Dwight Coleman reflects on 12 years at city’s helm

    Dwight Coleman served as  mayor of Imperial for three terms, retiring from the position Dec. 5 when new mayor Craig Loeffler took the oath of office.
    “Before I became mayor, I had not been involved in anything political, or even volunteer work.  At the time I looked at being mayor as giving back to the community,” he said.
    The position of mayor has some authority, but being able to work well with the city council is very important, he said.  
    “I have been happy with the accomplishments the city council and I have done these past 12 years, but it’s time I moved on, politics wise,” he said.  
    “I will still be active with service to the community, but now in a more anonymous way,” he added.
    Among the accomplishments Coleman cited he and the council share are many efforts in community development and infrastructure.
    “Several years ago we acquired the Harchelroad automotive dealership building and it now houses the fire department,” he said.  
    He said they have also been conscious of a proactive approach in housing and industry because Imperial is one of the few smaller communities experiencing growth.
    “Our population has been constant for some time, but at least it has not been dropping.  This growth is due to some of our younger people in farm families moving back to town that at some point had left,” he said.
    The philosophy he said they had was one of improving situations that needed the city’s attention, but not overhauling everything.
    Coleman said during the years he was mayor there would, at times, be discussions on the role of the city police department.  
    “The council and I were always in agreement that our police department filled its role well and as it should,” he said.
    The Imperial Manor nursing home and Parkview Heights are owned by the city of Imperial but are self-sustained, not-for-profit facilities.  
    He noted the senior care facilities some years ago were run by a management firm that had not been optimum for the needs, Coleman said.  Since the firm had been headquartered out of town a lot of people had to be consulted to move some things forward.
    Several years ago, city officials organized a five-member senior services board that initiated a reorganization of management and staffing and now the facilities are profitable and sustainable for the future, he said.  
    Before the restructuring, the city had loaned the Manor money that has since been paid back, he said.
    Charities are important, too, Coleman said.  
    Nine years ago he started the Mayor’s Charity Motorcycle Poker Run, a 200-mile event in which riders make stops and draw playing cards.
    The holders of winning hands receive prizes and money raised overall goes to a charity. One charity that is contributed to is the Giving Circle.  The first year drew 10 riders.  
    “One year it ebbed to five, but we have had as many as 40 riders.  In the nine years of the Poker Run the charity has brought in some $12,000,” he said.
    Coleman has lived in Imperial for 25 years with his wife Tracy. They have three children and three grandchildren.
    He will continue to operate his Dwight Coleman Trucking company, which he also did while serving as mayor. He presently has one truck with himself as driver and dispatcher, delivering feed commodities and driving about 75,000 miles a year.