John Dickert takes over as Racine's mayor

Video of Mayor Dickert's inauguration

John Dickert fought back tears Feb. 23 when he announced his candidacy for mayor in St. Catherine's Alumni Building he helped seize from drug dealers.

"That's passion," one supporter in the crowd said while leading applause for Dickert, who at the time was just one of nine candidates trying to replace disgraced Mayor Gary Becker.

Dickert's tears were back Tuesday - and so was the passion.

The Racine real estate agent and former lobbyist teared up during his inauguration speech after mentioning his late father. But the pause in his speech proved a touching moment for the capacity crowd, which erupted in applause after Dickert took the oath of office.

"The city is facing major challenges," Dickert said during his inaugural address. "Rising crime, high unemployment and deteriorating neighborhoods. Now is the time to make an active commitment to not hide under the cover of indecision but rather face these issues directly. Together we will not look at our challenges with hesitation but with resolve and we will resolve them with decisive action."

City Clerk Janice Johnson-Martin swore in Dickert, who replaces Tom Friedel as the city's third mayor in 2009. Dickert was elected May 5 to finish out the final two years of Becker's four-year term. That gives the new mayor even less time than normal to set up his staff, get acclimated to the job and work on his ambitious promise to make Racine a "Top 10 city" in 10 years.

Dickert said he held a strategy meeting Monday night with people to begin work on his 10-year plan.

In an interview prior to the ceremony, Dickert said he'd get to work on day one - in Madison. The city is fighting for every dollar of shared revenue the state can muster, he said. Gov. Jim Doyle has already warned about cuts in state money to cities because of the down economy and declining state revenues.

Dickert said the biggest, immediate change people would see out of City Hall was an effort to connect with state and federal officials. "It's something the city hasn't done a good job with," Dickert said.

Dickert also announced one staffing hire. Greg Bach, a lead worker on Dickert's campaign, will join the city as the mayor's assistant. Bach was at Tuesday night's inauguration.

As for other positions, including the vacant city administrator job, Dickert said he wasn't in a rush to make a hire. "We'll look for the best candidate at the right price," he said.

Dickert wasn't alone in dealing with emotions. Former Mayor Tom Friedel was feted for running the city while an election was organized. The audience and Common Council gave him a standing ovation, and Friedel fought back his own tears while thanking City Attorney Rob Weber and Interim City Administrator Scott Letteney.

Dickert's first act as mayor was to call for a motion to reappoint Friedel alderman of the 10th District. The motion passed unanimously. Dickert also named Friedel vice chairman of the Personnel and Finance Committee, a committee Friedel chaired until becoming mayor.

Dickert said in an interview he'll embrace the public by creating groups to address major issues in the city. "We'll let them go and get out of the way," Dickert said of the groups. "I'm not going to micromanage them."

Following Dickert's speech, Alderman Jim Kaplan said he supported the new mayor's vision.

"What he said is what I would say," Kaplan said. "Optimism (for the city) has to be clearly picked up and brushed off. Pessimism has to be sent packing down the road."

Following the Common Council meeting, Friedel said he was dealing with lots of emotions, including pride for the work the city did in pulling through a difficult chapter. "We made it," he said. "A lot of people made that possible."

Perhaps the biggest sign of a change in City Hall were a half dozen children, Dickert's son, Riley, and daughter, Eleanor, running around the council chambers following the inauguration. Dickert's wife, Teresa, said her husband's campaign was built around uniting the city. "We can change Racine if we all have a vision," she said.

She added not much will change around the Dickert household. "We're pretty grounded with our kids," she said. "They come home and do their homework like anyone else."

Monte Osterman, a Dickert supporter from Day 1, presented the new mayor with a 160-year-old gavel (right, in the above picture) used by historic Milwaukee Mayor Byron Kilbourn. Osterman received the gavel as a gift after serving as master of the Kilbourn Masonic Lodge in Milwaukee. "It's a gift to John," Osterman said. "Some day he'll pass it on."

Osterman said he supported Dickert because of the new mayor's ability to inspire people.

"Now, Racine has one of the best leaders it's had in a long time," Osterman said.