The worst part of this is that Jim Mattke does not deserve to be eliminated. He is honest and good. I really hope he gets something better than working for this city. On the day that Jim was told that he was out of a job at the end of the year, he was scheduled to present to the council his strategic goals for next year. He showed his class by going through with it.

Rick Gullickson is the new foreman for the street department. He was one of four regulars seeking the position that Karl held under Odean. Any of the candidates would have been great. Karl has had a very hard first year so far. Hopefully the tough parts are over.

Tim Strandlie update: Tim has a job offer with a Milwaukee Insurance company to work out of Madison as a claims investigator. He just finished his seventh year with us, and is killing time with Skaalen home doing outside maintenance. His new job starts in January. The street department will be adding two new employees. I’m sure Tim will lose sleep over that.

Juve of the Month: Adam Haried completed his community service with the parks this week.. Adam was found guilty of taking a sociology class that required 24 hours of community service.