Nov. 13, 2016 – West Bend, WI – West Bend City Clerk and assistant City Administrator Amy Reuteman is leaving.
This is a story you’ll read first at http://www.washingtoncountyinsider.com
An email was sent Friday announcing Reutemen was leaving to take a job in Adams County.
Reuteman has worked with the city of West Bend for 16 years; she’s been the city clerk the past eight years and last November 2015 she was tabbed as the new assistant city administrator in West Bend.
Reuteman replaced Steve Volkert who left for an administrator position in the city of Hartford.
“She’s going to be difficult to replace,” said Volkert. “The challenge for the city is they looked for a qualified replacement for her when she took the step up to be the H.R. director/assistant administrator.”
The city never managed to find a qualified clerk so Reuteman held onto that position. Reuteman remained assistant city administrator even after Jay Shambeau was brought on board as the new city administrator.
“Her knowledge is extremely vast in what she does,” Volkert said. “I’ve said this all along that the clerk is the most needed position in the entire city and a lot of times they’re more important than the administrator and having a good one is very tough and West Bend had a great one.”
District 8 alderman Roger Kist said Reuteman is going to be hard to replace because everybody loves her and thinks a lot of her. “Amy brought a lot to the city and she has always been extremely helpful in many, many ways,” Kist said.
“Amy stepped up to the plate following the mess with T.J. Justice and she was so excited when we hired Jay (Shambeau) as the new city administrator.”
Quite a few people connected with City Hall in West Bend have expressed disbelief when told of Reuteman’s departure. Former Dist. 7 alderman Terry Vrana said Reuteman is irreplaceable and a very stabilizing force.
“I was an alderman when Amy first came to the city and she was impressive then,” he said. “She’s a rare find.”
Reuteman started as an assistant to then city Clerk Barb Barringer. “She was always a high-quality person and got along with everybody and very smart and she fit the job perfectly. That’s going to be a huge loss for the city,” said Vrana. “I always really enjoyed working with her because she was so good at what she did; such a good person and good with everybody.”
John Kleinmaus is one of Reuteman’s trusty poll workers during elections. Kleinmaus was bowled over by the news.
“Wow,” he said. “You’re kidding. I wish her well but wow.”
Kleinmaus said, when it came to elections Reuteman knew her stuff. “If I ever had to call her with a question she was always right there on top of it,” he said. “Her job was very stressful but she handled it in a very cool and professional way. I don’t ever remember seeing her get mad; she was always there to help and we could always count on her.”
Kist read from an email that detailed Reuteman leaving for a position up north.
“Her last day will be December 1,” said Kist.
