Crisis training; city council; library board; annual community meeting

Crisis Reality Training

Tony Hamilton has announced an opportunity for our community to attend a “Crisis Reality Training” in Harrington on Friday, January 10, with Jesus Villahermosa in charge. Villahermosa is a nationally recognized expert on the topic of active shooters. He has a 33-year history in law enforcement and served 30 years as the point man on the SWAT team while serving with the Pierce County Sheriff’s Department. From his website: “Jesus’ experience as a law enforcement officer has fueled his passion for people and their emotional, mental and physical safety. He has spoken professionally since 1986, presented on safety-related issues and has trained over 675,000 professionals throughout this country and Canada, including hundreds of colleges, universities, school districts and some of the largest corporations in America. Jesus’ knowledge of the various professions he has worked with and the many challenges its students, parents, staff and employees face, along with his humor, real-life stories from the streets, and the practical application of the taught techniques guarantee a memorable presentation that transforms participants and offers real-life resources for crisis or vulnerable situations.” He also completed special training taught by the United States Secret Service’s National Threat Assessment Center in Washington, D.C., “where targeted school and workplace violence prevention was the focus of the course.” He has taken a special interest in bus drivers and the issues they face and is developing programs to aid them if faced with a crisis.

The Crisis Reality Training will be all-day training at the school. This is “way more than just an eye opener with the possibility of changing what you think about how our Harrington School District needs to train and prepare for an event of this nature.” The notice sent by Tony Hamilton stated this “would involve students from sixth grade on up, all staff, a separate two-hour training for bus drivers and an evening training for parents and community members. It will also change Friday, January 10, to an early-release day.” The tentative schedule for the training is: 8:45-9:55 Grades 6-8 assembly; 10:15-11:25 Grades 9-10 assembly; 11:30-12:15 lunch; 12:15-3:15 staff training; 3:30-5:30 bus driver training; and 6-8 p.m. family/community training. School staff willing to respond to questions include: Tony Hamilton, Tiffany Clouse, Ben Edwards and Taunya Sanford.

City Council

The Harrington City Council met Monday, December 30, at 6 p.m. for a special council meeting with limited agenda. After recognizing Bunny Haugan for her 40 years of service and presenting her with a retirement cake and lovely glass plaque, Mayor Justin Slack called the meeting to order at 6:08 p.m. Those present were Justin Slack, Bunny Haugan, Janice Cepeda, council members: Nathan Luck, Cherie MacClellan, Peter Davenport, Tim Tipton and Levi Schenk, as well as one visitor, Marge Womach. After recognizing the visitor, the council announced it would leave to the back room for an executive session on personnel matters for 15 minutes, from 6:12-6:27. At 6:28 the mayor reconvened the special meeting session to review the 2020 budget. Topics discussed on the budget included the street construction fund, Proposition 1, current wage for new city clerk, expenditures by maintenance and the need for oversight, income from leases owned by the City, the encouragement of business for income revenue for the City, expense of unfunded mandates from the state and county, possibilities of and process for budgeting grant money, a utility rate increase and specific comparisons from the budget with the council members.

Motion was made to adopt Ordinance 501 to adopt the Final Budget for Fiscal Year 2020 including wages and salaries. This passed with a 5-0 vote.

Motion was made to change the time for city council meetings to be at 7 p.m. Motion passed 5-0.

The next regular council meeting will be held January 8 at 7 p.m.

Following the conclusion of the special meeting, the group visited while sharing the cake which had been made by Carolyn Mattozzi. Davenport asked the resigning clerk how she came to be clerk, and who her predecessor was. Haugan made a few comments about having worked for the Davenport School District and that the city clerk at that time, Mary Alice Warwick, asked her if she would consider the job of clerk for the City of Harrington. She made very flattering comments about her time with Mary Alice and shared that Mary Alice then became city treasurer. Mayor Slack declined Haugan’s offer to help with the excess paperwork, W-2 forms and meeting of state-regulated deadlines pertaining to the year’s end. Slack stated, “No, you are done.” Slack will continue as mayor until the first council meeting of the new year, when he will become a council member, and the council will then begin the process of finding a new mayor.

Proposition 1, involving the annexation of the City of Harrington to Fire Protection District #6, will be discussed at City Hall at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, Jan. 8. A second open house will be held at the Fire Station on Tuesday, Jan. 14 at 6 p.m. A PowerPoint presentation and handouts will be available. The public will have the opportunity to vote on this proposition on Feb. 11.

Harrington Public Library

The Harrington Library Board met Jan 2, 2020 at 3:30 p.m. with the following present: Stacey Rasmussen, Grace Moeller, Susan Larmer, Betty Warner and the librarian, Marge Womach. Each of these current members, including Katie Steward, who was unavoidably absent, expressed the desire to remain on the board for the coming year. Moeller shared with the group that she had read three books that were donated by Jeannie Whitehouse Peterson, the author, in memory of her sister Julie Whitehouse Tyrrell. As might be recalled the late Julie Tyrrell and her husband Art Tyrrell came to Harrington after their marriage in June 1964 and raised their four boys here. He took over the Harrington Drug company that same month. They moved to Spokane in the 1980s.

Annual community meeting

The annual community meeting and celebration will occur at Harrington Memorial Hall on Sunday, Jan. 12, from 2 to 4 p.m. hosted by the Harrington Public Development Authority. The featured guest facilitator will be Bridget Rohner. It will be a time of planning and collaboration with our local civic groups, city government, Harrington school and local businesses for our future. Refreshments will be served.