Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
By TOM LAVENTURE
Hurley — After 42 years of service to his community Paul Mullard said his decision not to run again for mayor doesn’t mean he wouldn’t run again. He just hasn’t really made plans for retirement.
“It does make me a little nervous,” Mullard said, “I guess I will just do what I want and take it easy.”
Mullard was not on the ballot Tuesday as Hurley residents sought to choose from Jay Aijala or Thomas Conhartoski for the city’s next mayor. It will be the first time that Mullard has not held some sort of public service position or elected office since 1978.
Raised in Crivitz, Mullard was schooled in electronics in Chicago and was working for Xerox when he and his wife, Joyce, visited Hurley and decided immediately to move here in 1977. He was the only certified office equipment repair person in the region and was quite busy selling and repairing items until he built a staff.
“I just love it here,” Mullard said. “This is my home.”
The couple raised two children, Elizabeth and David, in Kimball. Elizabeth now lives in Appleton, where she is raising two of the Mullard grandchildren. David, who lives in California, is raising their other three other grandchildren.
As busy as Mullard was, he joined the Hurley Volunteer Fire Department in 1978. He would serve for 30 years including as fire chief.
As he became acquainted with the community, Mullard said he was invited to join the city building committee in 1991. At the time the fire department was in a struggle to keep their space at the new city hall as the police department was also looking for more room.
When the fire department lost a room to the police department some firefighters resigned in protest, he said. There were hard feelings from the city that he felt were directed at him and so he resigned as fire chief in 1992 but stayed on the department.
Mullard retired from Xerox Services in 1995. Since that time he has worked part time at the recycling center, at the county parks through the forestry department, and as a school bus driver for over 10 years.
His wife Joyce is also a volunteer with the Lionesses, The Iron County Food Pantry, as an election volunteer and at the Senior Center.
Mullard has volunteered at the annual Paavo Nurmi Marathon and Half Marathon for several years. He delivered water to the aid stations and said he is proud to have been invited to light the torch many times.
“I got to know all the people,” Mullard said.
Mullard first ran for a seat on the Hurley City Council in 1997. He won a special election for a seat after Tod Lewis resigned and then won the seat again in the 1998 regular election.
Mullard was first elected mayor in 2000 and then again in 2002. He lost the mayor seat to Joe Pinardi in 2004, but then won city council seats in 2006 and 2008.
Mullard’s most recent victory was the one-vote win for mayor over Joe Pinardi in 2018. It made headlines around the region.
When asked about some of his memorable moments as mayor, Mullard said he recalled a dinner at a Hurley restaurant with then Gov. Tommy Thompson.
“He spilled coffee on me,” Mullard said.
Reflecting on what has been accomplished over the past two years Mullard said he is pleased that with the help of the public works department approximately 90% of the city’s leaking roof drain system has been repaired. Until now stormwater was overflowing into the sewer lines with each rain and prompted a response from the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources each time, he said.
An underground powerline to the pump station was repaired after being destroyed over two years ago during construction on the County Road D project. Mullard called the project “the road to nowhere.”
“As soon as I took over (in 2018) this was the first call I got and I said we have to get that thing running,” Mullard said.
The three-phase wiring was ripped up and without power the pump station was freezing up, rusting and corroding, he said. There was an issue of responsibility with the placement of the wires and also the construction damage.
“We worked with the engineers and the power companies and came to an agreement,” Mullard said. “We had to pay but we did pretty good on it.”
Recent negotiations with the city of Montreal have resulted in an agreement for Hurley to receive 20,000 gallons of water per day. The water quality issues with Montreal’s system have been resolved after extensive work to wells, pumps and a water tower, he said.
“That was a major accomplishment,” he said.
The contracted water from Ironwood will continue but now that more water is available from Montreal the amount from both sources can be adjusted according to rates or water quality issues with either side, he said.
“Montreal has got plenty of water and real good water,” Mullard said. “We tested it and they tested and we sent it in and we know it’s good.”
The city’s water rates will be more accurate now with iPERL “smart” meters that are in the process of being installed. The data from accurate usage readings is transmitted to computers of workers as they drive by the residence.
When asked what his reflections are about serving as mayor, Mullard said his highest praise goes to Police Chief Chris Colassaco, the public works department staff including Scott Santini, director, and water manager Gary Laguna; the city clerk and treasurer Stacey Wiercinski, deputy clerk Kathy Byrns and the administrative assistant, Kathy Osterman.
“They all worked well with me,” he said.
Mullard said his disappointment as mayor was in not convincing the council that a building fund and an equipment fund was needed to plan for expensive equipment that has finite lifespans. The fund would be tax driven and would avoid having to borrow money at 3% interest when the time comes to purchase something new.
“There are not many grants for equipment,” he said. “We just borrowed $112,000 for a street sweeper.”
The Mullards recently traveled to California to see their son, David, who was diagnosed with brain cancer. The couple returned home just as the coronavirus pandemic started a community spread in California and the couple self-quarantined upon return to Ironwood.
“We came back just as the virus hit and was getting really bad out there,” Joyce said. “In the city where our son lives there were about 26 active cases a week ago.”
The couple came out of quarantine without showing symptoms of COVID-19. Mullard said city operations ran just fine in his absence with the help of the police chief, office staff and public works.
Mullard also served on the Iron County Board. He defeated Don Richards for the District 1 seat in 2010 and served until 2018 when he lost the seat to Jay Aijala.
“I liked the county board because it has very active committees,” Mullard said.
As a board member Mullard served on the Gogebic-Iron County Airport Board, the Recycling Committee, the UW Extension Committee, and the Iron County Fair Board.
Mullard filled in for his ill daughter as a fair volunteer 30 years ago and has continued ever since. He was also a past president of the Iron County Senior Center.
For now Mullard is just looking at the snow melt in the backyard of his corner lot. He has already started the spring raking and looks forward to tending to his grape vines over the summer.
