Fred Wroge to Retire from Richfield City Council

Editor's Note: The following was written by Richfield City Council Member Fred Wroge to the community.

IT HAS BEEN MY HONOR

I am extremely proud to have served on the Richfield City Council representing both residents and businesses for the last 7 ½ years. A deadline is approaching for filing for office which is June 5, 2012. I have always believed that political positions should have term limits much like the Presidency of the United States but we do not have such a rule in our community. While that may be an issue for our Charter Commission, I am going to honor my beliefs and not run for a third term.

It is time for someone else to have the opportunity to serve you. Many challenging issues still lie ahead for Richfield. Hopefully you future representative will believe that we must protect single family homes, and build more upscale housing choices so we can attract middle and upper class families with disposable income that can support our businesses and schools. We should be working with landlords of existing apartment buildings in Richfield to promote the refurbishing or many 1 bedroom units into 2 and 3 bedroom units with a combination of market rate and affordable rate rents. Most of all, we should not be giving our land away. We are surrounded by three freeways and close to EVERYTHING. LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION!

I am proud of the accomplishments of the last few years, especially the New City Hall and Maintenance Facility that were sorely needed. They cam in on time and on budget! The CVS Pharmacy on Penn, Menards super-sized expansion, O’Reilly’s Auto Parts on 66th and the redevelopment of the Kmart site all came together with the help of the Richfield Chamber of Commerce and City Staff. Also along with former council member Bill Killian and a task force. We were able to tighten ordinances dealing with property maintenance. All those projects will make a positive difference but there is more to do. Let’s wait to see in what direction we are taken in the next two years. After all, there will be another election in 2014. As residents of Richfield it becomes your responsibility to be informed and ask quality questions before you cast your ballot in the upcoming election of 2012.

I came to the council to ask questions that were not being asked. I brought a tolerance for mistakes but not for arrogance. Too many people were complaining about “rubber stamping” etc or as I thought—“go along to get along”.  With few expectations I found staff works hard to make Richfield a great place to live and work and when I asked questions, answers were provided. I worked hard for you and I will always appreciate that you allowed me to serve you. My wife, children, and grandchildren were able to see me give back to the city—I only wish my parents would have been able to see the last 8 years because they had spent so much of their adult life in Richfield. I think they would have said “good job”.

Fred Wroge, Richfield City Council Ward 2 2005-2012