Politics

The new council is seated and that means it’s time for Sheboygan Mayor Bob Ryan to reintroduce his reorganization plan. This is politics of the biggest magnitude, several machines are working from different directions, yet nobody is asking why the current form of government is to blame for our current descent into poverty.

One camp of men behind the cloth, has it’s champions fighting for what I like to call the Übermensch.  Unlike Nietzsche’s  protagonist Zarathustra, who’s belief that “man is something which ought to be overcome”. Our Übermensch,  would be a man or woman that would carry the wisdom of Yoda, the business skills of Warren Buffet, and the entrepreneurial skills of Steve Jobs, steeped in the best practices of government through the ages. This individual would be hired by a political committee, unaccountable to the voters and hard to remove upon failure.

On the other hand we have Mayor Ryan’s point plus three management team. Mayor Ryan would take point, working on the big picture, leaving the day to day yuck for his team of three. At the current time the lineup looks like City Assessor David Lutzke, Finance Director Terry Hanson, and Director of Development Paulette Enders would play the roles directly under Ryan. This formation, let’s call it a “Big Head”, is intended to allow for the Mayor to “Make Rain”. The mayor would be held accountable to the voters, as it is now, and the “Big Head” would be allowed to run Sheboygan on a daily bassis, reporting to the Mayor, and the Council as a whole, yet not to council members as individuals, or to voters. This is not a big change in real terms, although it does officially streamline government structure.

The Government structure committee, as well as the Greater Sheboygan Committee stand firmly behind the Übermensch idea, and the “Big Head” is coming from inside City Hall.

There appears to be no question of the future roles of Hanson and Enders under the “Big Head” proposal, even going as far as using their resumes to craft the job descriptions for their respective positions. Lutzke, the potential Director of Operations could be described as the one who’s name must not be mentioned. In fact opponents of the Mayor’s reorganization called the Mayor on his statement that he would like to see Dave in that position.

The Salaries & Grievances Committee, held several meetings that focused primarily on framing the job description for the Director of Operations position that all agreed would be filled after a nationwide search.  The mayor had a preference for Lutzke as a candidate for this position, yet, without a named candidate, political jousting was the order of the day.

I am told the Übermensch could save us from repeating our past failures such as my favorites, the Marina, Ambulance, Plaza 8, Livesey, and the Incinerator. I asked how a City Manager would be above such tragedies, they explained, I listened, yet still don’t understand how someone with a degree in municipal management could be that damn brilliant. I’m confusing a City manager with a City Administrator, they say. I prefer to call a horse a horse, and if I call a pony a horse, I’m not apologizing.

I am in favor of the mayor’s reorganization, why not, we just absolutely positively need to have a new form of government, and than another one come Census time.