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List of mayors of Oshkosh, Wisconsin

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Oshkosh city hall in 2006

This is a list of mayors of Oshkosh, Wisconsin, USA.[1] Oshkosh was originally incorporated as a city in 1853 with a mayor-council form of government. Executive functions were transferred to a city manager in 1956 and the office of mayor was abolished. The office of mayor was re-established in 1979 as a replacement for the city council president, elected by the city council, with additional ceremonial duties. The office of mayor was then modified again in 2004, to allow voters to directly elect the mayor and grant the mayor veto power over the city council. The city manager, however, remains the chief executive of the city.[2]

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Mayoral elections

Original mayor system (1853–1957)

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Edward Eastman, 1st mayor of Oshkosh, from a visiting card circa 1867
Samuel M. Hay, 5th mayor of Oshkosh, portrait from Notable Men of Wisconsin (1902)
Philetus Sawyer, 9th mayor of Oshkosh
Order Mayor Term start Term end Notes
1 Edward Eastman 1853 1854 [1]
2 Joseph Jackson 1854 1856 [1]
3 Thomas A. Follett 1856 1857 [1]
4 Joseph Jackson 1857 1858 [1]
5 Samuel M. Hay 1858 1860 [1]
6 Benjamin S. Henning 1860 1861 [1]
7 John Fitzgerald 1861 1862 [1]
8 Henry C. Jewell 1862 1863 [1]
9 Philetus Sawyer 1863 1865 Elected 1863. Re-elected 1864.[1]
Elected U.S. representative 1864.
Elected U.S. senator 1881.
10 Carlton Foster 1865 1867 [1]
11 Joseph H. Porter 1867 1868 [1]
12 Charles W. Davis 1868 1869 [1]
13 Joseph H. Porter 1869 1870 [1]
14 Joseph Stringham 1870 1871 [1]
15 James V. Jones 1871 1872 [1]
16 James Jenkins 1872 1873 [1]
17 James V. Jones 1873 1875 [1]
18 Joseph Stringham 1875 1876 [1]
19 Andrew Haben 1876 1878 [1]
20 Sanford Beckwith 1878 1879 [1]
21 Harvey B. Dale 1879 1880 [1]
22 Joseph Stringham 1881 1882
23 George White Pratt 1882 1885
24 Andrew Haben 1885 1886
25 Carlton Foster 1886 1887
26 Harvey B. Dale 1887 1889
27 Ephraim E. Stevens 1889 1890
28 George White Pratt 1890 1891
29 William Dichmann 1891 1893
30 Charles Oellerich 1893 1895
31 Arthur Kellogg 1895 1897
32 Alison B. Ideson 1897 1899
33 James H. Merrill 1899 1901 [3]
34 John Mulva 1901 1905 [3]
35 John Banderob 1905 1909 [3]
36 John C. Voss 1909 1911 [3]
37 John Banderob 1911 1912 [3]
38 John Mulva 1912 1918 [3]
39 A. C. McHenry 1918 1924 [3]
40 Henry F. Kitz 1924 1930 [3]
41 Taylor G. Brown 1930 1933 [3]
42 George F. Oaks 1933 1935 [3]
43 Charles A. Wiechering 1935 1939 [3]
44 George F. Oaks 1939 1947 [3]
45 Ernest R. Siewert 1947 1953 [3]
46 John C. Voss 1953 1955 [3]
47 Ernest R. Siewert 1955 1957 [3]

City manager (1957–present)

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In November 1956, Oshkosh voters agreed to a referendum which abolished the office of mayor and entrusted executive functions to a city manager to be hired by the city council.[4] To this day, the Oshkosh city manager is the chief executive in the city, despite the re-creation of the office of mayor.[2]

Order Manager Term start Term end Notes
1 Hans S. Thorgrimsen 1957 1960
2 Raymond E. Harbaugh 1960 1966
3 Angus Crawford 1966 1970
Acting Jack Schneiuder 1970 1970
4 Gordon Jaeger 1970 1976
Acting David Wendtland 1976 1976
5 William D. Frueh 1976 1996 Resigned 1996.[5]
Acting Gerald Konrad 1996 1996
6 Richard Wollangk 1996 2007 Elected by city council 1996.[6] Resigned 2007.
Acting John Fitzpatrick 2007 2008 [7]
7 Mark Rohloff 2008 present Elected by city council 2008.[8][9]

