Leader was larger than life

As parks boss, politician, executive, he left mark

By LARRY SANDLER and AMY RABIDEAU SILVERS
Posted: Oct. 8, 2007
http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=672186

Nothing was ever small about Dave Schulz.

Not his girth, certainly, but not his intellect, his ego, or his
impact on Milwaukee County politics and government.

He was the colorful parks director who made a splash, literally, by
donning swimming trunks to send his 375-pound body down a water slide
as a promotional stunt.

He was the upstart politician who impulsively mounted a campaign
against the veteran county executive who fired him, defeating the
incumbent in a landslide.

And he was the brooding official who ended his elected service after a
single term, realizing he could not handle the inevitable criticism
that comes with public life.

David F. Schulz, the third Milwaukee County executive, died late
Sunday. He was 58.

"The official cause of death is respiratory failure, but he had other
health issues," said his sister, Peggy Schulz.

His left foot was amputated in late August. Schulz also a history of
back problems and surgery, and his health declined in recent weeks.

Schulz had a chronic weight problem and, at one point, reportedly
weighed 470 pounds.

In February 1990, paramedics rushed him to a hospital after he
experienced a rapid heart rate while exercising in his office on a
treadmill. He was released from the hospital a few hours later,
pledging to diet.

Current and former politicians and aides praised Schulz's dedication
and brainpower, even as they recalled the controversies that swirled
around him.

"I admired David," said former Milwaukee Mayor John O. Norquist, who
was elected at the same time as Schulz in 1988. "He was always one of
the smartest people I ever ran across in my life."

Former County Executive F. Thomas Ament, who was Schulz's successor
and, before that, his sometime-nemesis as County Board chairman, said:
"Dave was a very bright, talented person who sometimes wasn't
practical. He and I had our share of disagreements, but overall, he
was a fine public servant."

Schulz's brother, Jerry, who held a top job in Dave Schulz's
administration, said: "It was just interesting watching him in action.
I think he had a great sense of public service. He believed in running
government for the benefit of the average person."

WTMJ-AM (620) talk show host Charles Sykes, who worked as a top policy
aide to Schulz, said: "Dave was a larger-than-life figure in
absolutely every sense of the word. He has to be one of the most
colorful politicians that Milwaukee has had in the last 50 years" - a
charismatic, brilliant and a dynamic orator who could speak both
simply and eloquently, with little or no preparation.

"I think that explains his very rapid rise in Milwaukee politics,"
Sykes said. "He liked to project 'tough Chicago-tested politician,'
but he actually didn't like to say 'no' to people. He also had a very
sweet side."

Jill Morin, another former Schulz aide, recalled: "He was always
charming, with something witty, pithy or extremely intelligent to say.
And he almost always spoke his mind, something that made it difficult
for those of us trying to control what he would say, because there was
no keeping Dave under control."

Morin also said Schulz was "one of the first to talk about the concept
of regionalism" for such services as public transit.

Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett, who worked with Schulz when Barrett was a
state legislator, said: "He was a brilliant man. He was creative and
certainly fascinating."

County Supervisor Richard Nyklewicz Jr. remembered Schulz as a
colorful and outgoing county executive. Despite differences the County
Board had with Schulz, Nyklewicz said, he respected Schulz's deep
commitment to public service.

Nyklewicz interrupted a county budget hearing Monday to announce
Schulz's death, which prompted gasps from those in attendance.

 From the Wisconsin Counties Association conference in Wisconsin
Dells, County Executive Scott Walker issued a statement praising
Schulz's service in county government and saying: "Dave Schulz was too
young to die. What a tremendous loss."

Into the spotlight

For much of his early career, the Milwaukee native was more bureaucrat
than politician, holding a series of transportation, public works and
budget positions for local government agencies in the Milwaukee and
Chicago areas. In May 1983, he was named budget director for Chicago's
newly elected mayor, Harold Washington. Less than a year later, in
February 1984, he came home to take the same job in Milwaukee County
Executive Bill O'Donnell's administration.

