The citizens of Perry, represented by their mayor and city council members, offered a final expression of thanks Friday morning to outgoing Perry City Administrator Butch Niebuhr as he attended his last city council meeting, a special morning meeting held to tie up a few financial loose ends at the end of the fiscal year.
Perry Mayor Jay Pattee presented Niebuhr with a certificate of appreciation for his 35 years of service to the citizens of Perry. City council members by turns commended Niebuhr for his generous devotion to the interests of the community.
“I like to say that is you want to see how effective Butch has been as a city administrator, just look around,” said Pattee. “We talked about water this morning. We relied on the memory of people who used to work with the pipes and the infrastructure under the streets to know where certain sewer lines were at one point in time. Now they are mapped so if you know how to read a map, you can see where the pipes are underneath the streets, and all that happened under Butch’s administration.”
“You’ve brought a level of integrity to the job. I’ve never questioned your commitment to the town of Perry.” –Perry City Council member Barb Wolling
The mayor also mentioned Niebuhr’s introduction of green-energy technologies to city operations, such as the wind turbines supplying electricity to the city’s waste water treatment plant and the solar panels on the Perry Farmers Market stalls.
“We want to thank Butch for his service, for his time with the city, and to pass along a certificate of appreciation,” Pattee said, as he handed Niebuhr the award.
“It’s been great to work with Butch over the years,” said Perry City Council Member Phil Stone. “I look forward to Sven. I know he’s had a good tutor, and I think we’ll continue, as the mayor said, with some progressive things as a result of what Butch has set up. There’s a lot more things we’ve done through his leadership, whether it’s the Second Street sewer project or the McCreary Center parking lot, and it takes somebody willing to promote those that makes them go. So thanks again.”
Council member Bark Wolling said, “You’ve brought a level of integrity to the job. I’ve never questioned your commitment to the town of Perry, which is really unique among city administrators. If Butch is behind it, it’s good for the people of Perry. It’s not necessarily good for Butch, but it’s good for the people of Perry. That level of integrity is hard to find, and it’s certainly appreciated.”
Council member John Andorf said when he came to the council in 2014, he was “immediately impressed by what a vast knowledge and experience Butch had and what a valuable resource he was to the city.” Andorf said it “was obvious and evident at Butch’s reception last Friday the way the community feels about him.”
Agreeing with all the previous remarks, council member Chuck Schott said, “I never walked in the door but Butch had time to talk with me.”
Council member Dr. Randy McCaulley was out of town Friday and unable to attend the meeting.
Niebuhr seemed touched by the mayor council’s gratitude. Recalling his earlier days in office, he said the first calls he took as city administrator were from city residents having water problems, and Wednesday’s heavy rains in Perry mean the last calls he will be taking as city administrator are likely to be on the same topic.
“First call, last call, somebody with water in his basement,” Niebuhr said laughing.
The gesture of thanks by Perry’s elected officials came toward the end of a month-long series of honors and accolades for Niebuhr, who retires June 30 after 35 years as a city employee, including last Friday’s retirement reception that drew a large crowd of well wishers to the Town Craft Center in downtown Perry and Wednesday’s gathering of the board of directors of the Greater Dallas County Development Alliance (GDCDA).
The alliance is composed government and business figures from throughout the county, including engineers and builders, commercial real estate developers, bankers, and a number of economic development specialists from city and county government. Most of Dallas County’s biggest industrial employers members of the alliance.
Niebuhr has chaired the GDCDA since 2008 and while economic development in Perry occurs slowly in Perry, he has kept it from being exclusively a matter of the southeast corner of Dallas County.
GDCDA Executive Director Linda Wunsch said Niebuhr has kept a steady hand of the plow.
“I feel like he helped direct us through some innovative changes that we went through,” Wunsch said. “Butch has an intuitive way of looking at economic development and with that, I feel it’s been very valuable for our agency to have his intellectual properties at our board table. We’re going to miss him, but we also wish him the very best.”
Most of the GDCDA’s eight-person board and another dozen or so alliance members and friends — including Perry City Council member Dr. Randy McCaulley, who was unable to attend Monday’s city council meeting — attended the small party for Niebuhr Wednesday at the Hotel Pattee. While the skies lowered outside and prepared a six-inch deluge, they spoke to his strengths and accomplishments and their hopes for his pleasant retirement. Niebuhr matched their remarks with humorous stories of his own about his friends and colleagues.
Whatever funereal airs might be apt to gather around retirement parties were easily dispersed by Niebuhr’s high spirits and obvious vitality. He is plainly not the sort to be put out to pasture. The biggest difference after June 30 might be his choosing his own working hours.
