In 1992, Bill Clinton was elected president, the internet had not yet become a part of our daily lives and Hermston’s population was barely 8,000.
Oh, and Rod Hardin joined the Hermiston City Council.
On Monday, Dec. 9, Hardin attended his final council meeting after 32 years. During those more than three decades of public service to Hermiston, Hardin has played a role in many of the city’s triumphs and endured some of its most challenging times.
He recently sat down to reminisce about his time on the council, his career in education and the people he’s worked with over the years.
Hardin was born in Walla Walla but grew up in Milton-Freewater and was the youngest of six children. He graduated from Eastern Oregon University, then known as Eastern Oregon State Collee, and went to earn his master’s degree in education.
At one point, he worked at Elmira High School as vice principal, but not just as any ordinary vice principal. Hardin was vice principal in charge of discipline and, according to Hardin, there was a lot of discipline to be handed out.
“It was an interesting place,” Hardin said. “The school had its own smoking area for students who smoked. There were fires started in the bathrooms, girls smoking marijuana in the restrooms. The superintendent’s son got in trouble for breaking into a vending machine. I’d get a call on Monday letting me know which kids got in trouble over the weekend.”
It was often Hardin and not the actual principal that had to deal with trouble if it happened after school hours.
“I was always of the mentality that if you work in a district, you should live in the district,” Hardin said. “And I did.” The principal, however, did not. He lived 20 miles away. That meant if there was trouble after school hours or on the weekend, Hardin was the one who was called to deal with it.
After three years of that, he had enough. A friend of his who was an associate pastor at his church told Hardin that he planned to move to Seaside and start a Christian school. He recruited Hardin to join him in Seaside as principal.
In 1980, after three years at Seaside, Hardin returned to Eastern Oregon at the behest of his mother.
“She was always asking me to come back to Eastern Oregon,” Hardin said. The opportunity came when he was asked to come to Hermiston as principal of the Hermiston Christian School, then known as the Interfaith Christian School, operated by Ron and Jane Baker.
In 1992, Hardin made a decision that would impact his life for the next 32 years – to run for Hermiston City Council.
“I knew I needed to get connected with the community, so that’s kind of what started it,” he said. Hardin had some experience working with the city’s Building Department when the Hermiston Christian School was building a gym. He had also served on a city committee prior to deciding to run for one of the at-large council seats.
Through the years, Hardin has witnessed a lot of changes to the city as its population steadily increased to its current size of more than 20,000.
“I remember when Chet Prior and Joe Burns flew down to Bentonville, Ark., and was able to convince Walmart to open a distribution center in town,” Hardin said. “That’s when things really took off. Then Pioneer Seed came in and provided for small farmers in the area to grow corn and market it nationally.”
Another highlight for Hardin was the city’s centennial celebration in 2007 and a few years later, Hermiston surpassing Pendleton in population.
“We’ve always had a big rivalry with Pendleton so that was a big deal,” Hardin said.
Hardin cites his involvement in the National League of Cities (NLC) as the most rewarding experience during his decades on the council.
In 2009, Hardin was chair of the Small Cities Committee when Hermiston hosted a committee meeting.
“It was great,” Hardin said. “We got a chance to show off our city and what we’re doing.”
Along with other councilors, Hardin had the chance to travel to NLC meetings all over the country, visiting cities he otherwise would never have seen.
“I was grateful I could go because it gave me great insight into a whole range of issues,” he said. “It became a great networking system. If we were looking at doing something, I could call contacts I made in other cities to get some advice. It has been a great resource. I’m still in contact with some of those people today.”
Another highlight for Hardin was the creation of the position of parks and recreation director in the mid-1990s. Prior to that, the city’s parks were overseen by the Street Department and there was little if any recreation programs.
“That made a big difference in the community,” Hardin said.
The low point came in 2012 when a group of citizens started a recall effort against Hardin, three other councilors and then-Mayor Bob Severson. The group felt the city council was not responsive to widespread complaints about the police chief at the time, Dan Coulombe.
“People were not happy with the city’s leadership,” Hardin said. “It was tough. It also happened during a year that I was running for re-election.”
All five survived the recall election and Hardin went on to get re-elected in the fall election.
“I wasn’t worried about getting re-elected,” Hardin said. “I saw the results of the recall election as a vote of confidence in me.”
Hardin decided sometime after the 2020 election that he would not run for a ninth term. He had suffered a minor stroke earlier, which, along with his age, played a role in his decision.
“I’m 78,” he said. “That’s why I didn’t run again. I didn’t want to stay one term too many. I know my memory is not as good as it used to be.”