But Schulz didn't start to grab public attention in Milwaukee until
December 1985, when O'Donnell named him parks director. The famed
water slide stunt was just part of a promotional campaign to build
interest in county parks and recreational facilities. Schulz also
clashed with county supervisors who accused him of exceeding his
authority.

Capitalizing on his growing public profile, Schulz stepped onto the
political stage in October 1987, by endorsing Norquist's 1988 bid for
mayor. Within the hour, O'Donnell fired Schulz, saying he had told his
cabinet appointees they couldn't get involved in politics.

That set off immediate speculation that Schulz would take on
O'Donnell. A month later, in November 1987, Schulz made it official.

In the spirited campaign that followed, Schulz focused on his plans
for the future, and O'Donnell touted his accomplishments of the past.

When the campaign dollars were counted, O'Donnell outspent Schulz 2-1.
But when the votes were counted, on April 5, 1988, the 2-1 edge
belonged to Schulz.

The courthouse establishment was shocked. O'Donnell had never lost an
election in 40 years as a county supervisor and county executive. It
was the first time in the 28-year history of the county executive's
office that an incumbent had lost a re-election bid, and the first
time someone had ascended to the office without previously serving as
County Board chairman.

At the same time, Norquist was elected to replace longtime Mayor Henry
Maier, who did not seek re-election. With the first change in the
mayor's office in 28 years and the first change in the county
executive's office in 12 years, Schulz and Norquist became linked in
the public mind as the leaders of a new wave in local government.

Playing off their physical differences in a Milwaukee Sentinel
editorial cartoon, Stuart Carlson depicted the portly Schulz as Ralph
Kramden and the lanky Norquist as upstairs neighbor Ed Norton from the
classic television show "The Honeymooners." Schulz and Norquist later
dressed up as those characters to raise money for the Hunger Task Force.

Despite their similar situations, the two differed on some issues.
Schulz, for example, did not share Norquist's affinity for light rail
or his distaste for highways.

"We were always friends . . . but it wasn't like we were brothers or
anything," Norquist said.

Relations with Norquist were the least of Schulz's worries, however.

Political challenges

In 1989, the county executive faced criticism for his handling of an
ethics scandal at the Milwaukee County Zoo, involving conflicts of
interest in ties between zoo administrators and the private Zoological
Society.

Later that year, Schulz proposed a 42% tax increase for 1990. An angry
taxpayer mounted a recall drive against him but did not gather enough
signatures on petitions to force an election.

The County Board scaled back the property tax increase and delayed a
proposed sales tax until 1991, but the tax issue cut into Schulz's
popularity. Norquist said that made it easier for supervisors to
challenge Schulz, who fought back with harsh words.

"His political skills were brilliant in the campaign and not so good
in dealing with the County Board," Norquist said. "I'm not sure he was
really cut out for the political side of things. He was always thought
of as a good administrator."

Schulz's hot temper and sharp tongue led to clashes not only with
supervisors, but also with then-Sheriff Richard Artison and then-state
Rep. Betty Jo Nelsen.

"You can't be thin-skinned in that job," the late County Supervisor
Daniel Cupertino Jr. once said of Schulz. "With the pats on the back,
you have to take the punch in the ribs."

In the end, Schulz agreed.

In an April 1991 interview with the Sentinel, Schulz said he had
decided not to seek a second term in 1992 because "I feel that I'm
simply not cut out to be a politician. Because I care so much about
this community and the issues that we deal with, and because I'm
relatively thin-skinned and I'm not as patient as I should be - as
politicians have to be - I'm just not in the position where I want to
go another term or two or three."

At the time, Schulz said his administration's accomplishments included
building a county jail, upgrading Mitchell International Airport,
building O'Donnell Park on the lakefront and overhauling social
services. Ament said most of the work on the jail was done before
Schulz was elected.

