(Part Six) – Making the pie bigger…
I’ve done the usual things – civic clubs, groups, Elder, Deacon, various committees and initiatives, building, personnel and fund drives. I’ve sang with the Birder Chorale at St. Norbert’s, and I even on stage with Pat Boone, Josh Grobin, Ray Charles and for the Congressional Medal of Honor convention. But I seem to always gravitate toward and function best in finance and economic redevelopment.
I’ve served on the executive boards and subcommittees of three Wisconsin Main Street boards and been active with Downtown Green Bay, Inc. For years we hosted several of those monthly meetings in the MFG conference room.
Serving with Jeff Mirkes and under the leadership of Mayor Schmitt has been a privilege. We are now seeing the vision of utilizing Green Bay’s water front – 120 events being held downtown this summer, a $5 million structure being redeveloped into a $50 million asset, people, businesses, jobs, residences, new revenue flowing into downtown Green Bay, but most importantly the pride and profound future of the area. In the whole of Green Bay, the pie is getting bigger.
You only run for public office for two reasons – to be somebody or to do something. I wasn’t looking for a career change and I sure wasn’t interested in feeding my ego. I do, however, believe I can do something!
This republic is a delicate experiment, in the end I came to believe that my strong belief in stewardship needed to transcend into my citizenry.