Marian "Sam" Harmoning has been Annandale’s longest-serving mayor and the only woman who’s ever taken on the job. But after almost 16 years as the elected head of the city, her tenure expires with the arrival of 2009. She turns over the office to Mayor-elect Brennan "Buck" McAlpin this week with high marks from some of the people she’s served with. And she leaves with a few observations of her own: She thinks of herself as a mother to the city, cites the old-fashioned street lights downtown as her most popular achievement and says Annandale’s in good shape to survive the economic crisis. Now 62, Harmoning was elected to the city council in 1990 and appointed mayor in March 1993. She won re-election to seven two-year terms before deciding last spring not to run again. Instead Harmoning sought a seat on the Wright County Council but lost for the first time in her career. ‘The best’ "She was the best mayor Annandale’s had," former city council member Mark Vogt said last week. "She wasn’t interested in the title," he said. "She was interested in getting something done." Vogt served ten years with Harmoning, mostly during the mid- and late-1990s. He was a member of the council that appointed her mayor, and he asked her before a meeting if she’d take the job. She was a little uncertain that she would be able to do it, he recalled. "History sure showed she did." Under Harmoning, the city’s high tax rate has come down, he said. According to this year’s Truth in Taxation hearing, Annandale’s total tax rate – including county and school taxes – has dropped from the highest in the county in 1993 to the lowest proposed rate for 2009. The council set out to increase the number of homes rather than boost taxes on existing ones, Vogt said, "and she was significant in getting that done." The number of infrastructure projects done during Harmoning’s tenure has been "remarkable," he said. They include the city hall, water tower, the Southbrook and other residential developments, business park, fire hall, library, water treatment plant and the wastewater treatment plant under construction in Albion Township. "But it’s also the things that people don’t see – all the underground projects that desperately needed to get done and all those things were done." Jim LaTour, who served the equivalent of two council terms with Harmoning, said she’s had the ability to surround herself with talented people. "She surrounded herself with good people and she was able to take good advice and good criticism." On her watch long-term plans were made that led to the infrastructure projects, he said. "No one of those things is one person," he added. "It’s all a team." He credited Harmoning’s leadership for Annandale’s overall good physical and financial shape. LaTour sat alongside the mayor at council meetings and many times provided some comic relief. "My arm is feeling better," he laughed, "after all the pokes she gave me." Maple Lake Mayor Mike Messina said Harmoning has been a good mayor because she’s been open. "In other words, she wasn’t afraid to look at issues from both sides. "The city as a whole came first," he said. "If if wasn’t good for the entire city … then it wasn’t good for the city of Annandale." Messina, who’s also leaving office after presiding there since 1994, said he and Harmoning have worked together "very closely" for several years on the two cities’ sewage treatment plant. Howard Lake has become a partner with Annandale and Maple Lake, and the shared plant is scheduled to begin operating next spring. The plant is Harmoning’s greatest accomplishment as Annandale mayor, and it’s also his, Messina said. "It’s going to allow us to be viable communities long into the future. "Maple Lake and Annandale were kind of the guniea pigs," he said, and by winning a lengthy lawsuit they’ve helped pave the way for other cities to get sewer and water facilities. "Sam and I truly felt it was the right thing to do, not only for now but 30, 40 years down the road." Harmoning was asked how she wanted to be remembered. She always tried to put the city above everything else, she said. "My decisions were based solely on what I thought would benefit the most and harm the least. "I always thought that I was kind of Annandale’s mom, that you had to take care of it," she said. The city is facing state aid cuts because of an economy that’s officially in a recession. "We’re in much better shape than most cities," she said, "and we’ll be able to weather this, and we’ll manage beautifully." Street lamps Asked what her greatest accomplishment as mayor has been, Harmoning said she gets thanked the most often for the decorative street lamps that have lined both sides of Main and Park streets since the late ’90s. Hundreds of people came out to walk under the lights on the new wide sidewalks the night the city flipped the switch, she said. When you come down that street "there’s nothing prettier." LaTour said as a council member he opposed the lights because "they were too darned expensive." But "I’m glad I lost that argument because they look beautiful today." Harmoning agreed they were expensive, but "I think they’re worth every dime." She spotted them during a train trip at a stop in a town outside Chicago. Then she forgot all about them until a postcard arrived at city hall "out of the blue" sometime later from Sternberg Lighting. On it was a picture of the very same lights she had seen from the train station. If she has a greatest regret it’s that she didn’t get a taller version of the lamps continued on Highway 55 through Annandale, Harmoning said. "I wish every street in town could have them." The wastewater plant is important as a public benefit and involved the most leadership, she said, but the street lights are things citizens can see and would be at the top of their list. Harmoning mentioned a couple things that bothered her. One was the controversial 2002 council decision to switch from North to Allina Ambulance and a letter to the editor that said "I was going to have dead people in the streets." She stands by the switch and believes the people who opposed it would now agree it was a sound decision. The second was the 2007 proposal for an ALCO discount store, which some said would hurt existing businesses. It ultimately didn’t locate in Annandale for lack of an access onto Highway 55. She felt badly that it divided the town, Harmoning said, but she believed it would have been good for Annandale. She and council members together were a lot better than she would’ve been by herself, the mayor said. "I was blessed with absolutely fabulous councils." Six-minute meeting Harmoning has had a reputation for conducting quick council sessions, and her final one took all of six minutes. LaTour said he’s never seen anyone run faster meetings. She’s always believed if you can do something in five minutes instead of 105, you should do it that way, Harmoning said. Excellent city staff gave council members all the information they required, so there was no need for long discussion. And if no one else at the meeting requested more information, she assumed council members were ready to vote on an issue. "I don’t think the city has suffered from short council meetings," she said. Harmoning plans to close her travel agency in the new year and have more time to spend with her four young grandkids. She also plans to do some traveling with husband Denny, retired Annandale High School athletic director. "I’ve got my wish list, she said. "I’m kind of looking forward to that." And she’ll still be around town. "I’m not dying," she said.
