Official portrait. Commissioned by the City. Paid for by the City. Hangs in the City. Owned, per an addendum, by Michael Joseph.

Michael Joseph was born in Imaginationville and has never left it, in part because he loves it and in part because of an agreement.

He entered the law after a childhood spent watching his father, a local handshake enthusiast, settle disputes on the courthouse steps. Michael resolved early on to do the same thing, but indoors, and for money. He earned his degree by correspondence, passed the bar on his fourth attempt and second identity, and opened the Law Offices of Michael Joseph, Esq. above a bait shop that he has since had rezoned as a mixed-use luxury development.

In fourteen years of practice, Michael has represented homeowners, business owners, boat owners, and — in a matter he describes as “sensitive” — the boat itself. His courtroom style has been called forceful, theatrical, and, by one appellate panel, “not a defense.”

Michael was elected Mayor of Imaginationville in a landslide, receiving 104% of the vote in a turnout that the Board of Elections has declined to characterize. He assumed office without resigning from his law practice, a decision he calls “efficient” and the City Charter calls “prohibited.”

He currently serves the residents of Imaginationville while simultaneously serving as counsel to eleven entities that do business with the City. He is the subject of a congressional inquiry, a state audit, and a documentary he is contractually entitled to approve.

In his free time, Michael enjoys boating, the appearance of boating, and spending time with his family at a lake house that belongs, on paper, to a nonprofit.