Staff photo by Clay Schuldt New Ulm Councilor-at-Large Charles Schmitz sits in the chair he has occupied at city council meetings for the past 12 years. Tuesday will be his last meeting.

NEW ULM — Tuesday will be the last New Ulm City Council meeting of the year and last meeting with Councilor-At-Large Charlie Schmitz.

Schmitz has served as the Council-At-Large/Council President for 12 years. He said it was an experience he enjoyed, but is confident the council and city will remain strong going forward.

Schmitz is originally from Fairfax. He came to New Ulm in 1967 and found a job working at New Ulm Public Utilities as a coal handler. His first day at work was December 26, 1967. Two years later he would transfer into the gas department.

In 1985, he was appointed the gas supervisor. Schmitz remained in this position for 23 years until he retired in 2008. He worked with public utilities for 40 years.

Schmitz’s retirement lined up perfectly with the 2008 election. At the time, New Ulm’s Councilor-At-Large was Dan Beranek and he decided not to run again.

Schmitz had a working understanding of how the New Ulm government ran from his four decades with public utilities. He had many interactions with the city government on utility projects.

After speaking with Beranek, Schmitz decided to run for the councilor-at-large seat and he was elected. His first term started in January 2009.

“It’s been a learning experience,” he said. “You think you know a lot but there is a lot to learn.”

He said early on, the biggest surprise about the position was how many different meetings the council attended. Schmitz said one of the misconceptions is the council attends only two meetings a month, but there are many board and commission meetings. Meetings include economic development, Region 9, fire relief association and others.

“It takes a lot of time, but it is enjoyable,” he said.

As New Ulm City Council President, Schmitz was usually at the center of the top issues facing New Ulm. He remembers the first big issue he faced as council president was the issue surrounding outdoor wood burners used for heating homes. These types of burners had become popular in cities. In New Ulm, some people liked having them in the community and others did not. Schmitz said it became a contentious issue, but the council ultimately approved the burners.

“You are always going to please some, but you can’t please everyone,” he said.

The burner issue was the only time in 12 years he received an email saying someone would never vote for him again. Most of his contact with the public was positive.

Schmitz said he never had a resident end a call with him angry. The caller would state their point, Schmitz would share his point and at worst the two would agree to disagree. This was an attitude he tried to foster on the council and was pleased with how well the council worked together.

“I think we had a very good council,” he said. “We had a very agreeable council. We never had words back and forth to each other. If a motion was passed, regardless if I for or against it, we went with it. We made sure it got done.”

Schmitz never wanted to see any idea fail, even if he did not support the idea. This created a positive and supportive atmosphere in the council.

Schmitz said it was not hard to find examples of negative council meetings from other communities and he did not want that for New Ulm.

“I think it is more admirable to get along with people,” he said. “We can have a meeting, we can get up from the meeting and talk to each other afterward.”

Schmitz’s approach to the councilor-at-large position was to let the other councilors speak first and offer his opinion later if needed.

“I represented the whole city, but I wanted to make sure they represented their ward and I wasn’t going to repeat anything they say,” he said. The idea was to make sure no single councilor did all the talking during the meetings.

“I want to make sure the people were heard,” he said.

Schmitz believed the ward councilors have a more direct connection to the citizens and their input in the meeting was important. As the council president, he tried to focus on the needs of the whole city rather than one individual.

Schmitz said when making a decision, it needs to be based on what is right for the City of New Ulm, not a personal bias. He was reminded of a lesson taught to him during a newly elected official seminar. In that seminar, they said if the council chamber is full of audience members and you make a decision because of what the audience said, you made the wrong decision.

“You decide for what is best for the city,” Schmitz said. “The people in the audience are not the whole of the community. You have to make your decision based on what is best for the city.”

Schmitz said he tried to always put the city’s interest first. It was important to him to limit tax increases because many in the city are senior citizens on fixed incomes and a tax spike would hurt.

He also understood the need for continual maintenance and upkeep of city infrastructure. Schmitz said it is important to maintain public infrastructure rather than leave the problem for the next generation.

Schmitz hopes to see younger people become involved with the city, possibly as non-voting high school senior serving on boards and commission to get them involved.

“I think if we get the people in at a younger age we won’t have a problem finding people to serve,” he said. “A lot of people are reluctant to run and be on the city council.”

Schmitz believed that is because the council runs the risk of angering people with an unpopular decision. “You have to have a thicker skin,” he said.

Schmitz is optimistic about the council’s future. He believes his successor Andrea Boettger has the right attitude for the job.

“I think it is going to be a real good councilor,” he said. In listening to Boettger during the election forums, Schmitz was impressed with how she describes council decisions action as “we” rather than saying “I” or “me”.

“If you have that mentality, it is going to work,” Schmitz said. “I think she has a good handle on what is going to take place. I wish her a lot of luck and think she will do great.”

Schmitz said now that his time with the council is over, he will be traveling more. He and his wife have a destination trailer up north and they enjoy motorcycling. Schmitz also plans to spend more time with his grandchildren.

Looking back on his time as a councilor, Schmitz had no complaints but was grateful for the time spent with his fellow councilors. In his tenure as council president, Schmitz said he always had good council members.