Hybrid mayor-council president (1979–2005)

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In 1979, the Oshkosh city council voted to re-establish the office of "mayor". The new mayoral office replaced the office of city council president with slightly expanded powers to make appointments to city boards and commissions, and to serve as the ceremonial leader of the city. The mayor was not directly elected, but was chosen by a vote of the city council each April at the start of the city council session for a one-year term. All city councilmembers were at that time elected at-large.[10]

Order Mayor Term start Term end Notes
48 Kenneth Schiefelbein 1979 1980 [11][12]
49 Donald Kutchera 1980 1982
50 Robert Pung 1982 1984 Defeated Kutchera in April 1982 city council vote (4–3)[13]
51 Kathleen Propp 1984 1986 First woman as mayor, elected by council 1984.[14] Re-elected by council 1985.
52 Floyd Chapin 1986 1988 Elected by council 1986.[15] Re-elected by council 1987.
53 James Mather 1988 1990 Elected by council 1988.[16] Re-elected by council 1989.
54 Thomas Binner 1990 1992 Elected by council 1990.[17] Re-elected by council 1991.
55 Robert Jungwirth 1992 1993 Elected by council 1992.[18] Gambling scandal.
56 Richard Wollangk 1993 1996 Defeated Jungwirth in April 1993 city council vote (5–2)[19]
Re-elected by council 1994.
Re-elected by council 1995.
57 William Castle 1996 1998 Elected by council 1996.[20] Re-elected by council 1997.
58 Melanie Bloechl 1998 2000 Elected by council 1998.[21] Re-elected by council 1999.
59 Jon Dell'Antonia 2000 2002 Elected by council 2000.[22] Re-elected by council 2001.
60 Stephen Hintz 2002 2004 Elected by council 2002.[23] Re-elected by council 2003.
61 Mark Harris 2004 2005 Elected by council 2004.[24] Elected county executive 2005.

Mayors (2005–present)

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In November 2004, Oshkosh voters agreed to a referendum which restored the mayor as a directly elected officer with veto power over the city council. Mayors are elected to two-year terms.[25]

