Harrington discusses the city’s future at Democratic Forum

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HURON — Gary Harrington, current Huron city commissioner and mayoral candidate, spoke Friday at the District 22 Democratic Forum. He addressed his time as commissioner and what he foresees the next mayor of Huron working through during his or her term in office.
Harrington identified policing as the top priority for the city’s next mayor. With retirements and injuries presently, the force is down at least three officers from the minimum they’d like to be, per Harrington’s report.
Harrington mentioned the recruitment of new officers and retaining those officers, which led to a new program that Huron Chief of Police Kevin Van Diepen put into place to incentivize those officers that have gone through training in order to keep them once they are hired. Harrington sees the continuity of our police force as a vital part of the function of the city.

The next major issue on Harrington’s view of the city is infrastructure. Harrington mentioned that present Mayor Paul Aylward has led a strong focus on bettering the city’s infrastructure in the past few years. City streets and water main replacement are a big focus of the current plans.
Harrington mentioned that he would like to see more public involvement in city commission meetings, along with other public board meetings involved in appropriated tax funds.
“To me, if you put together (the city, county, and Huron School Board) budgets, you should have packed meetings for all three based on the money we’re spending,” Harrington stated. “It’s the opposite, with nearly no one coming to meetings, and the people should come be informed on how their money is being spent.”
The audience asked a question about the city’s plans for ash trees due to the Emerald Ash Borer, which has led Sioux Falls to cut down numerous trees. Harrington replied that there was a review of the city’s ash trees and a plan is in place to hopefully avoid the same fate.
Finally, one forum attendee asked about the property tax rate in Huron. Harrington mentioned that while Huron is on the high side, it’s not where it once was where residents paid the highest percentage of property taxes of major municipalities in the state. The city is looking at options for funding while continuing to keep infrastructure and city services functioning at a high level. Harrington referred back to his previous statement about the public being involved in budgeting, mentioning late summer as the time when budgeting happens with city commission.
The next District 22 Democratic Forum is at noon on March 6 at the Huron Event Center.