There will always be the infamous raccoon story, just one of the many times public policy intersected with the wit and wisdom of Bill Dotzler.
Dotzler’s speech on the floor of the Iowa Senate was during debate on a bill that would approve year-round hunting and trapping of wildlife considered to be nuisances like raccoons, possums and skunks.
The Democratic senator’s recollection of tangling with a furry foe was not about a Republican across the aisle, but a real-life raccoon — a tale that went viral on social media.
Dotzler, of Waterloo, recalled the time he crossed paths with a raccoon on his RAGBRAI bus feasting on the food he had on board before the furry critter added even more insult to injury.
“That raccoon defecated in my hat on the way out of the bus,” he said, drawing laughter from the Senate chamber.
Now, after 30 years of serving in the Iowa Legislature (six years in the Iowa House and 24 years in the Senate), Dotzler, 77, is hanging it up, leaving behind a combination of serious determination to serve his constituents and the state of Iowa blended with a quick wit and well-developed sense of humor.
During his time in the Iowa Legislature, peers say he has been a passionate and tireless advocate for Iowa’s workers.
Dotzler can go from fiery to humorous to choked with emotion in a heartbeat depending on the mood and the issue, qualities that peers say translate to dealing with a person who is constantly genuine.
Former state senator Nate Boulton who served eight years in the senate, said Dotzler was always genuine about his emotions and feelings on legislation.
“He’s a guy that kind of comes off with a gruff exterior but when an issue hit him emotionally and meaningfully, you also saw that. There were times he would show emotion, his voice would crack as he’s talking about something that impacts people in disadvantaged situations and would do them harm. That compassion was genuine and real,” Boulton said.
On the other end, if something made him angry, Boulton said Dotzler had no qualms about not holding back and showing that passion in a floor speech.
“Those two things are great, but I think the biggest thing people will remember about Bill Dotzler is all of the completely out-of-the-blue stories and cliches that would come out in debates at any moment and cause your head to turn and say, ‘What did he just say?’
“I mean, he was a master of dropping in some of those things. You saw Republicans and Democrats usually stop what they were doing to listen to Bill Dotzler because you didn’t really know what was going to happen during that speech and I think a lot of times you can include Bill Dotzler in the people that didn’t know what was going to happen in that speech,” Boulton said.
Dotzler has dyslexia, an affliction not readily recognized when he was growing up and a condition that left him feeling stupid at times.
“My brain works different,” Dotzler admits, “and I’m a crier, I show my emotions.”
Dotzler also readily admits to using humor to make his points.
“I have learned that humor is the best way to get people to pay attention to you,” he said.
He grew up in Waterloo, selling peanuts as a boy at the now defunct Tunis Speedway. He served in the U.S. Army with top secret military clearance in Berlin and received an associate’s degree from North Iowa Area Community College and a degree in biology from the University of Northern Iowa.
“I thought I might work as a state biologist and then I found out at that time a (John Deere) worker was making better money, had more time off, better benefits than a state biologist did,” Dotzler said about beginning a career as a machinist in the Tractor Works.
Soon, Dotzler became a union steward within the plant because “they said I was the lippiest.”
It is that union and machine operator experience that drove Dotzler to becoming a champion for Iowa workers and economic development.
“I’ve always understood for workers to succeed, the business needs to succeed and then the workers should be treated fairly in that process. I think there’s got to be a balance,” Dotzler said.
Janice Weiner, the Senate minority leader from Iowa City, said it is Dotzler’s broad experience in the Legislature and in the private sector that prompted her to appoint him as Senate whip.
She said it is Dotzler’s humor and vast experience that she will miss the most once he is gone.
“We will miss his sense of humor. We will miss his ability to pull up some story that either none of us know about, no one can remember, or that’s uniquely Bill, like his raccoon story from a couple of years ago that went viral on the floor,” Weiner said.
Rita Hart, who served with Dotzler in the Legislature and now chairs the Iowa Democratic Party, said his contributions to the party and the state of Iowa cannot be understated.
“I mean, he’s just been such a strong advocate, not only for the Democratic Party, but really for Democratic principles. Bill Dotzler is a personification of what democracy is all about,” Hart said.
“He wants things to be fair and everything that he has done in his work as a legislator has reflected those deep values of opportunity and fairness and freedom in thought and in action,” Hart added.
Hart also praised Dotzler for his bi-partisanship and ability to work with Republican lawmakers.
“He’s the epitome, I think, of what a state legislator ought to do under that dome in order to get things done,” Hart said.
Dotzler said the decision to leave the Senate was driven by the desire to spend more time helping care for an ailing mother.
But watching what he considers the cognitive decline of both former President Joe Biden and current President Donald Trump also provided motivation, described in a most Dotzler-like way: “I need to get out of here before the cheese slides off my cracker, so to speak.”
But retiring from politics? Not yet. Dotzler has thrown his hat in the ring to be a Black Hawk County supervisor.
“We’ll see what happens, and I’ll keep an eye on my cheese, you know, in the meantime,” Dotzler said.
Kevin Baskins covers jobs and the economy for the Des Moines Register. Reach him at kbaskins@registermedia.com.
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Bill Dotzler says farewell after 30 years in the Iowa Legislature
Reporting by Kevin Baskins, Des Moines Register / Des Moines Register
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