County clerk looks back on her 16-year career
By Brandy Nance (Contact)
Originally published 12:28 p.m., December 23, 2008
Updated 01:38 p.m., December 23, 2008
Lyon County Clerk Karen Hartenbower’s blood runs red, white and blue. Her driving force? Elections.
Hartenbower will be retiring on Jan. 12 after 16 years serving as Lyon County’s county clerk. She was elected in November 1992 and took office in January 1993. She retires next month — making her the longest-tenured county clerk in the history of Lyon County.
Hartenbower decided to run for county clerk after a series of events panned out. The seed was planted when she was working for Rosemary Spalding with elections. Spalding said if she ever needed a job Hartenbower could come work for her. At the time, Hartenbower was raising her children and her husband was a truck driver. So she was offered a nine-week temporary position at Neosho Rapids Grade School. Sixteen years later, she was still at the school. Hartenbower also served as the president of the Flint Hills Girl Scouts. In 1990, she got a call from someone asking her to run for Lyon County Commission. She was well-known for her position in Girl Scouts.
“Girl Scouts helped me get my job,” Hartenbower said.
But it wasn’t the right time to run for commission, Hartenbower said. At the time, commission day was on Thursday and she was the library assistant on Thursday — the busiest day of the week. But, again, the seed was planted and she began to mull the idea of running for an office. She had served as city treasurer and city clerk for Neosho Rapids for 10 years each. She began to think she’d like to run for county clerk.
At the time, she was a Democrat. But the Democratic party, which had asked her to run for county commission, wasn’t looking for a county clerk candidate. Someone told Hartenbower to switch parties and run under the Republican ticket. She did, and today Hartenbower is the chair of the Republican Central Committee.
“I think that’s one of the best things I did was to change parties,” she said. “I got involved in the Republican party.”
In 1991, Hartenbower laid some groundwork to run for county clerk, and in the fall of 1992 she came to Emporia each day to knock on doors.
“It got me elected,” she said.
Through the years, Hartenbower saw several changes, including the transition from paper ballots to touch screen voting machines. Hartenbower said when she was first elected, the ballots weren’t totaled until 4 a.m. the next day because they were all paper. Now the ballots are tallied by 9 p.m. because of electronic touch screen machines. The county has about 180 touch screens, Hartenbower said. She pushed electronic voting machines in the county because she knew some individuals who were visually impaired and couldn’t vote a secret ballot. She found touch screens that would allow them to vote a secret ballot.
“I thought these people had a right to that,” Hartenbower said. “And I’ve always been into election technology.”
In addition to the touch screen machines, technology has improved over the years in the county clerk’s office.
“We used to have one standalone computer,” she said. “Of course, now everybody in the office has one.”
Hartenbower also saw the transition from the old Lyon County Courthouse to the new one at 430 Commercial St. The new courthouse boasted more room, and Hartenbower got her own office.
Elections is a year-round job and it pays to have good staff, Hartenbower said.
“I just have good staff,” she said. “They are just good, trustworthy people. I owe a lot to the staff. They make my life easier. They make me look good for the work they do.”
Hartenbower has a philosophy she lives by at work.
“One thing is, I let politics fall at the door,” she said. “Treat everybody honestly and fairly and be honest myself.”
Hartenbower said she strives for honesty even if she has to take the heat. If she makes a mistake, she owns up to it.
“I admit my mistake and take the blow,” she said.
She also encourages honesty with her staff. She tells her staff they should do what is best for the county even if it goes against what someone above them is telling them to do.
The county clerk position is a big responsibility, Hartenbower said.
“You go through some big elections,” she said. “You go through setting the levies. The county clerk’s office is high profile.”
If anything goes wrong with elections or the levies, the blame falls on the county clerk’s office.
When asked what her biggest election year was, Hartenbower answered this year’s.
“Somebody said to go out with a bang, and I guess I did,” she said.
As county clerk, Hartenbower had her hands in many projects. She worked with Kids Vote and promoted voting whenever she could in schools. She worked with the legislature so that 16 and 17 year olds could work in polling places, and she also worked with the Kansas Secretary of State’s Office to bring polling places into long-term care homes. This was done in Lyon County this year and allowed long-term care residents to vote where they live. Many residents hadn’t voted in years because they were unable to get to polling places. Hartenbower has worked with her staff and polling workers to make things run smoother, and she’s served as an election consultant. She’s also observed elections overseas, something she will continue to do after she retires. She also is considered a Kansas Master County Clerk through the State Association of Kansas County Clerks and Election Officials
The county clerk does a lot of reading, Hartenbower said. The county clerk is mentioned in Kansas statutes more than 900 times.
“That’s how much the county clerk is depended on,” she said.
Hartenbower said she has enjoyed her job.
“I have loved my job,” she said. “I enjoy working with people. I enjoy budget work and enjoy the math part of it.”
Hartenbower talked about how a Girl Scout’s blood runs green.
“I must have red, white and blue blood,” she said. “Elections are the driving force in me.”
And she doesn’t plan to stop after retirement.
“I’m still going to be involved in elections,” she said. “I’ve seen it evolve so much.”
She thanked those who helped her along the way, including the voters and her staff.
“I’d like to thank the voters for having confidence in me and electing me four different times,” she said. “Without their vote I wouldn’t be here.”
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Posted by madpoet (anonymous) on December 23, 2008 at 3:05 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Good luck in retirement, Karen! I expect to see you cruising around more in your little car. Will Jerry get you up behind him on his motorcycle? :) Have fun, you've earned it.
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