WAUWATOSA, Wis. — Wauwatosa Mayor Dennis McBride didn't want to forget his tumultuous first year in office during 2020. Instead, he wrote about it.
McBride's new book, "A City on the Edge," chronicles his baptism by fire as mayor during one of the most challenging periods in recent American history. He was sworn in during April 2020, just one month after the pandemic began.
"My first chapter in the book is called Microcosm because we truly were a microcosm of everything that was going on in America. We had 98 days and nights of protests. I was dealing with the pandemic. We were all dealing with that," McBride said.
During his first year, McBride faced protests over a fatal police shooting and pressure to fire Officer Joseph Mensah, who was not charged with a crime. He issued an emergency curfew that prompted lawsuits against the city and pushback for calling in the National Guard in the wake of those protests. A mass shooting at Mayfair Mall that injured eight people added to the challenges, all during a hyper-partisan presidential election year.
Watch: 'Government is a messy thing': Wauwatosa mayor reflects on turbulent first year in new book
The weight of constant decision-making took its toll on the mayor.
"Certainly weighed on me. I woke up in the middle of every night, and then the mind starts racing, so I can't say my sleep patterns were very good during 2020. I have reflected back many times, and minor decisions I could have done better, major decisions I am completely comfortable with," McBride said.
McBride strongly believed he did not have the power or authority to fire Mensah as mayor. Only the city's Fire and Police Commission could make that decision through due process. The city eventually reached a financial settlement for Mensah to leave.
The disagreements led to protests outside McBride's home and ugly messages scribbled on the sidewalk.
"I did not live in fear. I don't live that way, but I was guarded," McBride said.
The mayoral position pays $30,000 annually with long hours for the Wauwatosa East alumnus. A trial lawyer by trade, journalism runs in McBride's DNA. His parents, Raymond and Marian "Toni" McBride, were successful journalists at the Milwaukee Sentinel and Milwaukee Journal.
The book serves as more than a reflection of Wauwatosa's experiences. It examines an inflection point in politics and history with a methodical look at how other cities faced similar challenges in 2020. McBride believes there are lessons for everyone about the role of government.
"It will serve multiple purposes. I hope that people will read it and understand better how government works. Government is a messy thing. It's messy because we all need to get involved, and things happen that sometimes are out of our control," McBride said.
Five years later, after winning a second term with nearly 60% of the vote, McBride's optimism remains cautious about the current political environment.
"I'm not sure how we're going to come out of it, but what I do know from history and my own history and what happened in Wauwatosa is we only come out of things if we work hard to make good things happen, and we have to do that by reaching across the aisle to people that we don't normally agree with," McBride said.
Indiana University Press provided an excerpt of McBride's book.
This story was reported on-air by Charles Benson and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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