MILWAUKEE - Is it dirty politics, or a simple misunderstanding?

A Milwaukee alderman who's running for re-election appears on a billboard with a priest, but the priest says he never authorized it.

It's a case of he said versus he said.

The billboard that is causing all of the controversy is located at 6th and Lapham.

By looking at it, it is easy to assume Father Perez is publicly supporting Alderman Witkowiak, but that is not the case at all

Father Eleazar Perez is a very popular south side priest and pastor at Saint Adalbert's Parish. He poses for pictures all the time. He says he never imagined the photo he took with Jim Witkowiak three years ago would be blown up and used in the alderman's campaign billboards.

“As a priest, I can't take sides or endorse a political candidate. It's my job to encourage people to vote and choose their elected officials,” Father Perez said.

Father Perez says he personally likes the alderman and his opponent Angel Sanchez just the same, but he insists under no circumstances did he give Witkowiak permission to use him in the ads this way.

“This was a miscommunication. Information was possibly misunderstood or misconstrued. I don't believe it was a political game,” Father Perez said.

While Father Perez was willing to give Witkowiak the benefit of the doubt, Witkowiak's opponent wasn't.

“It's poor taste, bad judgment, bad decision and the aftermath is bad too,” Angel Sanchez said.

Latino leaders say the billboard controversy has divided some in the community.

Wednesday, a half dozen south side preachers endorsed Witkowiak, but they shied away from taking a side.

“I am not going to answer that question for the simple fact that it would be inappropriate and I don't know what was going on there,” one preacher said.

With less than a week to go before the election, Father Perez says he wants the billboards taken down, even though he concedes the damage has already been done.

TODAY’S TMJ4’s Ty Milburn talked to the alderman and he said: “We insist we had permission to use the photo in the ads. I wouldn't have put them up without permission. Father Perez is a good friend of mine.”

Thursday, the billboards are being replaced with other ads.