Over the years, Hardin has worked with three mayors – Frank Harkenrider, Severson and Dave Drotzmann.
“Frank was the city’s best cheerleader,” Hardin said. “I got some of that from Frank. Wherever I go, I talk up Hermiston.”
Harkenrider served from 1990 to 2000 and was succeeded by Severson.
“Bob was kind of a peacemaker,” Hardin said. “He was respected in the community, and he didn’t open mouth and insert foot the way Frank did.”
Drotzmann will wrap up 12 years as mayor at the end of this month.
“Dave is definitely a stronger leader,” Hardin said. “As mayor, he ran a tight ship. He was always well-prepared.”
Hardin offered a few words of advice to new city councilors.
“Do not come to meetings with your own agenda,” Hardin said. “My theme has always been ‘What’s best for Hermiston.’ ”
That was backed up by comments made by his fellow councilors and Drotzmann at the Dec. 9 council meeting.
Drotzmann said Hardin “has always had the best interests of the community at heart.” Drotzmann was elected the year of the recall election and described it a “tremendous time of turmoil in our community.” He said Hardin’s only focus was healing the wounds.
“We met ahead of time to try to figure out how we pilot through this, how we were going to bring the community back together and what are the things we, as a council, can do to be more transparent,” Drotzmann said. “Rod always wanted to see what was the best future that we could provide for our kids and our community.”
Councilor Jackie Linton told Hardin she admired his soft-spoken demeanor.
“You have such a calming voice when you speak, and we really appreciate that,” she said. “We may have disagreements on issues, but you never hold a grudge and you keep on smiling.”
Councilor Maria Durón said she was impressed by Hardin’s work ethic and dedication to his role as councilor.
“I’ve always admired your willingness to attend conferences,” she said. “It showed the level of commitment that you had to learning and growing as a councilor.” She also thanked Hardin’s wife of 57 years, Sheila. “We know behind every great leader is a great spouse.”
Roy Barron, the youngest member of the council, spoke in awe on Dec. 9 of Hardin’s long tenure.
“He’s been on the council for 32 years and I’ve been alive for 32 years,” he said as laughter filled the council chambers.” Barron recalled one of his first experiences as a new councilor at age 25 was going to a National League of Cities conference and learning from Hardin.
“It was great to rely on Rod for his deep wealth of experience,” Barron said.
Councilor Jackie Myers has served on the council nearly as long as Hardin, being elected two years after him. The two developed a close friendship over the decades.
“You have been my friend for 35 years,” Myer said of Hardin, and called him “one of the most dedicated public servants that you will ever have the opportunity to work with.”
Three of Hardin’s children and three of his 11 grandchildren were in attendance at Hardin’s last meeting to pay their respects. His youngest son, Greg, spoke to the council about his dad.
“Every single person I’ve talked to who has interacted with him all say ‘We love your dad,’ ” Greg said. “I can definitely be a witness to what you guys have said tonight. I hear nothing but good things from others about the experiences they’ve had with him. I just want to pass those words on to you and I love you, Dad, and thank you for the service to your community.”
As Hardin looks back at his time in city government, he’s impressed by the longevity and stability of the city staff, many of whom have been with the city for 10 to 15 years or more.
“The city has always had an impressive staff, and they tend to stay here,” he said. As an example, Hardin talked about Assistant City Manager Mark Morgan, whose tenure exceeds a decade in that role.
“He’s been recruited by cities to interview for city manager jobs and yet he remains here,” Hardin said. “I know Byron (Smith) fields calls all the time about Mark.”
He also mentioned long tenures of service by former Parks and Recreation directors Ivan Anderholm and Larry Fetter. During his 32 years as councilor, Hardin only worked with two city managers – Ed Brookshier, who put in 23 years on the job, and current City Manager Byron Smith, who has more than a decade on the job.
“That kind of continuity is rare,” Hardin said.
Hardin won’t be idle now that his council duties are behind him. He serves on his church board and continues to volunteer as a driver for Good Shepherd Health Care System’s CareVan program in which he drives people to doctor appointments and delivers prescriptions.
“I enjoy it,” he said. “It gets me out and I get to see people I haven’t seen for a while and people I’ve never met before.”
Hardin said he may end up serving on one of the city’s committees in the future if a fellow councilor has anything to do with it.
“Jackie (Myers) keeps asking me to serve on the Parks and Recreation Committee, so we’ll see,” Hardin said.
As for his 32 years on the council (which represents 41 percent of his life), Hardin summed them up in six words.
“I’ve enjoyed every minute of it.”
