Officials prepare for mayor's replacement

City grieves loss of Schapekahm

By GUY PRIEL

Journal Staff Writer

NEW ULM -- The death of New Ulm Mayor Bert Schapekahm on Thursday not only affected local residents, but sent shock waves across the state, and as far away as Germany, leaving local officials with few options under the city charter.

"There is a specific section of the city charter that provides for appointment of a person to fill the position upon death," City Manager Richard Salvati said.

The city council also has assigned duties in the case of an absence of the mayor, with many official duties falling onto City Council President Daniel Beranek. In the case that he is not available, the duties fall to Joel Albrecht as vice president of the council.

"The charter is very specific that the city council cannot appoint one of their members as mayor," Beranek said. "The council needs to declare a vacancy and conduct a search for interested people, which we hope we can accomplish at the next few council meetings."

After a successful candidate is located, the council will then appoint that person to fill the remainder of Schapekahm's term, which won't expire until 2002, at which time whomever is appointed can be placed on the ballot.

"At least one police officer from Germany is coming to the funeral, and the mayor of Neu Ulm is aware of what happened," Police Chief Howard Zins said. "I was over there a few months ago and she sent along her wishes. At Bert's request, six officers are serving as pall bearers."

Several other officers from Germany have been making plans to come, but are running into problems with arranging flights, he said.

"He started the police training exchange (in connection with the Sister Cities Commission) about 20 years ago, and it has turned out to be a very successful program," Zins said.

When Zins started on the force on May 22, 1965, he was 21 years old and looked up to Schapekahm, who was his mentor on the force.

"I really looked up to him and wanted to emulate him in my career," Zins said. "It's ironic, when I think about it, but I will have completed 35 years on the force on Monday (when the funeral is), and Bert was here 35 years when he left."

For two years, they worked on the same shift until Bert was promoted to Sergeant, which he was until his retirement from the force. They even patrolled together several times, Zins said.

"He was a policeman's policeman and always put everyone else's needs before his own," he said. "There is no doubt he would have been promoted to commander, if we would have had that position back then. He always had a special interest in (children)."

For several years, Schapekahm was the supervisor of the school safety program, and would spend a week at a special camp for local children involved in the program. The program no longer exists, but it was a very active group at one time, Zins said.

"Although it's been 35 years, it almost seems like yesterday when I worked with him on the force," he said. "Bert knew everyone and everyone knew him. He was a good guy who will be sorely missed. He was always a great supporter of our needs."

Schapekahm started a collection of shoulder patches from police uniforms from across the country and throughout the world. The collection, located in the Law Enforcement Center, is one of the largest in the country, Zins said.

"His footprints are all over the place here, even though he never worked in this building, and they are good ones," he said. "His name will be here for a long time to come."

Schapekahm was very likely the most loved mayor New Ulm has ever had and he always received genuine affection from the community, which is rarely seen in public officials, Albrecht said.

"He was my best friend and was a joy to be around," he said. "He genuinely celebrated life and always made others enjoy it like he did. This is a great loss we are experiencing."

Schapekahm's death leaves a hole in the community, and there will be other mayors, but there will never be another Bert, he said.