Looking back in the town of Harrington

The Sept. 21, 2017, Davenport Times had a headline that read: “Harrington’s 2017 Honored Citizen — Scott McGowan: If you need help, this is who you call.”

In this story, the Harrington Lions Club honored McGowan with the following depictions: “He typically knows the best way to fix anything; he will help out anyone. He is Harrington’s fix-it man.” Randy Behrens praised McGowan for his assistance saying, “He provided knowledge and manpower in addition to the tools and parts. Without his assistance, our golf course would not look as good as it does today. He always provided this assistance willingly and cheerfully. He is well-deserving of this honor.” In 2017, McGowan had put in 36 years with the city and 27 years as a dedicated fireman. Randy Oestreich, a fire district commissioner, said of McGowan, “We’ve been on some really tough things and Scott is almost unflappable, the calm in the storm. We probably have more than 40 ambulance calls each year, and some require the calming influence Scott brings.”

Public Work’s Supervisor Scott McGowan now has more than 39 years worth of experience with the City of Harrington and knows the workings of every aspect of the city. He holds certifications, including Group I Waste Water, Water Distribution Manager I and has his CDL. Yearly he takes additional courses to keep his knowledge current and fresh. It is tremendously important to the City of Harrington to have the availability of the knowledge and workings of the town that Scott McGowan could offer if he leaves city employment under good circumstances. For all intents and purposes, McGowan seems to be on-call 24/7 unless he is out of state on vacation, and he has even been called to provide information from such vacation points.

From a news article that was cut from publication due to space limits, the Harrington City Council had met Dec. 9 via Zoom. The City Treasurer gave a report showing that the city does have the available funds for a larger raise for McGowan if the Mayor had so desired. Treasurer Mike Cronrath addressed the Council, saying he had sent an Excel file and a .pdf file to each of the council members. He said all funds were in the black, balanced, “we are in good shape.” Hardy had several questions for Cronrath regarding how the balance has changed over the past year. Cronrath said the city “may be more than $150,000 over where we were two years ago, rough numbers. I do not want to insinuate that we are making money on our patrons.” He also added that the city should get its investment funds moved into the state investment pool, where there is protection for investment ventures.

Following the Dec. 22 council meeting, this writer spoke with Councilman Davenport regarding the issue of McGowan’s lack of pay raise. Davenport initially insisted that McGowan received a pay raise. After all, that is what the Mayor said. When delving into the details, Davenport could appreciate the fact that there was little net increase to McGowan’s take-home pay after paying the more than $200 toward the insurance. The Council had capped the amount that the city would pay toward city insurance. (Any future increases by the insurance company will also fall to the city employees.)

December of 2019 was a difficult time for the city when then-Mayor Slack refused vacation pay to Bunny Haugan and Scott McGowan. Slack saved money with one hand, while seemingly overpaying the new “clerk in training,” who herself stated that she had no office experience prior to the job in Harrington. This year, Mayor Luck reaps the benefit of the raise in pay for the mayor’s position from $200 to $600 since the mayor does not receive insurance. While Luck pockets that substantial pay increase, McGowan’s increased insurance payment severely decreases the net raise of one of Harrington’s most beloved employees.