You\u2019ve probably heard his voice over the airwaves during his morning show on WTMJ Radio. If not, you probably watched him comfort a grieving city in the aftermath of the 2012 Sikh temple shooting.<\/p>\n
And if you were at 51ÁÔÆæ in the early 1980s, you would have seen him in the halls on his way to his mass communication classes.<\/p>\n
Steve Scaffidi graduated from UW-Milwaukee in 1983. Since then, he\u2019s enjoyed an exciting career spanning the private sector, public service, and \u2013 these days in his job as a radio host on WTMJ \u2013 the mainstream media. Through it all, he\u2019s kept his focus on his values and forging connections with the people of Milwaukee and beyond.<\/p>\n
Scaffidi sat down to talk about his work, his time as the mayor of Oak Creek during the Sikh temple shooting (he even wrote a book about it), and his dad\u2019s pasta sauce.<\/p>\n
I grew up in Cudahy. My dad was a meteorologist at the airport. We moved to Oak Creek and I graduated from Oak Creek High School. I was a good student \u2013 not great, but good \u2013 and wasn\u2019t completely sure what I wanted to do, so I took a year off. I worked a ton of different jobs. Then I went to 51ÁÔÆæ because I started to have an interest in television\/radio\/broadcasting.<\/p>\n
51ÁÔÆæ \u2013 I loved the campus. I loved getting out a little bit beyond Oak Creek. I remember going to William Ho\u2019s down the street on Oakland Avenue. I lived there in college. A lot of my friends went to 51ÁÔÆæ. I started dating my wife of now 37 years at 51ÁÔÆæ.<\/p>\n
I was always a pretty good speaker. I\u2019m a good writer too, and that\u2019s part of what I do now. I wanted to do something in communications. Radio\/TV seemed like a fun thing to study. The funny thing is, I ended up working in television, but on the research side for 28 years.<\/p>\n
I don\u2019t know how much you know about the ratings; in the old days, people filled out diaries \u2013 \u201cI watched the \u2018Dick Van Dyke Show\u2019 from 4 to 5 p.m.\u201d When I was coming in, it was the advent of new technology. The term is \u201cpeople meter.\u201d It was just a little device that people logged into. I was responsible, at the time, for convincing people to participate. I did that all over northern California. I did that job probably about 3 years.<\/p>\n
Fast forward doing a lot of jobs, I became a marketing manager supervisor for Milwaukee\/Minneapolis. Then I worked on the national samples. The last five years, I went to special projects, which was taking technology and figuring out the different ways people could watch TV. \u2026 Our group had to figure out, how can we measure what people watch on their phones or their computers? Of course, the answer is software.<\/p>\n
I was interested in politics. I love the city that I lived in, but I never thought that we were respected in southeastern Wisconsin the way that we should be, given all of the things we have going for us. I saw this malaise. Nothing was inspiring about the city. I thought, we can do something bigger and better, and that\u2019s what made me run.<\/p>\n
I was a guy that appreciated business and came from the private sector. I appreciated economic development and building business. I didn\u2019t see a lot of that, and I didn\u2019t want Oak Creek to be a one-trick pony. I wanted us to embrace the 21st century.<\/p>\n
We put in a new interchange while I was mayor \u2013 Drexel Avenue. It was the first one in 40 years, and it was not an easy decision. People did not want to spend the money, but it seemed like it made sense. Now that\u2019s the access point for the downtown and IKEA. If that didn\u2019t happen, there would not have been an IKEA. (We also built) Drexel Town Square.<\/p>\n
I was elected in April. The Sikh Temple shooting happened in August that same year. I had literally no ramp-up at the time to even understand what was involved. So, I had a really quick course in public\/private (relationships), and how faith groups interact with their communities. Whatever skills I was missing, I had to learn them quickly. That also involved media skills. I went from being a small-city mayor on the day of the shooting to my friends on a trip in Italy watching me on CNN International.<\/p>\n
I got the phone call around 10:30 a.m. The fire chief called me: \u2018We have a shooting.\u2019 That was followed up by the police chief: \u2018One of our officers was shot.\u2019 Officer Brian Murphy, whom I knew from a previous meeting as mayor. He was part of our emergency response \u2013 SWAT \u2013 team.<\/p>\n
I was working in my garden that morning. I quickly had to shower and throw a suit on. I went to City Hall and contacted the city administrator, the city attorney, all of the aldermen. I went to the scene and was in this big SWAT vehicle trying to assess what\u2019s going on and who else did I need to call for the rest of the day.<\/p>\n
At one point, the fire chief comes running up to me and goes, \u2018You\u2019ve got to answer your phone! The White House is calling.\u2019 We had a live press conference at 4 p.m. where we were basically speaking to the world. I had a short speech. I still have the piece of paper at home where we wrote it out. The city attorney wrote it because my handwriting is so bad. It was, \u2018Thoughts and prayers, we will cooperate fully with the FBI\u2019 \u2013 things that mayors say.<\/p>\n
I drove back to City Hall in my blue Ford Escape. I\u2019m sitting in the parking lot, and the phone rings. It\u2019s a woman\u2019s voice: \u2018Is this the mayor of Oak Creek? Hold for the President of the United States.\u2019 Barack Obama comes on the phone.<\/p>\n
It is the weirdest feeling in the world. Everybody knows his voice. You\u2019re just listening thinking, this is not real. He did all the things presidents do \u2013 reassured us, said we\u2019ll provide you all the help you need. If they had a transcript of the call, you would have seen his brilliance against my stuttering nonsense. I\u2019d never talked to a president before.<\/p>\n