Order Mayor Term start Term end Notes
62 William Castle 2005 2007 Elected 2005.[26]
63 Frank Tower 2007 2009 Elected 2007.[27]
64 Paul J. Esslinger 2009 2011 Defeated Tower in 2007 election.[28][29]
65 Burk Tower 2011 2015 Elected 2011.[30] Re-elected 2013.
66 Steve Cummings 2015 2019 Elected 2015.[31][29]
67 Lori Palmeri 2019 2023 First woman popularly elected as mayor.
Defeated Cummings in 2019 election.[32]
Re-elected 2021.[33]
Elected state representative 2022.
68 Matt Mugerauer 2023 present Elected 2023.[34][35]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v Harney, Richard J. (1880). History of Winnebago County, Wisconsin, and early history of the Northwest. p. 183. Retrieved July 6, 2024.
  2. ^ a b "Form of Government". City of Oshkosh. Retrieved July 6, 2024.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Lawrence Kestenbaum (ed.), "Mayors and Postmasters of Oshkosh, Wisconsin", Political Graveyard, retrieved 2024-07-06
  4. ^ "Oshkosh Voters Okay Shift to Council-Manager Setup". Oshkosh Northwestern. November 7, 1956. p. 1. Retrieved July 6, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. ^ "Oshkosh United Way selects campaign heads". Oshkosh Northwestern. June 24, 1997. p. 27. Retrieved July 6, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. ^ "Wollangk named". Oshkosh Northwestern. November 27, 1996. p. 1. Retrieved July 6, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. ^ Rieckman, Stew (December 2, 2007). "Observations indicate acting city manager in control". Oshkosh Northwestern. p. 14. Retrieved July 6, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. ^ "Oshkosh city manager named". Wisconsin State Journal. June 8, 2008. p. 24. Retrieved July 6, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. ^ "City Manager". City of Oshkosh. Retrieved July 6, 2024.
  10. ^ "Oshkosh to be first with council, manager, mayor". The Post-Crescent. January 14, 1979. p. 29. Retrieved July 6, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. ^ "Schiefelbein mas mayor". Oshkosh Northwestern. April 18, 1979. p. 6. Retrieved July 6, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. ^ "Schiefelbein will not run for re-election as mayor". Oshkosh Northwestern. April 15, 1980. p. 1. Retrieved July 6, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  13. ^ "Council picks Pung as new mayor". Oshkosh Northwestern. April 20, 1982. p. 1. Retrieved July 6, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  14. ^ "Honor passed on". Oshkosh Northwestern. April 18, 1984. p. 8. Retrieved July 6, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  15. ^ "Mayor's job is passed on". Oshkosh Northwestern. April 17, 1986. p. 10. Retrieved July 6, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  16. ^ "Council elects Mather mayor". Oshkosh Northwestern. April 19, 1988. p. 1. Retrieved July 6, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  17. ^ "Binner elected mayor". Oshkosh Northwestern. April 18, 1990. p. 9. Retrieved July 6, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  18. ^ "Jungwirth elected mayor". Oshkosh Northwestern. April 22, 1992. p. 1. Retrieved July 6, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  19. ^ "Jungwirth out; Wollangk new mayor". Oshkosh Northwestern. April 21, 1993. p. 1. Retrieved July 6, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  20. ^ Haas, Steve (April 17, 1996). "Castle elected mayor". Oshkosh Northwestern. p. 1. Retrieved July 6, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  21. ^ Trebon, Mitch (April 22, 1998). "Bloechl takes mayor's gavel". Oshkosh Northwestern. p. 1. Retrieved July 6, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  22. ^ Hummel, Alex (April 19, 2000). "Oshkosh has new mayor". Oshkosh Northwestern. p. 9. Retrieved July 6, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  23. ^ Ebert, Karl (April 17, 2002). "Hintz elected Oshkosh mayor". Oshkosh Northwestern. p. 1. Retrieved July 6, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  24. ^ "Congratulations to new local leaders". Oshkosh Northwestern. April 22, 2004. p. 4. Retrieved July 6, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  25. ^ Hummel, Alex (March 27, 2005). "Esslinger: Led effort to elect Oshkosh mayor". Oshkosh Northwestern. p. 7. Retrieved July 6, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  26. ^ Bollier, Jeff (April 20, 2005). "Former mayor moves to executive office". Oshkosh Northwestern. p. 15. Retrieved July 6, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  27. ^ Warner, Bethany K. (April 4, 2007). "First-time candidate narrowly elected as new Oshkosh mayor". Oshkosh Northwestern. p. 22. Retrieved July 6, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  28. ^ Bollier, Jeff (April 8, 2009). "Third time the charm for Esslinger". Oshkosh Northwestern. p. 1. Retrieved July 6, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  29. ^ a b "Deep divide between Oshkosh mayoral candidates", thenorthwestern.com, 2017-03-24
  30. ^ Bollier, Jeff (April 6, 2011). "Tower wins city mayor seat". Oshkosh Northwestern. p. 4. Retrieved July 6, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  31. ^ Woldt, Jennifer K. (April 8, 2015). "Cummings elected new Oshkosh mayor". Oshkosh Northwestern. p. A1. Retrieved July 6, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  32. ^ Shuda, Nathaniel (April 2, 2019). "Lori Palmeri defeats incumbent Steve Cummings in Oshkosh mayoral race". Oshkosh Northwestern. Retrieved July 6, 2024.
  33. ^ Groth, Alex (April 7, 2021). "Voters reelect Oshkosh Mayor Lori Palmeri to second term; three new city council members elected". Oshkosh Northwestern. Retrieved July 6, 2024.
  34. ^ Keasey, Bremen (April 4, 2023). "Matt Mugerauer wins Oshkosh mayor race, council sees shakeup after 2023 spring elections". Oshkosh Northwestern. Retrieved April 4, 2023.
  35. ^ "City Council Directory". City of Oshkosh. Retrieved July 6, 2024.

Further reading

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