Deiter helping City of Brillion in new role

June 11, 2020

By David Nordby

The Brillion News

BRILLION – It was an abrupt resignation when Gary Deiter stepped down as Brillion mayor in February, but now he’s found himself back helping the city on the Plan Commission.

Deiter’s role with the Plan Commission was made official at a recent city council meeting.

“I told [Mayor] Mel [Edinger] that I will volunteer for that because I still believe in the things that we’re doing and how we’re going to progress in the community, but it takes a team effort. You can’t be a quitter and walk around with a bad attitude,” Deiter said.

Deiter had first been elected mayor of the city in 2009, but medical challenges for both himself and his wife, Linda, forced him to resign.

“It kind of hurt me that I did do that, but then again I had to go on the side of reality,” Deiter said.

The current mayoral term expires in spring 2021, and Deiter had planned to fulfill the term until that was no longer possible.

“I didn’t want to retire. I’m not a quitter from the word go. There’s a lot of things that I want to see Brillion succeed [with] because we worked hard over many numbers of years, many of us, to make sure Brillion succeeds,” Deiter said.

This winter, before Deiter resigned, government meetings had become challenging for him to attend.

“It got to a point I had no energy left. I was burnt out. I would get up in the morning and have breakfast and I couldn’t go outside. It took me a lot to blow snow, even though I have a big Ariens snowblower,” Deiter said. “It took me a couple hours … because I would need to stop and sit down for a while.”

After Deiter resigned, longtime alderperson Mel Edinger agreed to serve out the final year of Deiter’s term.

Now, Deiter and Linda both have medical obstacles behind them.

“Mel called me … about some things that he needed to know. He was talking about trying to get someone on the [Plan Commission],” Deiter said.

Please see the complete story in the June 11, 2020 edition of The Brillion News.