Because of that conversation and what we did \u2026 I got invited to the White House at least 10 times over the next few years. After the Sandy Hook tragedy, I was invited and I met all of those folks. All of the work the President did on gun violence, I was part of that. It wasn\u2019t about politics; whenever I talked with the President I always joked with him that I never voted for him. He laughed about that.<\/p>\n
There is now! This is a cool thing \u2013 the night after the shooting, after the President called me, I got a call from Steve Hogan. He was the mayor of Aurora, Colorado, where the movie theater shooting had happened just two weeks before ours. He got my number from the city clerk. He goes, \u2018Look, I know you\u2019re busy, but we just went through this and I have some advice.\u2019 \u2026 Just that little bit of wisdom in a five-minute call was life-saving. When people credit me with a good response, I learned from him. I actually got to meet him at the U.S. Conference of Mayors a year later.<\/p>\n
Since then, the Department of Justice has put together a guide, and all of the mayors who went through this are cited in it with detail on how we responded. I\u2019m really proud of it.<\/p>\n
What I am really proud of is not all of the official stuff; it\u2019s the friendships and relationships I developed after. \u2026 We all know what happened: Six then, now seven people died from the shooting. We know it was a white supremacist that acted alone. We know that Brian Murphy miraculously survived (after being) shot over a dozen times.<\/p>\n
But the other parts of this story \u2013 how the community came together, how the faith groups responded, which was unbelievable. In my book, I detail a lot about individuals from the Sikh Temple, and how we interacted and worked together to figure things out. The Sikh community is amazing. So compassionate and smart. They were worried about us, even with all of the tragedy that had happened to them. They are just unbelievable people. I\u2019m close with so many of them now; they invite me to their weddings. They\u2019ve been to my house. It\u2019s a friendship that\u2019s endured.<\/p>\n
If that shooting doesn\u2019t happen, I probably don\u2019t have this job. I became very familiar with local media. A couple of people here saw me on TV and that connection was how (I got this job). I literally got a phone call between Christmas and New Years\u2019 from (the WTMJ station manager) who said, \u2018Ever think about doing radio?\u2019<\/p>\n
It was a gamble, (but) it\u2019s been a fun 5 years. It\u2019s the greatest job I\u2019ve ever had. I grew up with WTMJ. My dad actually taped weather forecasts on WTMJ in the \u201860s.<\/p>\n
I have three hours (every weekday morning) to talk about things that people care about, things I care about. I can weave personal stuff into it, which is the biggest way, I think to establish a bond between fans of the show and the host. They know that you\u2019re going through this things with them. That\u2019s the magic of it for me.<\/p>\n
Every day, I put together a one-page outline. There\u2019s a lot that goes into that. I do a lot of reading. Every night, I watch all of the major networks, from MSNBC to Fox and Newsmax, which is a pretty big extreme. It\u2019s a way to get a pulse. That all goes into what I think makes an interesting radio show: You\u2019re up to speed on current events and you have life experience that actually relates to the people you\u2019re talking to. That combination has allowed me to do this for five years.<\/p>\n
Today I had five guests on a lot of different topics, from re-districting to the Packers. Then I have to back-fill. For re-districting I brought Rick Essenberg, who is way on the right. He\u2019s from Wisconsin Law and Liberty. And I had someone from Wisconsin Fair Maps. So left and right; liberal and conservative. These guys have vastly different opinions.<\/p>\n
Most people, we just want to our elected representatives listen to us. One of the mantras of my show is, I don\u2019t care what your politics are or who you voted for. We\u2019re going to look at issues (from the lens of) who\u2019s actually getting work done and how we can help the most people.<\/p>\n
Now, I identify as a Republican and I\u2019ve voted Republican for almost all of my life. Doesn\u2019t mean I\u2019ve never voted for a Democrat, but that\u2019s where I come from. I like to say I\u2019m a reasonable, rational Republican. I get frustrated by the nonsense of politics. Political tantrums, I have no time for. \u2026 Come on. Be adults.<\/p>\n
I don\u2019t care what your politics are or who you voted for. We\u2019re going to look at issues (from the lens of) who\u2019s actually getting work done and how we can help the most people.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
There are a lot of shows out there right now where it\u2019s just people shouting. That\u2019s not me. I try not to shout. I understand there\u2019s a market for it, but that\u2019s not me. And if you look at the data from my audiences, they appreciate that.<\/p>\n
You\u2019ve said that if everything lines up, the shows can be \u201cmagic.\u201d What makes a magic show?<\/h3>\n
The right guest on a relevant topic. I\u2019ve had Sen. Ron Johnson on the show, and he and I argued. That creates a lot of drama on the radio, and I\u2019m typically not known for that. I\u2019ve had everybody from Vice President Pence to U.S. Senators. But I\u2019ve also had Dennis Miller the comedian and Chelsea Handler on. One is right; one\u2019s left. They were brilliant in their own ways.<\/p>\n
Are there any really memorable shows for you?<\/h3>\n
My dad cooks great Italian food. He\u2019s Sicilian. I was talking one day about his sauce recipe. I said, this is the best sauce ever, and he just sent me the recipe. A listener said, you should share that! To this date, I\u2019ve sent out that recipe 300 times. People text back with pictures of their sauce. That\u2019s that connection. That builds the bond. And we make our sauce together.<\/p>\n