Photo by Clay Schuldt New Ulm’s Ward 1 City Councilor David Christian has served city most his life and has no intention of slowing down in his golden years.

NEW ULM — There are few seniors who have a wider working knowledge of New Ulm, than David Christian.

In October, he will turn 66 years old. Most of his life was spent in New Ulm working city in different departments. For the last nine years he served as the first ward city councilor.

Christian was born and raised in New Ulm and a graduate of Cathedral High School. Though he would eventually have a career working for New Ulm, but coming out of high school he was not sure what to do with his life.

“What kid really knows what they want to do at 18 getting out of high school?” Christian asked.

He spent a few years working in construction before joining the Army.

“I did enjoy,” he said. “I was stationed in Germany for three years, but I got to see all of Europe.”

During leave, Christian had a chance to explore the rest of the continent by train.

Since this was the early 1980s, Christian’s service included guard duty on the Berlin Wall. He remembered being able to stare across the boarder and see the Soviet guards on the other side. He said is was relatively simply duty, just don’t cross the imaginary line. By this time the Berlin Wall was only a few years away from coming down and there was not a lot excitement. Christian said he never saw anything happen on wall.

Another benefit of service is he was able to play football in the E-Corp League. The different battalion units organized football teams. Christian played linebacker for the 5th Corp Army football team.

He said the entire experience in the Army was great. Even today, Christian would recommend military service for anyone coming out of high school without a plan.

“You meet so many fantastic people,” he said.

The military will also help students pay for college, though Christian admitted he never used his G.I. Bill.

After three years in the military, he return to New Ulm and worked construction for a time, but then began working part-time for the city. He would spend the rest of his career working with the city in some fashion. In the early days he worked maintenance for the Park and Recreation Department, but would also work for the cemetery, streets and eventually in administration.

“There is only a few departments where I did not work,” Christian said. “That’s how I got knowledge of all the different departments.”

During this time he also began volunteering as a firefighter. This led to him taking on the fire inspector position. This gave him the background and credentials to eventually move into New Ulm’s building inspector position. Christian worked fire and inspection for 12 years.

Few people have been inside as many New Ulm buildings as Christian.

“I’ve been in basically every building downtown,” he said. “I can tell you every where every nook and cranny, steam tunnel and trap tunnel is located.”

Christian was one of the last people to inspect George’s Ballroom. By the end of his tenure as building inspection, the environmental conditions inside George’s became too dangerous for anyone to enter without a hazmat suit.

Due to his position as building inspector, Christian also served as the city’s liaison with the Heritage Preservation Commission (HPC) for 14 years. He served on the HPC another eight years but as city councilor.

Christian first ran for New Ulm City Council a year after he retired from the city.

“I wanted to sit on the other side of the bench,” he said.

As a city department head for 12 years, Christian attended nearly every city council meeting in case the council members had questions for him.

“In my mind, I knew how the city works, how government and how the budget works, so why not try for the council,” he said.

In addition to attending council meetings, Christian has served as council liaison for the planning commission, HPC and is now on the EDA and Park & Rec Commission.

“I still enjoy it,” he said of the city council.

Asked what makes a good city councilor, Christian said it was important to ask questions.

“Ask the question, don’t jump to a conclusion, there is always another side to the story,” he said.

Christian said the two hardest parts of serving on the council was balancing the budget and being unable to help everyone. He said some times as councilor he will get a call from a citizen with a problem that cannot be fixed.

“I’ll tell them up front, there is not much we can do,” Christian said.

The best part of the job is when he is able to assist the public and make improvements in the community, however small.

As a senior citizen, Christian feels it is important to give back through volunteer time. He believed there were ample opportunities for the senior population to get involved in New Ulm.

“You can’t say there is nothing to do for the senior population,” he said. “Pick an organization, New Ulm has several. If you want to meet people and serve the community, they are always looking.”

Christian is currently on his third term as Ward 1 City Councilor. He is uncertain if this will be his last term or if he will run again. Even if he chooses not to run again, Christian said he still intends to volunteer with the city. He has volunteered with multiple organizations including Sertoma Club and any organization that needs help.

“Even if I get out of city government,” he said. “I told the baseball association that I will eventually work the stands. They are alway looking for help.”

Christian said he remembers that when he was younger, there were many seniors volunteering to help, and it was his turn to give back.

Christian added that a person does not need to wait until they reach senior status to give back. He hoped that more young people would get involved with volunteering, but he said life can be busy.

This is true of city government too. Christian said he was not certain if term limits were needed in local government but said it important to give young blood a chance to serve.

As for Christian, he confirmed he would serve the community as long as he could.

“I’ll volunteer until I can’t,” he said.