The Times Republican and I have agreed to do a column in the TR. I’m planning on doing a column every two weeks for the weekend edition.

So, what to write about? After thinking a bit of what should be in it and still be interesting, I have ideas, lots of ideas.

I think I will bring you along with me during my time as the Marshalltown Mayor. By giving you glimpses of what the job entails, the different people that I talk to, funny things that happen and the staff that I work closely with might spark you to get more involved with city affairs.

To give you a feel for the playing field, let’s start with the basics. The mayor’s job:

The mayor’s job is a part-time gig. I am paid a salary of $11,000 per year with a very small amount going into IPERS. No other benefits.

Yes, I do work full-time job at Emerson Process in the Nuclear Assembly area. I am planning on retiring around mid-June. I do take off time from work during the day for “city business” (meetings, etc) and Emerson has been very generous in letting me punch out and go when needed.

“Back in the day”, the mayor’s job was full time, but, with the world becoming so much more complex, tighter time driven budgets, the mayor and city council decided in the mid 90’s to go with a City Administrator. I believe this was when Tommy Thompson was mayor. Most people could see that Marshalltown needed someone trained in staff management, finances, grant writing and oversight plus a thousand other tasks. Good City Administrators are tough to find, and we have a great one with Carol Webb.

City government had just become far too complex to do otherwise. Towns as small as Conrad (population 1,100) even have a part-time city administrator.

The Mayor works with the city administrator and city clerk to produce a timely agenda for consideration by the city council. Most of our agendas run at an average of about 400-600 pages with all the supporting documents! For transparency, the agenda is online for you to browse through on the City of Marshalltown’s website after 5:00 on the Thursday prior to the Monday nights council meeting. What the councilors see, you can see too.

The mayor runs the City Council meetings but does not vote, but can veto under certain conditions. I cannot remember any mayor of Marshalltown vetoing a council decision. I also cannot give my opinion during the meeting. (Something that I am working on)

The mayor represents Marshalltown on the 911 Commission,

the County Assessor Board, the Franklin Pierce Board of Trustees, the Marshall County Emergency Management Committee, plus a bevy of more temporary committees and assignments.

The mayor is also responsible for naming residents to one of the several committees for the city, but must be approved by the city council.

I do respond to anywhere from 10 – 25 emails and texts most days (usually during my breaks or in the evening) along with touching base with Carol Webb or Alicia Hunter to see if I’m needed anywhere not on my calendar, or if I need to stop in at City Hall after work.

It is amazing how much daily communication goes on between the staff and the elected officials!

While I am always available for council members, I don’t intrude on their decisions, they earned their positions, votes and opinions. If they want my sage advice, they are welcome to ask.

As you can see, I stay pretty busy, which suits me fine. I was a busy city councilor for 11 years too. Also, I am always learning new things that go with the position. All in all, it is a privilege to represent the residents of Marshalltown and I enjoy doing so.

“Life gets easier when you quit fighting it. The rain will fall whether you complain or not. Traffic will exist whether you stress or not. People will act how they want whether you worry or not. Let go of what you cannot change. Focus on what you can.”

— Robin Williams.

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Mike Ladehoff is the mayor of Marshalltown.