Peter McKeever's Announcement

In case you missed it, here is the text of Peter's announcement of non-candidacy:

PUBLIC STATEMENT
PETER MCKEEVER
CITY OF MONONA ALDERMAN
DECEMBER 3, 2007

Six years ago Mayor Tom Metcalfe asked me to run for the city council. I was honored and pleased to be asked, and I agreed to serve. I did so because of my desire to help keep Monona a fine place to live, my interest as a student of local government and the democratic process and because I felt an obligation to serve. I think it is the responsibility of every citizen to participate in some manner in the civic affairs of our city, our state and our country. Public service is rewarding and important.

At that time I planned to stay four years. I said then, and I have repeated many times that I did not wish to serve with any personal ambition for higher office. This is a high office. I never imagined I would ever have the honor to be elected and represent my fellow citizens at any level in our democracy.

I have now served three terms and it is clear to me that it is time for me to step down. I do not believe anybody ought to hold these offices indefinitely, and I have many other things to do.

Accordingly, I am announcing tonight that I will not be a candidate for reelection to the city council.

In the future I expect to stay active in local politics and issues. I would hope that the city and this mayor and future mayors would call on me to serve on various committees and in various capacities.

I have served here with eleven other people: Lisa Nelson, Tom Stolper, Mike Meulemans, Paul Ament, Jeff Wiswell, Dale Suslick, Dennis Kugle, Kathy Thomas, Doug Wood, Bob Miller and two mayors, Tom Metcalfe and Robb Kahl. All of these people have the best interest of our city at heart. I respect them all. I have not always agreed with any of them, and they surely have not always agreed with me, as tonight’s debate has shown. That is how it should be.

I believe that the last thing the citizens of Monona need is to have a council made up of people who all have similar experiences, ideologies, and perspectives. The fact that we disagree, that we engage in dialogue and discussion and compromise almost always means we get better decisions. The diversity of points of view that all of my colleagues have brought to the process has been valuable and important, and I urge the residents to elect a council with a diversity of views. A deliberative policy body such as this council should be composed of men and women (and let me suggest that we do not elect enough women) who will agreeably disagree with one another from time to time, who have the common sense and wisdom to listen to each other, and who have the commitment to work to find common ground and to accept the decisions that are made. The councils on which I have served have met these standards.

If I have one criticism of this experience at this point it is that in my time here the council has been far too willing to be reactive, to yield too much authority to the mayor and to the city administrtator. The city council needs to be more proactive. It is important that we have people here who will ask questions, who will hold staff and each other accountable, and who will initiate new ideas and new proposals. I urge the voters to elect people who are willing to explore the possibilities of change, of doing things differently that we have before. It is necessary, indeed critical. This is not the same community it was when I moved here 18 years ago, and it will never be. The fiscal pressures and demands on this city in the future will be staggering, and we will have to find new ways to meet our residents very legitimate expectations for high quality services that make this a special place to live and to raise a family. We must do so in the face of a state legislature that arrogantly does not trust our voters to hold us accountable and believes it knows more about how to run our city than we do, and we will have to do so economically in difficult times.

It will not surprise you when I say that I will have more to say in the next few months, before this term ends, and that I expect to have a few new proposals for the city to consider.

In the meantime, let me close with one last word, for my wife Marena. Merry Christmas, dear.

Thank you.