by J. Brooks Terry
Staff Writer
How does Kevin Hyde balance a family, a thriving legal career and his term as City Council President? Very well, but not without a lot of effort.
“It’s definitely a juggling act, but luckily I work with a lot of really good people,” said Hyde, a partner at Foley & Lardner who was elected Council president in June. “My associates and my partners have been a tremendous help during this time. It would be much more difficult, probably impossible, without that support.”
Hyde said his work out of town also has been significantly reduced as of late. At one time known for being away on business a few days every week, he estimates that he’s cut back on that practice by at least 70 percent.
“After I took office two years ago I started traveling less and less,” he said. “And when I became president I had to scale back even more. My co-workers are the ones doing most of the traveling now and I only go out of town if absolutely necessary.”
But that extra face time here in town doesn’t mean Hyde is ever in one place for very long. Back-to-back meetings in different offices downtown make him a tough guy to find on most days of the week and it doesn’t help that the man moves fast.
“All I can say it that Blackberries are a wonderful thing. That’s always a good way to get a hold of me,” he said. “And both of my aides, Dianne Galloway and Alison Miller, do a wonderful job of working together to keep track of me and knowing where I need to be.”
Hyde said leading the Council has its perks — it is the No. 2 position at City Hall after the Mayor — but that the “excitement” is the kind of thing you can never fully appreciate before that first day on the job.
“I talked to (past presidents) Jerry (Holland), Lad (Daniels) and Elaine (Brown) and each of them told me the same things about the demands of being here,” he said, “but now that I’m experiencing this firsthand, now that I’m the point person for so many issues, I realize that there is no way I could have come into this completely prepared. I couldn’t have understood without living through it.”
Hyde credits his family with helping him make the high-profile transition into the Council hot seat. Without quality time on the weekend with wife Kathi and teenage daughters Michael and Virginia, sanity would be a hard thing to maintain.
“Sunday is family time, all day,” Hyde said. “The girls are at the age now where they’re getting more heavily involved in their own activities, but it’s important that we still have that time together, no matter how limited. I have a very understanding family.”
So with the variety of demands he faces each day, Hyde must be looking forward to stepping down next year, right? Wrong. Hyde estimates he will still have a long wish list when his successor takes over the presidency.
“As I’ve been told by the people who have come before me, I’m sure it will continue to go by quickly, that there will be goals left when it’s over,” he said. “I know I’ll probably feel the same way. I guess that’s just the way it goes.”