Ric's StoryRic's Story
Ric was elected in November, 2005 to his first term on the City Council after a distinguished thirty-one year career with the City of Dubuque Fire Department as a Firefighter, Medical Officer and Emergency Medical Services Supervisor. He was one of Iowa's first paramedics and, despite his retirement from active duty, he remains a leader in the field today.
Ric currently does expert consulting in the areas of public policy and emergency response, and is the leader of the Upper Main Street Jazz Band.
Ric is a certified instructor in all areas of emergency care, with an emphasis on trauma and advanced life support. He serves on the EMS Advisory Committee for Northeast Iowa Community College. He has taught classes on emergency care all over the United States, including a stint for the United States Department of Defense training troops prior to their deployment for the first Gulf War.
Ric was recently inducted into the Dubuque County Fire Association's "Hall of Flame," an honor that humbles him. Honorees have served the association with many volunteer hours to improve the fire service in and around Dubuque County.
The 2005 campaign was a pretty gentle one. Ric has a great deal of respect for his friend and former opponent Dan Nicholson, who held the seat for 16 years. The campaign was a positive one, focusing on the future.
Whether at the Council Table or at the drums with his jazz band or one of the community theater groups Ric performs with, he has fun and knows what he is doing. Ric knows the importance of being prepared. In either case, people are counting on him!
Left: Ric and Sue
Below: Their late dog, Fred
Ric also serves the following boards, commissions, committees, clubs and causes:
Board Member of the Dubuque Metropolitan Area Solid Waste Agency
Board Member of the Dubuque Racing Association
Board Member of the Dubuque Chamber of Commerce Convention and Visitors Bureau
Member of the Dubuque Chamber of Commerce
Member of the Chamber of Commerce Festivals Committee
Member of the Dubuque Metropolitan Area Transportation Study Policy Board
Board Member of Operation New View Community Action Agency
Board Member and Past President of the Dubuque Downtown Kiwanis Club
Committee Member of Make A Will - A Tri-State Initiative
32nd Degree Member of Dubuque Lodge # 3, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons
Vice-President of the Dubuque Shrine Club
Noble of the Ancient Arabic Order of the Mystic Shrine, El Kahir Temple
Member of the Masonic High Twelve Service Club
Member of the Dubuque County Conference Committee
Past President of the Board of Directors of Hills and Dales
Member of the Jamie Barwick Hills and Dales Foundation Board
Member of the Winter Games Committee for Special Olympics Iowa
Member, Past Board Member and Past Public Policy Chair of the Iowa Emergency Medical Services Association
Founding Member and Past President of the Dubuque County EMS Association
Member of the Iowa Firemens' Association
Member of the Dubuque Retired Fire Fighters Association
Member of the National Association of Emergency Medical Technicians
Member of the Administrative Board of St. Luke's United Methodist Church
Member of the American Civil Liberties Union
Member of Physicians for Social Responsibility
Member of Amnesty International
Sustainability: The City Council is working to make Dubuque a greener city. We will make every effort that we can afford to be successful at reducing the City's carbon footprint and improving the quality of life for all Dubuquers. We are using a few hybrid vehicles in the City fleet to determine if they are up to our vigorous tasks. The gasoline fleet is being migrated to E-85 use. The diesel fleet is currently using a soy diesel blend, with good results. We are budgeting for one hybrid trash collection truck. This will be our first experiment with a heavy-duty hybrid truck. The initial cost is high. We feel that we need to find out through an experimental purchase if this is the right answer for Dubuque.
Public Safety: We just authorized the addition of four sworn police officers, one of whom will be assigned to the Housing Department to investigate concerns of criminal behavior or mis-representation of eligibility in the subsidized housing programs. Additional officers will be added in the coming fiscal years. We have entered a purchase agreement for the site of the City's seventh fire station, near the Northwest Arterial and Chavenelle Drive.
Taxes: Projections show that the City's revenue from gaming at the City-owned Dubuque Greyhound Park will decrease dramatically when the new Diamond Jo Casino opens next fall. After many years of no tax increase for the average residential home owner, a small property tax increase has been adopted for next year. This is due more to the need to add police officers, housing inspectors, 911 dispatchers and clerical staff to match the workload than the gaming revenue reductions.
Water Pollution Control: We are at a point where major renovation is required at our Water Pollution Control Plant. There was a Council work session on April 14, where we heard recommendations from staff and our consultants. The options are basically to use anaerobic digestion to decompose the sludge and then land spread it on agricultural land or continue to incinerate the sludge placing the ash at the landfill. Both are reasonable solutions. Both are expensive. Anaerobic digestion seems more environmentally friendly, though both processes leave a carbon footprint.
Chlorine gas is currently used to disinfect the liquid material before returning it to the ecosystem. There is an opportunity to remove chlorine from the equation by using ultraviolet light to disinfect the material instead of the chlorine. Chlorine is a dangerous chemical to transport, store and use. For more information, click on this link to the Water Pollution Control Facility website.
Additional capacity improvements are being made to the sanitary sewer system to eliminate the need to pump sewage into Catfish Creek during high rain events. Currently, because of inflow of rainwater to the sanitary system, it is overwhelmed in the Key Way area. If the overcharge is not released, backflows occur into basements.
Streets: Asbury Road will receive an asphalt overlay from University to JFK as a temporary fix this summer. Asbury Road is the first subject of the recently contracted "East-West Corridor Study." We expect that study to recommend some additional turn lanes and traffic control devices along Asbury Road in the fairly immediate future. Cleveland Avenue will be rebuilt with a new concrete street, new underground infrastructure and new curbs and gutters.
Please contact the Public Works Department with street repair concerns. Potholes are generally repaired as soon as possible, but only once they have been reported.
Adult Entertainment: After many complaints from citizens, the Council adopted staff recommendations to enact an ordinance that imposes several court-tested regulations on adult entertainment establishments that do not impinge on their first amendment rights. Cities have seen secondary effects from adult entertainment businesses, such as increases in crime and decreases in property values directly related to these businesses. This ordinance takes effect upon publication.
Tattoos: The Council has directed staff to prepare a new ordinance that makes it easier for tattoo parlors to operate in the city. The current ordinance, adopted 12 years ago, unreasonably restricts the practice of tattooing to persons under the direct supervision of a physician. The State of Iowa regulates tattoo parlors and inspects them. We are seeking to remove the physician supervision requirement, and add some protective language to prohibit the tattooing of minors without parental permission.
Madison Park "Flagpole:" The Council approved a lease agreement with I-Wireless to erect a 50' lighted flagpole in Madison Park. This will be a nice enhancement to the area. The flagpole will actually be a cellular tower, though one could argue that the cellular tower is actually a flagpole. The computer renderings we saw are very attractive.
