'No Regrets'

Kim Clark’s political career owes a lot to the advice she didn’t take.

Clark, who wrapped up her third and final term in the Glenwood Mayor’s Office Jan. 1, decided to run for the Glenwood City Council nearly a decade ago on essentially a whim.

“There was no one running in Ward 3,” said Clark, who is a 15-year deputy with the Mills County Sheriff’s Office. “And I got elected on a write in. It was just a spur of the moment thing that lasted 10 years.”

Before throwing her hat in the political ring, Clark ran the idea by her mother. Clark’s mother, surprised by the revelation, referred her to the lesson of her then deceased grandfather, Alvin Decker, a longtime employee in the City of Glenwood Street Department.

“I used to watch him get up in the middle of the night, running the street sweeper all night long or plowing snow,” she said. “I think I listened to him complain about things way back when and it just kind of stuck in me that there was things we could do better. It didn’t feel like the city was listening to the people.

“When I first told my mom I was running for city council she told me my grandfather would be rolling over in his grave. ‘Don’t become one of those people,’ he’d have said.”

A term on the city council and three more in the mayor’s chair later and Clark has no regrets about serving the city she was born and raised in.

“I don’t have any regrets,” she said. “Looking back, I think I try and not live with regrets. I think we made the best choices and I think we made good choices.

Could we have done some things better? You bet. But as far as regrets, I don’t have them.”

New Glenwood Mayor Brian Tackett, who won a Dec. 2 run-off against council person Jessie Lundvall, officially took over mayoral duties Jan. 2.

Tackett is a Glenwood attorney in his first elected position. The new mayor inherits a city that has dealt with its share of budget controversies over the last year and a sometimes contentious process of getting the new aquatic center built on the east edge of town.

“When I took over, there wasn’t a lot of communication (with the previous mayor), it was just, ‘You’re on your own.’ Brian and I had some communications to kind of discuss some things and kind of offered some advice. I said if he ever needs anything at any point in time, I’m here for them to make it a little easier and make sure they’re not thrown into the fire.”

Clark’s best advice to Glenwood’s next mayor?

“Make the job your own,” she said. “That’s the only real advice I can help out with. Don’t worry about how I did meetings or someone else did meetings, just make the transition easier for you. Know the committee chairs and make the job your own. I made it clear I did it one way, it doesn’t mean he has to do it that way. It’s a lot to learn in a short amount of time so do it your way.”

Clark joked the city needed one more final snow storm as a parting gift just before she could hand over the keys to city hall.

In her three terms, Clark dealt with her fair share of contentious debates, unpopular decisions and a steady rollover of council members in city hall. Throughout that, she said, the sometimes thankless job of city politics never jaded her.

“I’ve always been a pretty straightforward person,” Clark said. “I think most people knew that about me and they could come to me, they could talk with me and we’d do what we needed to do. Did everyone agree with me or did I agree with them? No. But it’s one of those things, ultimately, you have to do what’s best for the city.

“Everybody comes in (city hall) with an agenda. But you have to do what’s best for the city. No special interests, no ‘I like this person better than this person.’ You have to be fair across the board and I would hope most people would think I’m pretty fair across the board.”

Working in law enforcement, Clark feels her job as a deputy has informed her duties as major. And vice versa, she said.

“Everybody thinks when law enforcement shows up, it’s all bad and it’s not all bad,” she said. “Most of the time, people need somebody to talk to, to listen to them and then working through situations for the best outcome of that situation. Its listening and coming to a conclusion everyone can live with. I think that’s the same philosophy in city government. You’ll never please everybody. There will always be someone who’s unhappy so do what you think is best.”

Clark points to the purchase and renovation of the new city hall at Sharp and Locust Streets as one of the highlights of her tenure.

“Even as much criticism as it’s gotten, I still think it is one thing that has really pushed this city forward,” she said. “We went over budget, yes, but if you just look at it from a utility standpoint, it saves hundreds of dollars a month. We also were able to put three properties back on the tax rolls when we sold the other properties.”

The new city hall, she said, serves as an inviting front door for the city she thinks encouraged the public to take part in the process of city government.

“The other city hall, you had a big meeting and people were just crammed in there. Now we have a big meeting, or the chamber has something or we had Home for the Holidays there, and there’s room for people to come. It’s a community pride thing. We went over budget on it but at the end of the day, I think it’s a good thing.”

Clark also points to construction of the new aquatic center, set to open this summer, along with development on the square as major accomplishments that will serve the city for years to come.

“We moved in the new city hall and it set off a lot of  growth all around the square and around Glenwood. I think you look around and you see a lot more people taking pride on the square and it looks a 100 percent better than it did 10 years ago. With the pool going in, you see growth and the city moving forward. That’s good to see.”

Clark’s spirit of service to Glenwood is summed up simply: she always wants to see this community do better.

“In order to do that, to make that happen, there’s a few people that can make that happen or have the will to make that happen. A lot of people can sit back and criticize or judge, but don’t really partake in it. If everybody can come together and work for a common goal, it goes a lot better and smoother.”

Clark takes pride in the fact she feels like she leaves city government in better condition than she found it.

“It feels good,” she said. “The reason I say that is because you have friends come back (to Glenwood) and they ask why no one takes pride in their houses and it was always something you didn’t notice being here everyday but when someone points it out, you start thinking about it. It’s the little thingS that make a community look better and be better.”

She said the biggest part of the job she will miss is the employees at city hall.

“Change is hard,” she said. “I think a change over with a new mayor and two new council people is a big change no matter who comes in. There might be new policies. So the only thing I will miss really is the employees. We really do have great employees from the roads department to city hall staff to the park to the library.  You have the right people in the right spots, a lot of good things happen. I hope that continues.”

Clark hasn’t ruled out running for office in the future.

“For right now, I just want to enjoy not being mayor,” she said.