4/7/2014 12:01:00 AM
HEADLINES
Distributor Ruetz Moonlighting as City Alderman
Credit: Oak Creek Patch
More than a decade ago distributor Jim Ruetz approached the mayor of Oak Creek, Wisconsin, to ask if he could help as a “business guy.” He was appointed to the Community Development Authority.
“Business development is my passion,” All Fasteners Inc. president Ruetz explained.
That led to the 2000-2001 National Fastener Distributors Association president becoming an elected city alderman.
In late 2011, the Oak Creek mayor died and “my good friend who was also my alderman said he was going to run for mayor. I told him at dinner one night that if he ran for mayor and won that I would run for alderman to give him support,” Ruetz explained his entry into electoral politics.
After Steve Scaffidi was elected mayor, “he kept me to my word and I was selected out of five candidates by the council to finish off the last 10 months of his aldermanic term.”
In April 2013 Ruetz was elected – unopposed – to a two-year term.
Ruetz told FIN he hadn’t intended to get involved in local politics. His father, All Tool Sales Inc. founder George Ruetz, had been chairman of the town of Caledonia in the 1970s. “I swore I would never hold an elected local position because I saw first-hand what a thankless job it was.”
“Local politics are what they are,” he sighed.
But beyond the personal commitment to his friend the mayor, Ruetz is excited about a $350 million mixed-use project creating a downtown for Oak Creek and unique developments along Lake Michigan. There will be a city hall and library, Meijer store, hundreds of condominiums on Main Street and a hotel on the lake.
“More jobs,” Ruetz pointed out. “Better tax base. We have not raised property taxes in the past six years.”
The 85-acres of land had been mothballed brownfields since a Delphi plant closed in 2008.
Oak Creek is typical of the suburban communities built after World War II. Many grew rapidly around shopping centers rather than downtowns.
Ruetz had been appointed to the development authority by three mayors over a decade and now as alderman is chair of the CDA – the economic development arm of the city. The CDA can authorize Tax Incremental Financing districts to promote business development.
Oak Creek, located on Lake Michigan south of Milwaukee, had an official population of 34,451 in the 2010 U.S. Census – up 21.1% from 2000 and thus one of the fastest growing cities in Wisconsin.
Beyond his civic interest in business development, Ruetz is prepared with a bachelor’s degree in geography/urban policy from the University of Wisconsin and an MBA from the University of Chicago.
Ruetz started in the fastener business in All Tool Sales in high school. The distributorship opened in 1962 and in 1980 the fastener division was created and is headed by Ruetz.
He gained political experience in an unsuccessful bid for the Republican nomination for state representative in 2003.
While the time commitment required for a fastener distributorship plus alderman “are a stretch at times,” he is excited to be in a position to encourage key development projects,” Ruetz said. “I feel I can help the city by serving on the council and the CDA,” Ruetz said.
As alderman, Ruetz gets calls about everything from mailboxes to power outages. He estimates the city work takes five to 10 hours per week.
“Once I learned how to handle the various calls you get as alderman, there is a lot of satisfaction in helping citizens out, which is good because no one would be doing the job for the money – $7,500 a year.”
To contact alderman Ruetz: jruetz@oakcreek.wi.org Web: oakcreekwi.org/staff/jim-ruetz
To contact All Fasteners president Ruetz: JRuetz@AllFast.com Web: AllFast.com
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