mid-afternoon until closing time while being obnoxious toward women. He was also spotted getting into his car after drinking.

Reporter Litke, who has been covering the ongoing Ryan-Heimermann feud, tells me few very people pay attention to the parody feed, and “it’s one of those issues that would have faded into Internet oblivion” if the mayor hadn’t taken it so seriously and made it an issue.

* Teen mayoral candidate to ignore cease and desist letter (Sheboygan Press)