Back to the Jul-Aug 2022 issue

What a Ride! My Year as LMC President

By D. Love

D. Love
Photo courtesy City of Centerville

I have always enjoyed the exhilaration of a great roller coaster. Anticipation builds as you wait in line. You buckle in for safety. Your heart rate picks up as you slowly climb that first hill. You smile, laugh, and sometimes let out a scream of excitement as you twist and turn and speed down the track. Finally, the cart comes to a safe rest, and you exit wishing you could do it all over again. This is a perfect metaphor for my year as the League of Minnesota Cities (LMC) 2021-2022 president.

My time with the League began in 2011 as a member of the Insurance Trust Board of Trustees. In 2018, after encouragement from former LMC President and Northfield Mayor Rhonda Pownell, I ran for and was elected to the LMC Board of Directors. After two years on the League Board, I was elected to the role of first vice president under President Brad Wiersum, mayor of Minnetonka.

Brad turned the presidency over to me in June 2021 at the LMC Annual Conference, which was a virtual event due to the pandemic. This didn’t diminish the excitement of the ride I was about to embark upon. My wife, Susan Love, introduced me and I nervously gave my first speech as president. I had grand ideas of the impact I wanted to make but had no idea how the pandemic would impact my year.

Less than a month into the role, my world came to a halt as our 21-year-old son suffered a massive heart attack. Instead of running my first LMC Board meeting, I was in a hospital at my son’s bedside and asking for everyone’s thoughts and prayers. The LMC staff, Board, and other leaders around the state offered immense care and support. (And I’m happy to report my son is doing better.)

In September, the Board gathered in Winona for a retreat, and it seemed things were starting to return to normal after about a year-and-a-half of the pandemic. Then the LMC Fall Forums were canceled, displaying that we weren’t quite back to normal.

As the year comes speeding to an end, I look back with a grateful heart for the tremendous opportunity to meet so many of you and serve in a role that allowed me to advocate on your behalf. If I could get back in line and do it all again, I wouldn’t hesitate.Not to be deterred, we set a plan into action to travel around the state and visit with as many city officials as possible. First Vice President Ron Johnson, Second Vice President Jenny Max, Past President Wiersum, and I split up the schedule and visited many cities with LMC staff members. We were successful in making contacts, building relationships, learning about needs, and establishing plans built upon what we learned from these meetings.

Halfway through the year, I was thrilled to read Mayor for a Day Essay Contest entries and help select the winners. Reading the ideas of these young future leaders was a very fun experience! On the heels of that, I had the opportunity to make my first trip to Washington, D.C., to meet with other municipal league presidents and executive directors from around the country.

I also had the honor of sitting on a session panel and giving closing remarks at the League’s Elected Leaders Institute in January. We were able to hold the event in person this year and were excited to see so many of you there!

Also in January, the 2022 Legislature convened, and we were rolling at full speed, advocating for cities, pushing for civility, and striving for advances in mental health funding for our public safety community. I testified on behalf of the League in support of the mental health funding bill at a House committee hearing, and also participated in a League video about this issue.

Next, I found myself on a return trip to D.C., along with several League staff members and Minnesota city officials from around the state. While there, we heard presentations by President Biden, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, and various members of the president’s cabinet. We also attended meetings with Minnesota members of Congress.

As the year comes speeding to an end, I look back with a grateful heart for the tremendous opportunity to meet so many of you and serve in a role that allowed me to advocate on your behalf. If I could get back in line and do it all again, I wouldn’t hesitate.

We experienced a lot of success along the way, and I’m more resolute than ever that the success was due to our unity, displaying that we are truly Stronger Together!

D. Love is the Mayor of Centerville. He has served on the League Board of Directors since 2018.