MPR’s Gary Eichten interviews George Latimer, out-going mayor of St. Paul. Latimer talks about the mixed emotions of leaving political seat he has held for over a decade, but says he looks forward to his new role as dean of Hamline University's law school.
GEORGE LATIMER: It's a mixed feeling. One thing is to decide and to know that it's time to move along. But emotionally, it's hard to let go to a job that you've worked so hard at and you love as much as I do. And so to say it's mixed feelings is to overstate the parts that are positive, today at least. It's kind of sad, frankly.
One of the things that reflected the way I felt was the first person I ran into after I walked out of the polling booth was a woman I've known for many years and a neighbor, and she gave me a big hug because she felt the same way I did, like it's kind of a drawing a close to something that's been very, very engaging and fulfilling and meaningful I think certainly to me, and I hope to some other people.
GARY EICHTEN: Do you think maybe you made the wrong decision? You should have stuck around?
GEORGE LATIMER: No, no. I don't mean to reverse my decision. I'm just being honest with you about the way I feel. It's letting go. The fact that you know it's time to let go doesn't make it any less painful when you finally do those kind of ritual or formal acts that do execute your decision. It doesn't make it less painful. It's still-- I knew it would be painful, and I've been so fully occupied working that I haven't thought about it a whole lot. And so it all came down on me today as I got up and ready to get about the day of electing the next mayor.
Naturally, by tonight, I'll probably get real excited about the election results. But for now, I feel a little touch of sadness.
GARY EICHTEN: Mayor, as far as I know, except maybe for your first election, you never had a close election in the city. Did you get nervous on election night anyway?
GEORGE LATIMER: Nervous is the wrong word, but I was excited, filled with anticipation, wondering at times whether or not my-- I never did a lot of polling. And therefore, you wondered whether things were going as well, if people supported you as strongly as you hoped. So there'd always be a certain amount of apprehension and concern about what will the outcome be. But it was more excitement than anything else and a lot of fun as well.
But I can't really-- I'd be lying if I said that I was deeply worried about the outcome. But any good politician will tell you that there's no feeling like when the votes are finally in. There's something definitive about that. And all the rhetoric and the agonizing and all the rest becomes secondary when the facts speak for themselves.
GARY EICHTEN: Can we expect to see Latimer on the ballot sometime in the future, not for mayor but for some other office?
GEORGE LATIMER: I would not bet on that at all. I wouldn't-- you never want to say it would never possibly happen, but I'm committing myself with all the energy at my command to being the dean of the Hamline University Law School, and that's a real commitment. And if you look at my life history, I don't make commitments lightly. And so I'm going to commit myself to that and really throw myself into it and be engaged in the Hamlin community, be part of the St. Paul and the Minnesota community.
But for at least for the next three to four years, I'll be fully engaged in being the dean of the Hamline University Law School. In the future, beyond that, I think only God knows what things might unfold for everyone. But it certainly isn't as though I'm planning to do anything in that second phase.
GARY EICHTEN: OK, thanks very much, Mayor.
GEORGE LATIMER: Nice talking to you, Gary.
GARY EICHTEN: Good talking with you.
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