After 33 years of guiding Port, Grams to retire as administrator

Port Washington City Administrator Mark Grams, who has helped shaped the city’s policies for the past three and a half decades, announced Tuesday he will retire early next year.

“I’ve only got six or seven more meetings,” Grams told the Common Council. “It’s time to move on and have someone else sit up here.”

Grams, who is only the city’s second administrator, said he hasn’t decided on his last day at work, although it will be around Feb. 1.

Grams said he told city officials of his decision earlier, prompting Mayor Marty Becker to say, “You said six or seven months, not six or seven meetings.”

City Attorney Eric Eberhardt added, “You didn’t say Feb. 1 of what year.”

Becker lauded Grams’ dedication and work ethic, saying, “Mark does a really good job. I know it’s frustrating, but I appreciate the job you’ve done.”

Grams, who turned 65 in August, has been at the city’s helm for 33 years and worked with eight mayors and numerous aldermen.

“I’ve had good councils and good mayors,” Grams said. “But most of all, I’ve had a good staff and department heads.”

He helped the city transition from a factory town to a community driven by tourism and its lakefront location, managing tight budgets and increasing requirements along the way.    

Grams worked as an intern in Wauwatosa  and Brown Deer, then went to work as community development director and Chamber of Commerce director in Glencoe, Minn. After a couple years, he became city administrator in Mayville, where he worked for about six years before coming to Port Washington in May 1986.

Port’s location on the shore of Lake Michigan helped draw him to the city, Grams said, and he counts many of the lakefront projects the city has undertaken — protecting the north slip, developing Coal Dock and Rotary Parks, to name a few — as some of his biggest accomplishments.

During his years, he has served as a voice of reason and a moderating force, shepherding the city’s growth and expansion while also keeping a close eye on costs.

While Grams has done much of his work behind the scenes, he has also served as the face of the city and, in recent years, has taken on a more vocal role in government.

For example, as the Common Council has considered whether to build a satellite fire station and what should go into it, Grams has been outspoken in urging aldermen to take a measured approach and not overbuild a facility.

Grams has been a part of building or renovating every city building — “I think I’ve got my name on every building in the city,” he said — but one event during his tenure stands out, Grams said.

That was the visit by President Ronald Reagan on July 27, 1987.

“Working with the Secret Service, the FBI — that was probably the neatest thing I did,” Grams said.

The city’s Personnel Committee is expected to meet to discuss how to replace Grams sometime next week.

  Grams said he has been contemplating retirement for a while, noting two of his brothers have passed away in recent years.

“It’s time to enjoy life a little more,” he said. “It’s time to go out.

“I’m missing too many tee times.”