BOYLE WON'T RUN AGAIN

State Rep. Frank Boyle, D-Summit, announced this morning that he won't
be seeking re-election in the fall.

Boyle has served as the 73rd District Assemblyman for the last 22
years.

"It has been a tremendous run, and I have enjoyed it immensely," Boyle
wrote in a prepared statement. "But the time has come for me to retire
and enjoy each and every day with my family."

Boyle was known by many as a political maverick -- a straight shooter
who didn't mince words and didn't change his position just because he
traveled from Superior to the state's Capitol. He was never afraid to
take on the controversial issues in which he believed.

He was among the founders of northern Wisconsin's annual grassroots
"Superior Days" lobbying effort and helped organize the Wisconsin
Coalition for Peace and Justice when the President George H.W. Bush
went to war with Iraq.

His first bill after taking office, based on an experiment taking
place in Duluth, made arrest mandatory in cases of domestic abuse. But
his proudest accomplishment in 22 years in office was the state's
biodiversity bill, which redefined how state forests are use.

Boyle stood firm on controversial issues, from medical marijuana to
death with dignity and campaign finance reform.

Failing to achieve campaign finance reform, he said, is among his
biggest disappointments after watching how the people's business is
now being auctioned to the highest bidder because of paid lobbyists.

Leaving office is "a bittersweet decision," he said this morning. But
he's making plans to spend time climbing mountains -- literally --
before his legs give out, collect shells along the Atlantic coastline
and spending time with his family, including his granddaughter, Mary.

"I didn't stay with him for 22 years because he's a jerk," Boyle's
Madison assistant, Mary Lou Kelleher, said this morning. "He truly
cared about people, and I think that's what I saw most in him. ... He
preferred people just call him 'Frank.' He was down to earth, easy to
talk with. He was always upfront about how he felt about things. It
was common for me to tease him and tell him 'why don't you be a little
more upfront with people.'"

Kelleher said she considers Boyle a friend.

Boyle gained a reputation for being the "flower man" at the state
Capitol, Kelleher said. He would stop at the local farmer's market or
a flower shop and come back with flowers he would pass out to men and
women alike at their offices.

"It's been a pleasure working with Frank Boyle," said Mayor Dave Ross,
a Republican. "I have respected Frank because he plays no games, he
doesn't have two messages," one for the district and one for Madison.

"Frank has never not fulfilled a promise he's made when it comes to a
number of issues," Ross said.

While Ross and Boyle couldn't have differed more on core political
views, and have had a number of differences of opinion, they worked
together on a number of issues, including payday lending, a statewide
smoking ban and Leah's Law.

"He got it. He understood it. And fought hard for us in Madison to get
Leah's Law as far as it has gotten," Ross said.

The bill, a result of a grassroots effort by surviving friends and
family of Superior murder victim Leah Gustafson, would create a
violent offender registry similar to the similar one for sex offenders.

In late February, the bill cleared the Assembly Committee for Criminal
Justice.

"Frank has been a real friend," Ross said. "I've enjoyed my
relationship with him ... I'm going to miss Frank. He's a straight shooter."

It's one of the things Kelleher said she is going to miss about Boyle
when he steps down in January, following the next election.

"I have enjoyed meeting and working with the people of the 73rd
Assembly District," Boyle said. "While some of us didn't always agree,
it is my hope that the citizens appreciated the fact that I was clear
about my stance on the issues, rather than sitting on the proverbial
political fence."

"I'm proud of the issues I have taken on, whether those issues became
law or simply needed to be discussed in the public arena," he said.