“Throw your hat into the ring”
Make or take up a challenge, or
demonstrate one's willingness to join an enterprise.
What's the origin of the phrase
'Throw your hat into the ring'?
The ring in question here is a boxing
ring. These, of course used to be circular spaces in a crowd of
onlookers, rather than the square, roped 'rings' of contemporary
pugilism. Any Jack the lad who fancied his chances in a bout would
throw in his hat - presumably this was a more
reliable way of putting oneself forward
than just shouting over the hubbub of the crowd.
The expression dates from at least
the early 19th century. The earliest citation of it that I have found
is from an 1805 issue of The Sporting Magazine, or as the
publishers preferred to call it The Sporting Magazine or Monthly
Calendar of the Transactions of the Turf, the Chace, and every other
Diversion Interesting to the Man of Pleasure, Enterprise and Spirit
from the Phrase
Finder
I'm making it official: I'm throwing my
hat into the ring for a third term as Mayor of Chetek. I don't know
if the hubbub is loud enough for me to ceremoniously do this but I'm
doing it just the same.
I was first elected in 2016 and then
re-elected again in 2018. We have lived in Chetek for over 28 years
now and during all that time I have never known any mayor to serve
less than two terms. My theory as to why that is is that the first two
years fly by so fast that when it's time to take out election papers
again people's response tends to be 'Already?' So if you get elected
once there's good chance based on historical precedent that you'll
get elected twice. But during that same time I am only aware of Diane
Knowlton serving a third term. (If I'm wrong about that fact I
anticipate I will be quickly corrected).
In any case, I'm running again. And
here's why: I thoroughly enjoy serving this city as mayor. Sure, I
hear complaints from time to time and criticism, fair or not, but
this comes with the territory for an elected official. But having
said that I also hear a lot of 'atta-boys' and get enough
pats-on-the-back to make the thought of continuing to serve in this
capacity something to look forward to.
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| Welcoming then Gov. Walker to our city a few years ago was a BIG honor |
The mayor of the City of Chetek,
contrary to what some may believe, really doesn't have a lot of
power. After all, it's the council that by and large makes the
decisions that our staff then enact. Sure I get to weigh in on
matters and vote in case the council is deadlocked. And surprisingly,
though we all get along very well, in three and a half years I have
voted twice. Once in 2016 to
allow Kwik Trip to offer a small selection of distilled spirits and
recently to increase the hanger lease fees at the Chetek Municipal
Airport. Otherwise, its the elected aldermen who are the ones who
decide yeah or nay on all the matters that come before them.
So if
the Mayor isn't sitting on some kind of throne at city hall
pontificating directives for the operating of this city, just what
does he do? Well, technically, he (or she) sets the agenda of the
monthly council meetings and then chairs them. (I gotta tell you,
though, in my experience the aldermen generally skip talking to me
and just call Carmen to add something to the agenda. I suppose it's
just one less thing to do.) He also chairs the monthly plan
commission meetings. He appoints both councilmen and local citizens
to various committees to serve. It's his signature that goes out on
pretty much every legal document that we send out (and in the course
of a year I sign dozens of
documents). Legally, he's the head of the Police Department and can
request the Chief of Police to act on matters that are of his or the
council's concern. When Diane Knowlton served as Mayor she asked then
Chief Mark Peterson to have his officers stop in regularly at The
Garage (the former Youth Center) to maintain healthy relationships
with the kids that hung out there – and they did.
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| In order to raise money for a family's adoption fees I don't take myself too seriously |
The
mayor represents us and is an ambassador for our community. He is,
from time to time, asked to appear at certain community functions and
gatherings. But for the most part – at least in my experience –
he gets to be a part of the conversations that are going on regularly
about city matters with both department heads (Public Works, City
Hall and Police Department) and elected officials. And in my mind,
this is a big deal.
When I
was seated as mayor in 2016, the sale of then Knapp Haven Nursing
Home had just been completed the day before. Many of us recall what a
contentious and difficult season that was for our city. In my early
months as mayor I was frequently asked if I had been serving at the
time of the sale would I have voted to sell Knapp. I refused to
publicly comment because I live by a rule that you should never
criticize anyone publicly and if you do you better have the story
straight. Better to simply keep your mouth shut. I'm real glad I did.
