RANIER -- Ed Oerichbauer and Dan Klocek said they know that determination can accomplish nearly anything. The two outgoing Ranier politicians may be adjourning their time in office, but agreed that what they helped carry out for the city will benefit it for years to come.
The last four years were “rough” both Oerichbauer, who served as mayor, and Klocek, who was a council member, told The Journal following their final council meeting Dec. 17.
While no elected position comes free of challenging issues, it was the annexation of the French and Jameson additions – unincorporated areas west of Ranier -- that Oerichbauer joked turned his hair a little more gray.
“It was a lot of work, but it was worth it,” said the mayor who served two, two-year terms.
And now that it is all said and done, the two reflected on their time spent in office and said they will look forward to future Monday nights free of council meetings.
A motion
Klocek started as a councilor in 1996. He said learning about and becoming involved in city politics was the driving force behind bidding for one of the four seats.
Oerichbauer joined the council in 2000. While monthly council meetings had a tendency to stay “pretty quiet,” Oerichbauer laughed that Ranier always had the potential for “something bigger.”
And a second
The “something bigger” anticipated by Oerichbauer surfaced in 2007 when the city inherited water lines that ran from Second Bridge into Ranier. In October of the same year, a series of water line breaks alarmed council members that “something needed to be done.”
“The (water line) was starting to fall apart,” Oerichbauer said.
Klocek chimed in that the breaks racked up a price tag of more than $40,000 that month at the city's expense.
“We knew we had to get serious of figuring out what we needed to do,” he said.
Oerichbauer explained that the major roadblock to replacing the water lines was limited authority on the council's part to fix something outside of city limits.
“All we could do was patch the breaks,” he said.
The following summer, residents of the French and Jameson areas submitted a petition to the council requesting official annexation into Ranier.
“That kind of started the whole process and gave us a leg to stand on,” Oerichbauer said of annexation. “If we were going to take out a loan to pay for those water lines, without annexation, the residents of 'Old' Ranier would have been stuck with the entire burden...that's why annexation was so important – so everyone could have a piece of the pie, so to speak.”
All in favor
Before the 2008 elections, both Oerichbauer and Klocek failed to file for office. Oerichbauer said a vision he and others had of Ranier at the time was that it could dissolve, it could be incorporated into the city of International Falls, or it could go for annexation.
With the image of expanding the city in mind, Oerichbauer approached Klocek about serving a fourth term to help bring annexation to fruition.
“We knew (we) had the process for annexation in place,” Klocek said. “The work wasn't done, and we both kind of felt that the right thing to do would be to carry forward.”
Because the date to file had come and gone, the only option was a write-in campaign. Together, Oerichbauer and Klocek rallied constituents to put their names on Ranier's ballot that November so each could secure the position for which they were running. For Oerichbauer, it would be his first term as mayor, for Klocek, it was his fourth term as a councilor.
“We had a lot of support,” Klocek said of the campaign.
So move
After gaining their elected positions, 2008 kicked off a “hard four-year term for the council,” as Klocek described it. “But, we did what we said we were going to do.”
The hard work paid off, they said. In 2010, a judge's official ruling welcomed residents from the French and Jameson additions into the city limits of Ranier.
“It was a tremendous relief when everything fell in to place,” Oerichbauer said.
“It was the council sticking together that made us never want to give up,” Klocek said of the sometimes difficult annexation efforts. “It was a strong group with a focus, and that really helped.”
Oerichbauer agreed. “Through it all, the council never divided itself. We stuck together,” he said.
In 2011, the crumbling water lines that kick-started annexation were replaced, and this year water lines were added to the Three Points North area just outside of Old Ranier.
“Everyone in Ranier has water,” Oerichbauer said. “What an accomplishment.”
And now, both he and Klocek said they are proud of Ranier and how it is growing.
Motion passes
Klocek said he didn't consider running for another term this past November and that “it is time for me to move on let someone else take over.”
“I still plan to serve on the citizen's committee,” he said of the committee that formed following annexation. Residents of Old Ranier and the new portion of the city serve on the group.
“What was accomplished in the last four years will help Ranier flourish, and it will continue to grow,” Klocek said. “Ranier has really expanded its outlook into the county.”
“We helped carry out a lot of big issues for a little town,” Oerichbauer said. “It was worth it.”
Meeting adjourned
Oerichbauer and Klocek said they were optimistic about a new mayor and two new council members who will be seated at the council table later this month.
“They need to get their feet wet and see how things operate,” Oerichbauer said. “They'll have their own agenda and own ideas, and I think it's a good group coming in.”
