Regional Partner of the Year

Becker reaches beyond his city’s limits

Gary Becker Mayor of Racine

In his home community, Racine Mayor Gary Becker takes a sociable approach to city government.

He'll return constituents’ calls, drive through neighborhoods to check out complaints and stand on the sidelines of the city's semi-professional football team. But there’s more to the mayor than provincial support of his hometown.

Serving his second term, Becker nearly single-handedly raised Racine’s profile to a national stage. He’s done it largely through his commitment to working with neighboring communities to foster regional cooperation, extend commuter rail and preserve the Great Lakes.

“He’s a big proponent of regionalism,” said Kenosha Mayor John Antaramian, who has led Racine’s neighbor to the south for the past 16 years. “He brings Racine a little more profile than it’s had in a long time.”

Becker is active with the U.S. Conference of Mayors, vice chairman of the Wisconsin Alliance of Cities and active in several Great Lakes organizations, including serving as chairman of the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Cities Initiative. He also is a proponent of extending commuter rail from Kenosha to Milwaukee with a stop in Racine and creating regional transit authorities throughout Wisconsin.

And it’s his understanding that his job responsibilities stretch beyond his city’s limits that led Wisconsin Builder and The Daily Reporter to name him Regional Partner of the Year.

“He’s a leader attempting to move southeast Wisconsin in the right direction — and also the city of Racine,” Antaramian said, adding that Becker takes the time to learn from other communities.

After hearing about Kenosha’s successful housing program, Becker implemented a similar program in Racine. Antaramian said he enjoys the interplay he’s had with Becker while they’ve served their cities.

“Gary and I have gone through each other’s cities a number of times, basically brainstorming how we can work together,” Antaramian said. “[Local governments] all need to talk to each other. We have our own unique problems, but we can borrow ideas from each other all of the time.”

David Ullrich, director of the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Cities Initiative in Chicago, described Becker as a go-to mayor on Great Lakes issues.

“He embodies, maybe more than any of our other mayors, a real solid understanding of how economic growth and environmental restoration are fully integrated and compatible with each other,” Ullrich said, noting a Brookings Institute study that concluded $26 billion invested to protect the Great Lakes would return $50 billion in economic development.

He said Becker doesn’t just talk about the issues. Ullrich described Racine as the envy of the Great Lakes communities for its work on North Beach, which was described in The New York Times as the “Malibu of the Midwest.”

“He’s revitalizing the city, really transforming it from a predominantly industrial to a knowledge-based economy,” Ullrich said.

As chairman of the Great Lakes Initiative, Becker got involved in national issues. He testified before Congress about the dangers of invasive species, advocating a ban on all ocean-faring ships until better cleaning methods are developed.

He also took a public stance, alongside Chicago Mayor Richard Daley and others, against BP’s plan to dump toxic material into Lake Michigan in Indiana, and he has been an active participant in Great Lakes and St. Lawrence conferences over the past four years.

“It’s been clear from the outset,” Ullrich said, “Mayor Becker was a strong leader on the Great Lakes.”

By Dustin Block