Editorial: Little was a good man for our city

The Clarendon Board of Aldermen fired a good man last week. He wasn’t always popular, he wasn’t always right, but he was a good man, and our city is worse off without him.

Lambert Little came to Clarendon two years ago, and he inherited a mess. He did the best he could to work his way through that; and despite what you may hear on the street, he was making progress. No man – or woman – could solve all of this city’s problems in a year or two, but Lambert was trying to do what he could with what he was given.

Over the past several months I’ve heard a lot of scurrilous comments and baseless accusations about Lambert, many of those from people who haven’t spent much time with the man. People love to talk. There’s no doubt about that. But you’d be surprised about what you can learn if you take the time to get to know someone.

In my position, I strive to learn the facts. Not what the folks on Facebook or at the coffee shop claim to know, but the facts as they are. When I hear a rumor about the city or county or school, I pick up the phone or go by the appropriate administrative office and find out the facts.

As such, I have had cause to go visit with Lambert in his office to find out the facts on different issues. I’ve also visited with him in my position with the Clarendon Economic Development Board and as a citizen. Lambert and I have not always agreed on everything, and, in fact, strongly disagreed about some things. But at the end of the day, we parted on friendly terms.

After the terrible way he was let go 12 days before Christmas, I think it is important for you to know what kind of city administrator you did have and some of the things that he accomplished while he was here. I write this knowing full well that I probably will forget something, but here it goes in no particular order.

Lambert got this city to set goals. This is huge, as he would say, because it hadn’t really be done before. The board met in a called session one Saturday (I believe it was in 2010) and talked about what they wanted for Clarendon and how they were going to get there. I was the only member of the public to attend the meeting, and it was truly a high point for our Board of Aldermen. After a list of short and long term goals were set, Lambert started trying to make them happen.

He hired a code compliance officer to try to improve our city by cleaning it up and making people aware of the rules that we are to live by. The first one didn’t work out, he was let go, and a new one was hired amidst some controversy. But regardless, last week the board was presented with an impressive list of activities that the code officer and the municipal court has undertaken in the last month. Things are moving, and we are beginning to see the results of that.

Early on Lambert thought the city needed a new professional look, so he commissioned my wife, Ashlee, to design a new city logo at no cost to the city. The board adopted the logo, and it has come into common use now. Most people may not realize the significance of that, but branding and marketing is an important part of growing a community. Lambert knew that, and he understood that image and perception is a reality in a many people’s minds.

Along those same lines, Lambert conceived the idea of combining the city’s tourism efforts and the EDC’s work by creating a new position. The city and EDC boards embraced the idea, and Lambert led the search that resulted in Chandra Eggemeyer being hired this year to head up a new tourism and economic development office that is housed in the old Mulkey barbershop.

Lambert worked on a grant that got us a new (to us) trash truck, and he worked every day to try to find ways to spend the city’s money wisely.

He undertook a paving project on Fourth Street that was universally declared a flop, but the citizens still trusted him enough to approve a bond election for $700,000 to take on a new street paving project. That was later doubled when the board approved adding another $700,000 worth of water and sewer improvements to the project.

The city has had cordial relations with the Donley County Sheriff’s Office under Little, which is something that was soured by the previous administrator.

Responding to complaints about brown water, Little, with the board’s permission, contracted an engineer to study the city’s water system and make recommendations for improvements over the long term. The final report of that $25,000 investment isn’t even done yet, but it should show the way forward to address the problems that so many citizens have had for years.

Lambert was involved in our community like no other city administrator has been. He joined the Lions Club and volunteered for a vacant third vice president’s position and was to be our Boss Lion next summer. In fact, he volunteered every chance he got, putting out flags when other members couldn’t and providing programs for our weekly meetings.

Lambert, above all, was a gentleman, and those are in short supply these days. He was the type who would remove his hat when he met a lady, and he was always pleasant to be around. And with 20 years of municipal experience, he was a bargain for his salary of $50,000 plus benefits.

There is more that Lambert did, but I’m short on space. Suffice it to say, that I believe he was just hitting his stride in Clarendon, and if we could have only held on to him, we could have accomplished many great things.

But now we are set back… again.