“I think we need to look to the past to give us some perspective for the present and for the future,” Reinke said. “And sometimes you have to look at the past and realize that things that seem so earth-shaking today may not be as earth-shaking when you look backward.”
She committed her term to ensuring safe and clean streets, swift responses from police and fire personnel and a push toward making the city more sustainable. As mayor, she inherits a stack of police lawsuits, criminal investigations into officer misconduct and excessive use of force, and mounting terminations.
“Usually if there’s problems in a city it’s because there has been a breakdown in a system. And we’re looking into fixing systems that aren’t functioning as properly as they should,” she said. “And I hope to get the best fixes that we can get during the year that I am the mayor to address those issues.”
She also takes the helm of the City Council as it prepares to weigh a proposed budget that incorporates rate hikes, service reductions and position freezes, but no layoffs or cuts to benefits. Still, the Police Department morass will continue to take a toll financially, officials said.
“That’s where we’re going to have problems on the budget,” Gary Bric said in an interview before ceding his mayoral post. “You can’t ask the city attorney’s office to cut 5% when we’re going to be throwing in another $2 million to $4 million they’re going to need.”
As mayor, Bric made public the FBI’s probe into the department, but continued to take fire from those who heaped blame on his ceremonial post.
