{"id":464,"date":"2008-06-24T12:47:00","date_gmt":"2008-06-24T12:47:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/independenttribune.net\/?p=464"},"modified":"2022-11-12T12:48:42","modified_gmt":"2022-11-12T12:48:42","slug":"twenty_years_of_service_remembered","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/independenttribune.net\/index.php\/site\/twenty_years_of_service_remembered\/","title":{"rendered":"Twenty years of service remembered"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By Jonathan E. Coleman<\/strong>
jcoleman@independenttribune.com<\/a>
After more than 20 years working in various capacities for the Town of Harrisburg, Carl Parmer will soon pack up his office and begin a new phase of his life.

But he won\u2019t soon forget the years he spent serving the town.

Parmer\u2019s career as a public servant began in 1987 when he was appointed to fill an unexpired term on the Harrisburg Town Council. He was re-elected in 1989,
In 1993, Parmer ran for mayor on a ticket that included current mayor Tim Hagler and councilman Bill Williams, who continues to serve on the board. Hagler and Williams ran for Town Council, and, along with Parmer, won.

\u201cIn the fall of 1993, we got the biggest turnout that had ever voted in Harrisburg,\u201d Parmer recalled. \u201cOver 500 people voted, and we got 70 percent of the votes.\u201d

During his time in office, Parmer worked to bring the town basic amenities, said Lena Bown, a former council member and mayor.

\u201cIn the early days, he helped get sewer to areas that didn\u2019t have it,\u201d she recalled. \u201cWe got sewer town-wide. We got all the unpaved streets paved. A lot of things like that went on. We didn\u2019t have all those services and he was partly responsible for getting them.\u201d

Parmer would serve four terms as mayor. During his fourth term, the long-time businessman resigned his post to focus his attention on an engineering business he owned and operated with his son. 

Hagler, who was mayor pro-tem at the time, became his successor.

\u201cEverything that I did early on, it involved Carl,\u201d Hagler said. \u201cHe was my mentor.\u201d

Hagler said he accepted the mayoral post under the condition that the council hire a part-time town administrator to take care of some of the day-to-day business of the town.

The original person hired to fill that position only stayed about five months, Hagler recalled, and when the position opened up again, Parmer was approached about filling it.

\u201cI was confident that he had the ability to do the day-to-day because he was doing it as mayor.\u201d

As the town grew, so too did Parmer\u2019s role, and eventually he became a full-time town administrator, overseeing, among other things, the budget, which has ballooned more than tenfold since he began his work with the town.

Although he was educated in engineering, Parmer prided himself on his understanding of budgets, and his efforts to help keep Harrisburg\u2019s taxes low. 

Parmer also recalled early in his career when the Department of Transportation wanted to operate a high speed train between Charlotte and Raleigh, and wanted to close Harrisburg\u2019s north\/south streets that crossed the tracks. Many in the town were opposed.

\u201c(DOT) said, \u2018we had a public hearing and nobody turned out,\u2019\u201d Parmer recalled. \u201cWe said, \u2018you had a public hearing on a Wednesday night \u2013 pole night \u2013 at the fire station on Morehead Road. If you want a public hearing, give us time.\u201d

Parmer and others organized a second public hearing, at which the public spoke out against the road closings. DOT eventually reconsidered the plan.

Parmer also helped negotiate the purchase of 38 acres of land, where, with the help of a $250,000 grant, the current Harrisburg Park and a library now sit. 

Despite his many efforts, Parmer is quick to admit it was not his efforts alone that brought such projects to the town.

\u201cYou don\u2019t do anything single-handedly,\u201d he said. \u201cIt takes a lot of folks in town.\u201d

Parmer said he\u2019s been blessed to oversee some wonderful staff during his years on the town\u2019s payroll.

\u201cI don\u2019t believe in micro-managing,\u201d he said. \u201cI believe you get good people and let them work and stay out of their way. That\u2019s one of the things I believe in, and it\u2019s worked well.\u201d

While Carl had planned to work another year before retiring, the town voted to buy out his contract earlier this year. His final day at Town Hall is June 30, but he\u2019ll stay on the town\u2019s payroll as a consultant until the end of August.

With his work for the town behind him, Parmer said he will again turn his attention to the engineering business he owns with his son.

