August 14, 2017 at 3:51 p.m.
New street foreman settling in
Mulhern brings 20 years of experience to city
New street foreman settling in
Dan Mulhern took the position of street foreman effective Aug. 1.
The leadership position, formally known as street superintendent, became vacant in May when Tony Gilman resigned to take over as the city of Baraboo's street superintendent. Gilman had been with the department for 19 years before his resignation.
Mulhern was the village of Arlington's street superintendent for about 10 years before accepting the position in Rhinelander. He also worked from 1998-2007 as a water treatment plant operator in the city of Portage.
Public works director Tim Kingman said Friday it is this breadth of experience that made Mulhern the perfect candidate among the "several" who applied for the job. He declined to say how many applications, in total, were received.
"We are very excited about him assuming the duties of the person he replaces and just glad he is aboard and looking forward to our future together," Kingman said.
The City Council last month formally changed the job title of street superintendent to foreman. Kingman said Mulhern was made aware that the change might happen during the hiring process.
"That was a city decision, we were involved in the hiring (process)," Kingman said. "But he was made aware of it."
"It's just a job name to me, the duties are all the same," Mulhern said. "I've had several different job titles in my career. I've got nearly two decades of experience and I've had several different job titles. I'll do a good job whatever the title is."
Mulhern said the village of Arlington has a population just under 1,000, and doesn't have the number of streets that Rhinelander has, but he has experience in city of comparable size to Rhinelander.
"It (Arlington) is a smaller scale than Rhinelander has, but I did work for the city of Portage before that, which is similar in size (to Rhinelander)," Mulhern said, adding that he is familiar with the Hodag City. "For years I've been coming up here, be it for snowmobiling, fishing, hunting or whatever. I've always really liked the area and that has always led into looking for a job opportunity up here from where I was."
He said he is looking forward to overseeing just one department, as opposed to the many hats he wore in Arlington.
"In my previous jobs, I've had to wear multiple hats: water, sewer, parks, streets," Mulhern said. "I can just excel in one aspect of the job. That's the aspect that I'm looking forward to in the job."
He said he will continue his education in all aspects of public works, he added.
"It all works with the utilities and the street," Mulhern said. "It all works hand-in-hand with the operation of the street."
Mulhern was introduced to the members of both the public works and water and wastewater committee last Monday and was expected to meet the full City Council last night.
Because the street foreman position is not a department head, Mulhern's hiring did not require City Council action, interim city administrator Keith Kost said.
Jamie Taylor may be reached via email at [email protected].
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