Ward 3 New Ulm city councilor Les Schultz says goodbye to the council after 16 years.

NEW ULM – For the last 16 years, New Ulm Ward 3 has been represented by city councilor Les Schultz.

He is currently the longest-serving member of the council, but Tuesday, Dec. 17 will be his last meeting as a member of the council.

Last June, Schultz chose not to file for a fifth term on the council. On his decision not to file, Schultz said he enjoyed his time being a city councilor, but felt it was time to bring in some new blood.

“I did enjoy [being a councilor] and I thought I was good at it, but it is time to bring in new blood,” Schultz said. “Let’s see what the next person can bring to the council.”

Schultz was first elected to the city council in 2008. That year, no one filed for the Ward 3 seat. At that time, Mayor Joel Albrecht was pushing him to run for the seat. Schultz said he was initially hesitant to run for the council because he was not certain of the time commitment. He worked full-time as the Brown County Probation Director.

He ultimately did run as a write-in candidate, and won receiving around 450 write-in votes. Schultz took the oath of office in Jan. 2009.

Schultz said his first year on the city council was one of the most difficult.

“It was a tough time,” he said. “There were a lot of things I wanted to add, but fixing the budget was critical.

Schultz remembered that in 2009 the city had to cut $1 million from the budget. Every city department saw a budget reduction of 10%. It was a frustrating time to enter the council.

Schultz remembered the first big project he was able to work on was the “Welcome to New Ulm” signs at the entry points into New Ulm.

Schultz said for a long time the signs looked terrible and were falling apart. He wanted the city to look into replacing them. He found himself on committee tasks with finding a design for the new signs.

The committee ultimately solicited design ideas from the public. He remembers there were around 150 submissions. The committee narrowed it down to a few designs and let the public vote.

Schultz was impressed with the community engagement for the project. Something similar happened a few years later with the downtown fire hydrants.

Schultz remembered one of the biggest controversies in his first term as a councilor was the issue of Chammy the Horse. In 2012, the city cited the horse owners with excessive manure. There was a risk of the horse being evicted from the property. Chammy was popular in the community. Many children would visit the horse. Few wanted him removed from the city limits. The incident gained national media attention. The council ultimately voted to let Chammy the horse stay in town.

Schultz said when he campaigned for re-election that year he told voters with children, he voted in favor of Chammy staying.

“That might have helped me get re-elected,” he said.

This was not the last time animals would cause controversy on the council. Schultz said in 2014 the council approved a chicken ordinance, allowing the birds to be kept in city limits. It was a controversial decision, passing through the council by a 3-to-2 vote. Schultz supported the chicken ordinance, but it took a lot of work to even create the ordinance.

Not long after, Schultz helped with the creation of the dog park in South Germany. He remembered several supporters working to raise funds for a fence in South German Park. Schultz said it was a big moment when the city first installed the fencing for the dog park. He is pleased to see the park is heavily utilized.

“It is probably the most used of our parks,” Schultz said.

Schultz said as a councilor, he was never shy about making a motion, but said the hardest vote he ever took involved the state amateur baseball tournaments. The 2020 Minnesota State Amateur Baseball Tournaments had been scheduled to take place in New Ulm. The city had won the right to host the tournament years earlier, but then the COVID pandemic hit and it no longer looked safe to host it.

“Tensions were high,” Schultz said. By voting to rescind the tournaments New Ulm risked never getting to host the tournaments again.

Schultz said it was a tough call, but based on what they knew at that time, it was the only decision the city could make.

In addition to his council duties, Schultz served on several city committees and boards including the Economic Development Authority (EDA).

Schultz said the EDA was one of their favorite boards to serve because it was a chance to make big changes.

He cited the small business grants approved by the EDA as a great help for new businesses. He said most of the businesses that received grants are still in operation. EDA also had a big role in drawing attention to the day care shortage in New Ulm and Minnesota as a whole.

He encouraged the rest of the EDA board to continue taking chances and risks to help the city move forward.

“I think I am leaving the council in good hands,” Schultz said. “I enjoyed working with all my fellow councilors, both past and present.”

He had confidence in the remaining council members and believed the incoming Ward 3 councilor Tom Schmitz had plenty of experience as the city’s former Park & Recreation director.

“I think Tom will really hit the ground running as Ward 3 councilor,” Schultz said.

Though he is not worried about the council, Schultz admitted he would miss it.

“I loved representing Ward 3,” he said. “Being able to help constituents was the best part of serving on the council.”