Life of public service culminates at the Capitol

Above: Sen. Jim Scheer and wife Kris welcome their son John’s twin daughters, Sloan and Delani.

Sen. Jim Scheer has called Norfolk home for all but a few years of his life, and public service has been a nearly constant part of that life.

Calling it his “last gig,” Scheer said the Legislature was the next logical step after serving over 30 years on local school boards, as mayor of Norfolk and most recently as a member of the State Board of Education.

Scheer said he decided while serving on the state board that the Capitol was where he needed to be in order to have a real hand in shaping public policy.

“To have a lasting, meaningful impact,” Scheer said, “this is where you have to be.”

Scheer said the dynamic of the Unicameral is unique in his experience in public service.

Most organizations – including school boards and even the state board of education – meet periodically, he said, which means that it takes time to cultivate connections with colleagues.

“You develop relationships here much faster,” he said. “This is probably the most enjoyable public service experience that I’ve had.”

Scheer said finding work that you love was something he and his wife Kristi stressed to their children: Keeli, who lives in Omaha with her husband and is expecting her first child soon; Rachel, who teaches design part-time at UNL; and John who currently is juggling the demands of graduate school and twin daughters.

“I told them that if they hate going to work every day, their lives are going to be miserable,” Scheer said, adding that he is fortunate enough to have been fulfilled by all of his roles in public service.

Scheer said that he also received some good advice from his predecessor, Mike Flood, former speaker of the Legislature. Flood told him that if you disagree with your colleagues on one issue, it doesn’t mean that you won’t find common ground on the next issue, he said.

“Legislating is an exercise in commonality,” Scheer said. “But it’s also a matter of tenacity” – a trait that the senator recalled displaying early on.

A talkative student, Scheer said his 4th grade teacher creatively attempted to quiet him.

“First she moved my desk to the back of the room away from the other kids,” he said, “then closer and closer to the closet. And when I still insisted on talking to my classmates, she finally put my desk inside the closet and shut the door.”

“That just meant that I had to talk louder,” he laughed.