\u201cWe\u2019ll continue to call on Carl in the future, I\u2019m sure,\u201d Hagler said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2022 Contact Jonathan E. Coleman at 704-789-9105.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Jonathan E. Colemanjcoleman@independenttribune.comAfter more than 20 years working in various capacities for the Town of Harrisburg, Carl Parmer will soon pack up his office and begin a new phase of his life. But he won\u2019t soon forget the years he spent serving the town. Parmer\u2019s career as a public servant began in 1987 when […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-464","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-features"],"yoast_head":"\nTwenty years of service remembered - Independent Tribune - Intimidators get hot at right time<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/independenttribune.net\/index.php\/site\/twenty_years_of_service_remembered\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Twenty years of service remembered - Independent Tribune - Intimidators get hot at right time\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Jonathan E. Colemanjcoleman@independenttribune.comAfter more than 20 years working in various capacities for the Town of Harrisburg, Carl Parmer will soon pack up his office and begin a new phase of his life. But he won\u2019t soon forget the years he spent serving the town. Parmer\u2019s career as a public servant began in 1987 when […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/independenttribune.net\/index.php\/site\/twenty_years_of_service_remembered\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Independent Tribune - Intimidators get hot at right time\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2008-06-24T12:47:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-11-12T12:48:42+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"independenttri392\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"independenttri392\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/independenttribune.net\\\/index.php\\\/site\\\/twenty_years_of_service_remembered\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/independenttribune.net\\\/index.php\\\/site\\\/twenty_years_of_service_remembered\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"independenttri392\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/independenttribune.net\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/c0bfbf52ae5a9cca0840209d5ef1832b\"},\"headline\":\"Twenty years of service remembered\",\"datePublished\":\"2008-06-24T12:47:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-11-12T12:48:42+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/independenttribune.net\\\/index.php\\\/site\\\/twenty_years_of_service_remembered\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":739,\"commentCount\":0,\"articleSection\":[\"Features\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/independenttribune.net\\\/index.php\\\/site\\\/twenty_years_of_service_remembered\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/independenttribune.net\\\/index.php\\\/site\\\/twenty_years_of_service_remembered\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/independenttribune.net\\\/index.php\\\/site\\\/twenty_years_of_service_remembered\\\/\",\"name\":\"Twenty years of service remembered - Independent Tribune - Intimidators get hot at right time\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/independenttribune.net\\\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2008-06-24T12:47:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-11-12T12:48:42+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/independenttribune.net\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/c0bfbf52ae5a9cca0840209d5ef1832b\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/independenttribune.net\\\/index.php\\\/site\\\/twenty_years_of_service_remembered\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/independenttribune.net\\\/index.php\\\/site\\\/twenty_years_of_service_remembered\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/independenttribune.net\\\/index.php\\\/site\\\/twenty_years_of_service_remembered\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/independenttribune.net\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Twenty years of service remembered\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/independenttribune.net\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/independenttribune.net\\\/\",\"name\":\"Independent Tribune - Intimidators get hot at right time\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/independenttribune.net\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/independenttribune.net\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/c0bfbf52ae5a9cca0840209d5ef1832b\",\"name\":\"independenttri392\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/7bf5d030528cbe994aedc3110a61cc27ca5893668d417bd4ecc6a1c1c720a612?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/7bf5d030528cbe994aedc3110a61cc27ca5893668d417bd4ecc6a1c1c720a612?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/7bf5d030528cbe994aedc3110a61cc27ca5893668d417bd4ecc6a1c1c720a612?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"independenttri392\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/independenttribune.net\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/independenttribune.net\\\/index.php\\\/site\\\/author\\\/independenttri392\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Twenty years of service remembered - Independent Tribune - Intimidators get hot at right time","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/independenttribune.net\/index.php\/site\/twenty_years_of_service_remembered\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Twenty years of service remembered - Independent Tribune - Intimidators get hot at right time","og_description":"By Jonathan E. Colemanjcoleman@independenttribune.comAfter more than 20 years working in various capacities for the Town of Harrisburg, Carl Parmer will soon pack up his office and begin a new phase of his life. But he won\u2019t soon forget the years he spent serving the town. Parmer\u2019s career as a public servant began in 1987 when […]","og_url":"https:\/\/independenttribune.net\/index.php\/site\/twenty_years_of_service_remembered\/","og_site_name":"Independent Tribune - Intimidators get hot at right time","article_published_time":"2008-06-24T12:47:00+00:00","article_modified_time":"2022-11-12T12:48:42+00:00","author":"independenttri392","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"independenttri392","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/independenttribune.net\/index.php\/site\/twenty_years_of_service_remembered\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/independenttribune.net\/index.php\/site\/twenty_years_of_service_remembered\/"},"author":{"name":"independenttri392","@id":"https:\/\/independenttribune.net\/#\/schema\/person\/c0bfbf52ae5a9cca0840209d5ef1832b"},"headline":"Twenty years of service remembered","datePublished":"2008-06-24T12:47:00+00:00","dateModified":"2022-11-12T12:48:42+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/independenttribune.net\/index.php\/site\/twenty_years_of_service_remembered\/"},"wordCount":739,"commentCount":0,"articleSection":["Features"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/independenttribune.net\/index.php\/site\/twenty_years_of_service_remembered\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/independenttribune.net\/index.php\/site\/twenty_years_of_service_remembered\/","url":"https:\/\/independenttribune.net\/index.php\/site\/twenty_years_of_service_remembered\/","name":"Twenty years of service remembered - Independent Tribune - Intimidators get hot at right time","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/independenttribune.net\/#website"},"datePublished":"2008-06-24T12:47:00+00:00","dateModified":"2022-11-12T12:48:42+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/independenttribune.net\/#\/schema\/person\/c0bfbf52ae5a9cca0840209d5ef1832b"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/independenttribune.net\/index.php\/site\/twenty_years_of_service_remembered\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/independenttribune.net\/index.php\/site\/twenty_years_of_service_remembered\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/independenttribune.net\/index.php\/site\/twenty_years_of_service_remembered\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/independenttribune.net\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Twenty years of service remembered"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/independenttribune.net\/#website","url":"https:\/\/independenttribune.net\/","name":"Independent Tribune - Intimidators get hot at right time","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/independenttribune.net\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/independenttribune.net\/#\/schema\/person\/c0bfbf52ae5a9cca0840209d5ef1832b","name":"independenttri392","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7bf5d030528cbe994aedc3110a61cc27ca5893668d417bd4ecc6a1c1c720a612?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7bf5d030528cbe994aedc3110a61cc27ca5893668d417bd4ecc6a1c1c720a612?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7bf5d030528cbe994aedc3110a61cc27ca5893668d417bd4ecc6a1c1c720a612?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"independenttri392"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/independenttribune.net"],"url":"https:\/\/independenttribune.net\/index.php\/site\/author\/independenttri392\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/independenttribune.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/464","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/independenttribune.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/independenttribune.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/independenttribune.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/independenttribune.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=464"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/independenttribune.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/464\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":465,"href":"https:\/\/independenttribune.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/464\/revisions\/465"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/independenttribune.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=464"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/independenttribune.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=464"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/independenttribune.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=464"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}