Because this is what I've learned during these past three and a half
years: that with every “big” decision that a council makes –
and the selling of Knapp Haven was ΓΌber-big
- there have been (usually) many meetings that have preceded that
decision and many, many conversations that have occurred as well as
the council slowly works toward a decision. To me, it's like
accompanying your girlfriend to her family's reunion for the first
time and hearing all kinds of family stories and inside jokes that
everyone laughs at. But since you don't know the people nor get the
context all you can do is politely laugh even though you're pretty
much clueless at the time. City business feels like that to the new
guy (or girl) on the block. There's a lot that's gone on and a lot
more that's been said before you're ever seated at the council dais.
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A lot
has changed in the last three and a half years. Ron Ambrozaitus was
installed as Chief of Police and with the exception of (now) Lt.
Jessica Larson he now commands a whole new crew of officers. Over
$150 thousand dollars worth of new sidewalks in the downtown business
district have been laid down. Main Street Park has been added to and
much needed improvements have been made to it (with more to come).
When Lakeview Cemetery Association chose to dissolve, the City became
the new caretaker and owner. A new sexton was hired. Significant
upgrades to the The Center have been made with the generous help of
private citizens. To address the current housing shortage in Barron
County the city purchased the old breeder farm on Knapp Street and
are currently in the process of working out the details of the best
way to move forward with this 39 acre addition. In order to extricate
ourselves from the failing Central States pension plan, we had to
take out a note for a negotiated $700 thousand-some dollars (but to
have remain attached to this sinking ship any further would have cost
us even more!) And on at least two occasions the city helped two
local businesses remain local and expand (Chetek Cafe and Sather
Family Dental).
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| Getting to ride in the parade is always fun |
Mind
you, I'm not taking credit for these things. All these decisions (and
many, many more) were made by your elected aldermen. While there are
only four who serve at one time in three and a half years I have
served with eight different individuals and each council in my
experience has sought the same thing: to live within our means (have
you noticed that your city tax rate has stayed even for three years
in row!?) and yet at the same time seek to continue to find ways to
improve the amenities and services of our city. Frankly, I've enjoyed
working with every one of them.
We
have wonderful people who serve our city. At the top of the list I'll
state the obvious: Carmen Newman our City Clerk extraordinaire. She is
smart, intelligent, charming and one tough cookie. Public Works
Director Dan Knapp is not only knowledgeable but a straight-shooter,
too. He'll tell you what you need to know as well as (at times) what
you don't want to hear. City Inspector Joe Atwood knows his stuff and
works with both residents and business owners to resolve things that
are not in compliance with our code of ordinances. But he does it
professionally and graciously. Chief Ron, Lt. Jessica and the rest of
Chetek PD not only keep us safe but do so in a common-sense, friendly
manner. Of course, when bad guys need to be stopped, they do that
too. And I haven't even mentioned the rest of the guys at Public
Works or the gals at City Hall. But the bottom line is we
are served well.
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| Photo credit: the Chetek Alert |
Looking ahead,
improvements to our city parks and docks will continue. The property
committee has identified and prioritized what they feel needs to be
addressed with regards to the property the city owns (i.e., The
Center, City Hall, Chetek PD and the Calhoun Memorial Library) and
will look to the council's response. A plan is going to emerge over
the winter months of how we precede with that 39 acres on the west
end of town. We have serious concerns about the rapidly increasing
price of our ambulance services. And a wastewater treatment plant is
now at the beginning stages of development. All these matters (and
others that I haven't mentioned) involve meetings and many
conversations that will occur as we try and work out what's the best
way forward.
In my experience,
this is how city business tends to get done: talk, talk, talk; mull,
mull, mull; further talking, further consulting and then...the
glacier moves one inch and we return to talking again. Of course, I'm oversimplifying but not by much. I have thoroughly enjoyed being part
of these conversations and hope to continue to be a part of that.
I've tried to represent us well. I've tried to keep people in the
loop of what's going on either through my column, blog or the mayor's
page on Facebook. And, one of the greatest things of local
government, perhaps, is that you can call your mayor up at his home
number or stop him on the street or at the diner to either ask your
question or vent your spleen of the goings on in town. I'm not saying
I like getting an ear-full (that really doesn't happen too often) but
I welcome the opportunity to talk with people and share with them the
things I've learned while sitting in meetings and participating in
all that talk at City Hall.
I'd appreciate your
consideration next April and if re-elected look forward to continuing
to serve the town that we call home.
