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It’s ancient history by today’s constant connectivity status, but some may remember that Jim Haggerty rose to local prominence in an improbable way.
Republican domination of Kingston politics collapsed in 1993 thanks to serious mismanagement that led to doubling the tax rate, raising the garbage fee and laying off municipal workers to patch a $3.5 million debt. Voters elected the first Democratic mayor for the first time in memory.
And when 1997 rolled around, many Republicans still seemed to be licking their wounds, as likely mayoral candidates balked and declined to seek the nomination. Haggerty, a little known attorney and political newcomer, was asked to run and announced his candidacy.
“I know I’m behind the eight ball in name recognition, but once people get to know me, I think they’ll vote for me,” he opined in March. It proved an understatement.
Eight months later, he won handily and his tailcoats were credited with a Republican return to dominance on council as well.
Haggerty’s law partner and newly-minted Kingston Councilman Stephen Urbanski predicted “There’s only one way the Democrats can make a comeback, Haggerty would have to make some major blunders.” To which Haggerty replied it would never happen. “I’m a guy who knows the details. No financial information will escape me.”
By all accounts, that was another understatement. After news of Haggerty’s untimely death Wednesday night, Kingston’s numbers-oriented administrator Paul Keating credited Haggerty with helping tackle a $2 million unfunded debt upon taking the mayor’s seat. Haggerty also gets credit for improvements throughout the municipality involving the library, the pool, the firehouse and parks during his two decades in office.
But lest anyone think his commitment to good governance ended at the Kingston boundaries, it’s important to remember the fairly prominent role Haggerty played in reshaping Luzerne County government. In 2009 voters approved the formation of a government study commission made Haggerty one of its members. The other 10 ultimately made him chairman of the commission.
He grappled with transparency issues (the commission gets good marks in that), endured heart bypass surgery, and kept the commission on task despite times that complex job became much like the proverbial herding of cats. He usually handled the inevitable political antics, frequent public heat and incessant media scrutiny with professionalism, finishing the first draft of the new proposed county Home Rule Charter ahead of his self-imposed schedule. The proposed charter won voter approval and went into full effect in 2012, freeing county residence from a terribly antiquated state-mandated system of three county commissioners who wielded far too much power that inevitably led to cronyism and even criminal charges of corruption — doubtless one reason voters opted to change the system.
Haggerty did all this while still serving as mayor of Kingston, a post he left only upon successfully running for district judge. He entered Roswell Park Cancer Hospital in Buffalo, N.Y., on his 58th birthday last year, a day before he won a second six-year term as judge.
Haggerty, of course, was not perfect, and critics were never hard to find throughout his public career. But we believe his record shows he did far more things right as an elected official than wrong. And perhaps most importantly, he always seemed to have his eye on helping others rather than — as is too common in politics — helping himself.
In that regard, his most important legacy may be that he set a decades-long illustration of “servant leadership.”
Kingston and Luzerne County are better off because of his work. We have lost a valuable community asset, but can honor him best by following his example.
– Times Leader