Mayor Pro Tem finds herself at city’s helm

When Millie Youngquist retired from 38 years as a music teacher in 2012, she started looking for another passion to fill her time. It didn’t take long for the Chamber of Commerce to find out, and urge her to get involved as co-chair for the city of Washington’s 175th anniversary in 2014.

One thing led to another. Youngquist soon found herself volunteering more with the Chamber. She eventually ran for an at-large position on the Washington City Council, won the seat, and won re-election in 2020. She also maintains leadership roles for the Washington Community Foundation, Performing Arts Series, Great Places Committee and Farm to Film Festival Board, among others.

"I really care about this community and I wanted to give back after years of living here,“ she said. ”I felt I could make a difference, I could lead this city forward … and try to make things as good as we can for all the residents.“

The duty was more or less what she expected, although she hadn’t realized going in how often she’d be “on the hot seat,” answering to the press and general public about any comment made, decision taken or vote cast.

It was easy enough to adapt to. Youngquist said the situation wasn’t unlike her teaching days.

“We have to be aware that you’re speaking not just for yourself, but for the city, and to not say anything too crazy without thinking about it,” she said. “Like being a teacher, you can’t go overboard on something and go on some kind of a rant. You have to always be aware of what you’re saying, you don’t want to alienate people.”

When Youngquist took on the title of Mayor Pro Tem in 2020, it was more or less as a formality. The duty would involve running meetings on rare dates when the mayor was absent, but would otherwise have few differences from her role as a city council member.

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That changed, drastically, in late January, when the mayor began a voluntary, unpaid leave of absence amid criminal charges. In the roughly nine months since then, Youngquist has stepped up to the plate, taking on all “the duties of the mayor,” as required by city code.

“It seemed, at that time, that it was only going to be a matter of several months,” Youngquist said. “And it’s turned into a much longer time frame … I hope that we’ll have a resolution sometime soon, it’s just gone on much longer than we thought it would.”

With Mayor Jaron Rosien on leave, Youngquist has not only run meetings in his place, but taken on the intensive schedule of appointments, committee obligations and email-reading that come with the long-term job of “steering the ship,” in her words.

Again, she said the feeling was similar to one from her teaching days.

“I feel like a substitute teacher,” she said. “I didn’t make the lesson plan, I’m not the permanent person, I’m just taking the plans we’ve got and trying to keep things moving forward, listen to other people that have guidance or information for me.”

That, admittedly, comes with some downsides.

Youngquist said she had to make sacrifices to free up time for running the city, leaving a Bible study group and stepping away from her position as president of the Women of Washington, a group formerly known as city’s chapter for the American Association of University Women.

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Nonetheless, Youngquist said she appreciated the newfound connections with her community. Serving as Washington’s active mayor also includes the good news days, swearing in new officers, attending city festivals and talking to a wide range of people. Those types of connections kept her engaged with politics over the last decade or so, drawing a contrast from the day-to-day operations of another Washington, 915 miles to the east.

It’s worth noting that Youngquist disagreed, often, with former President Donald Trump. She said she saw his administration move American politics away from a matter of helping people, and toward a matter of winning at all costs.

“I saw things during that administration that I did not agree with,” she said. “The way he treated people, the way he spoke about people, saying things to whip up his supporters.”

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She said the political approach had repeated itself in Iowa, resulting in bills that passed because they force tax cuts, without regard for the bind they put on local elected officials who need to maintain services, infrastructure and staff with less money.

All said, Youngquist is grateful that Washington’s municipal elections are nonpartisan. She credits that, and the people who’ve run for office in town, with the city’s success in avoiding adversarial governance.

“People who run, for the most part, are dedicated to moving this city forward,” she said. “(They) are dedicated to ensuring that services are available to all the citizens, looking at the big picture instead of just one issue they may have. I think the people on the council are dedicated to serving Washington, and if there were political parties, it could be more about posturing … and pigeonholing people into categories. Whereas now, we are citizens of Washington. That’s our common cause.”

Comments: Kalen.McCain@southeastiowaunion.com