PRESIDENT TIMES TWO: Eau Claire’s Berge Now Leads Statewide Municipal Group
E.C. City Council leader also helms League of Wis. Municipalities
Tom Giffey, photos by Andrea Paulseth
In the space of a year, Emily Berge has become a president two times over.
Back in April, she was elected president of the Eau Claire City Council, become leader of the city’s top decision-making body and only the second woman to hold the title in Eau Claire’s history.
Then, in October, she was appointed president of the League of Wisconsin Municipalities, an organization that advocates for the state’s 190 cities and 410 villages.
It’s been a rapid rise to statewide leadership for Berge, who outside of public service is a licensed professional counselor, a mother of two, and a long-distance runner.
Berge was first elected to the City Council in 2018 to represent District 1, which covers much of the city’s north side. She quickly got involved in the League of Wisconsin Municipalities, which among other things provides “Local Gov 101” training for elected officials.
“Council President Berge is one of the best ‘listeners’ I have ever met.” –Jerry Deschane, executive director, League of Wisconsin Municipalities
“It’s a really great resource for newly elected officials and for people who have served,” Berge said. “The League services villages as small as Stockholm” – which boasts a population of just 78 – “and as big as Milwaukee.”
Because nearly every city and village in the state is a member, municipalities are able to use the League as get advice, compare notes, and advocate for they interests in the state Capitol.
“We’re better when we can share information,” Berge said. “The networking is helpful to know how similar sized communities are doing.”
Right before the COVID-19 pandemic hit in 2020, Berge was appointed to the League’s board. The following year, she was elected as the group’s second vice-president, and she became first vice-president in 2022. Her advancement to serve as the League’s 102nd president was affirmed at the organization’s 125th annual conference Oct. 18-20 in Green Bay.
“Council President Berge is one of the best ‘listeners’ I have ever met,” Jerry Deschane, the League’s executive director, said in a media release. “She has a unique capacity for taking in the ideas and inputs from the people around her and helping shape those inputs into real progress. The League will make significant forward progress under her leadership.”
Berge is eager to get to work on her one-year term. Among her focuses will be holding regional meetings to ensure that communities across the state are heard from and represented. It’s rare for League board members to come from the northern half of the state, Berge noted.
“Broadly, it’s just helpful to have Eau Claire (involved) so we can learn what other people are doing,” she said. “What’s working for them, what’s not working for them. Being able to call up the mayor of Green Bay and say, ‘I see that you’re doing this.’ ”
For example, she said, Eau Claire can teach other communities how to attract tourists and how to best capitalize on their outdoor resources. Meanwhile, Eau Claire can learn how other Wisconsin cities are dealing with the problem of water contaminated by PFAS (so-called “forever chemicals”) as well as how they are addressing the issue of homelessness.
Berge also hopes to bring her professional vocation as a counselor to bear on her role. “I’m trying to infuse that as well. It’s hard being a public official,” she noted. “You make very difficult decisions in the public eye.” For example, a proposal to welcome refugees to Eau Claire has drawn a flood of angry correspondence to officials’ inboxes recently.
Part of Berge’s role will be writing a monthly column for the League’s magazine, and she hopes to use that platform to offer tips on how local government leaders can protect their own mental health and wellbeing.
“As a mental health counselor and council president, I know how important relationships are,” she said. “In my role as League president, I will do what I can to strengthen relationships between municipalities as well as connections with our partners."