"If you look at times when I've gotten myself in a little bit of
trouble, it's been because I've been open and honest, not because I've
been malicious or duplicitous or because I've been avaricious," Schulz
said. "I think we made some mistakes, but I think those mistakes were
primarily mistakes of form and not substantive, getting into personal
tiffs with people, things like that. If I had to do it over again, I
wouldn't do the substance over any differently."
Some goals still unmet

Schulz also said he wanted to dedicate his remaining year in office to
three issues: winning tax support for a new Milwaukee Brewers baseball
stadium; dealing with inadequate funding for state mandates; and
establishing a regional transportation authority in southeastern
Wisconsin to pay for transportation without property tax revenue.
Funding for Miller Park was ultimately approved, but the other issues
remain unresolved.

David F. Schulz was born on Sept. 24, 1949, the oldest of five
children of Robert L. and Mary M. Schulz. Schulz's father worked for
27 years as a tax enforcement supervisor for the City of Milwaukee,
and his mother was a secretary for the University of
Wisconsin-Milwaukee day care center.

Schulz graduated from Riverside High School. He held a bachelor's
degree in civil engineering from Purdue University in West Lafayette,
Ind., and a master's degree in public management from Northwestern
University in Evanston, Ill.

Between his graduation from Northwestern and his election as county
executive, Schulz never held the same job more than two years.

In January 1975, he became director of program management for a
Chicago-area transportation study. In June 1976, he went to work in
the transportation division of the Milwaukee County Department of
Public Works, in which he had held summer jobs off and on from 1969 to
1974 while in college. He joined the Southeastern Wisconsin Regional
Planning Commission staff in September 1977. In September 1979, he
became assistant Chicago budget director and, two years later, deputy
commissioner for the Chicago Department of Public Works.

At the time of his death, Schulz was an adjunct professor at the
Institute of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Northwestern and
director of the Infrastructure Institute at the university.

On Aug. 22, 1987, Schulz married the former Jo Ann Pariseau, who had
been a secretarial assistant in the Parks Department. They had met in
November 1983, when Schulz traveled to Milwaukee from Chicago to
interview for the budget director's job and she was a secretary in the
Department of Administration.

In recent years, Schulz, his wife and their 12-year-old son, Bobby,
lived in Waukegan, Ill., before moving to Winthrop Harbor, Ill., this
summer.

In addition to his wife, son, sister and brother Jerry, Schulz is
survived by brothers Bill and Peter and other relatives.

Visitation will be from 2 to 6 p.m. Saturday at Feerick Funeral Home,
2025 E. Capitol Drive, Shorewood. The memorial service will be at 6 p.m.

Steve Schultze of the Journal Sentinel staff contributed to this report.

David F. Schulz

http://graphics.jsonline.com/graphics/news/img/oct07/dave_schulz_file...
David F. Schulz, the third Milwaukee County executive, died late
Sunday. He was 58

http://graphics.jsonline.com/graphics/news/img/oct07/schulz1100907.jpg
Mayor John O. Norquist (left) plays Ed Norton and County Executive
David F. Schulz plays Ralph Kramden from "The Honeymooners" to benefit
the Hunger Task Force.

http://graphics.jsonline.com/graphics/news/img/oct07/schulz2100907.jpg
Schulz is sworn in as Milwaukee County executive in 1988.

http://graphics.jsonline.com/graphics/news/img/oct07/schulz3100907.jpg
County Parks Director David F. Schulz comes up smiling after splashing
down a new water slide at Hoyt Park in Wauwatosa.

http://graphics.jsonline.com/graphics/news/img/oct07/schulz4100907.jpg
Schulz greets well-wishers after his inauguration as county executive
in MacArthur Square.

http://graphics.jsonline.com/graphics/news/img/oct07/schulz5100907.jpg
While he was parks director, Schulz, at 450 pounds, outweighed Chicago
Bears defensive lineman William "The Refrigerator" Perry.

Related Coverage

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http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=672198

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