The end of an era in the city of De Soto came quietly this week.
At its June meeting on Monday, the City Council bid farewell to Mayor and longtime Councilman Rick Lane. After six consecutive terms – 18 years – Lane stepped down to make room for a new council member, Kathy Smith, who will become the first woman to serve on the council since Betty Mueller (1991 to 1997). Smith ran unopposed in the June 2 municipal election.
Lane departs from the council a few months after fellow Councilman Larry Sanders announced his departure, wrapping an even longer run of service on both the council and the De Soto Board of Education.
Off to the beach
Sanders, 72, and his wife, Vicki, recently moved to a new home in Cape Coral, Fla., on the gulf side between Fort Myers and Naples.
“I’m going to do whatever Vicki wants to do,” Sanders said. “I’ll ride out my life in calm and peace. (The council) won’t miss me much. That’s all right. I’ll ride off in the sunset, and I’ll think about them when they’re freezing their ass off and I’m down here and it’s 90 degrees.”
Starting in 1994, Sanders served eight full terms on the council and part of a ninth term when the council brought him back in 2018 to replace Mayor Rich McCane, who resigned, with Lane taking over as mayor. Sanders was reelected again, by a margin of six votes, in 2019.
He also served four terms on the school board, starting in 1993 (on his second attempt) with a hiatus from 2002 to 2013, when he returned to the board for one more stint.
A Navy and National Guard veteran, Sanders worked for the Union Pacific Car Shops and later ran a cleaning service company for 34 years. Outspoken and even blunt at times in his public service roles, the native De Sotoan left no doubt about his passion for his hometown.
“I ran the course,” Sanders said. “There really isn’t (any achievement to point to) because then I‘d be bragging on myself and I’m not going to do that. I’m proud that I got to serve the people.
“Some are grateful for what you do and some couldn’t care less. I’m just happy I got to be a part of it. There were some good times and there were some tough times.”
One of the latter was the firing of City Manager David Dews in October 2017 with Sanders, as mayor, joining a 5-0 council vote. Dews had run the city for 18 years and later became executive director of the Jefferson County Economic Development Corporation; he died in March 2019.
“I had a good friend in Dave Dews; that was one of the toughest things I had to do since I went on (the council),” Sanders said. “But you’ve got to do what’s right.”
He takes an optimistic view of how his hometown is doing.
“I think we’re very solid right now. The infrastructure is strong (and) we’ve got a great city manager (Todd Melkus). I think overall the people are satisfied with what they’ve done up there. I’m glad the Police Department got squared away. They’re in good hands; we’ve got some good police officers.
“It’s a new council. It’s going to be new leadership.”
He said he wishes the best for Smith.
“She’s sat on the front row (at council meetings) for the last 10 years, so I think she knows how to do what needs to be done.”
At Monday’s council meeting, Autumn Blanchard was sworn in as the appointed replacement for Sanders and will serve the remainder of his term, to April 2022.
A builder at heart
Like Sanders, Lane, who turned 63 in late May, grew up in De Soto. The son of former Jefferson County Councilman Cliff Lane, who represented District 6 from 2011 to 2017, Rick Lane has held the mayor’s role on the De Soto council “five or six times.” He’s also served on the Jefferson County Code Commission – overseer of the county’s building code – for 11 years, most of that time as chairman, and he said he plans to stay on that body “for as long as they’ll have me.”
Serving on the building commission is a good fit for Lane, who has worked for his dad’s construction company, Lane Consolidated Services, his entire adult life.
“I started (with the company) a week before my 18th birthday, right out of high school,” Lane said. “I’m just an all-around guy, just one of those people who is fairly good with their hands. I’ve enjoyed what I do my whole life.
“We do metal buildings, pole barns – whatever people really need is what we’ll do. There’s really no job we don’t take.”
Lane got his start in public service when he won election to the board of directors for the De Soto Rural Fire Protection District in 1997. In 2002, another veteran De Soto city councilman, Roger Charleville, took a hiatus from the council and asked Lane to run in his place. Lane won handily and never looked back.
“It’s been enjoyable. I’ve been fortunate,” he said. “I’ve been able to work usually within 20 miles of my house, for my whole career. And I felt like a little community service wouldn’t hurt me any. The community has given us a lot as a company, dad’s company, and I felt like if I could give back what little expertise I have, then I was all for it.”
Lane said he’s learned a few things along the way about governing a city.
“Somebody told me when I started doing this, the first half of the meeting, the first thing you vote on, you make half the people happy and the other half mad,” he said. “The next part of the meeting, you vote on something else, the first part of the people you made happy, now they’re mad and the other people are happy. But I never worry about it.
“I’ve always felt that (if) I make the best decision I can, with the information I‘m given, I don’t worry about the rest of it. You’re one vote.
“I can say that our council has never been very contentious, so I’m really happy about that.”
Lane added that the city’s infrastructure improvements over the years, including new bridges and a new water tower, are what he takes the most pride in. He’s also gratified to pass the council baton to Smith.
“I asked Kathy to run over a year ago and I was really happy when she decided she had a big interest and would do it. I’m just tickled that she was able to run. She cares about the community.”
Lane said he could offer Smith a few pieces of practical advice.
“You need to listen. Do your homework and know what you’re talking about,” he said. “And the main thing you need is common sense. If you have that, you’ll be a great council member.”
Lane and his wife, Gayle, who retired three years ago from a long career as a teacher and administrator in the
De Soto schools, plan to see more of their three daughters and seven grandchildren, all of whom live in the
De Soto-Hillsboro area.
“My grandkids, they’re fun. You can spoil them and send them home, and that’s not the same as (with) your own kids.”
Melkus, who took over as city manager in October 2018, said he was grateful to work with both Sanders and Lane and for the confidence they put in him.
“Those two have put in a lot of years for the city,” Melkus said. “What people have to remember is, it’s a thankless job. To dedicate that much time to it should be praised. I applaud anyone who wants to be on a council or a board. It’s public service and not everybody’s willing to spend the time to do it.”