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Fairmont City Hall: After 32 years, Zarling moves on

FAIRMONT – An icon at Fairmont City Hall has left the building. After 32 years of issuing building permits, answering zoning questions and juggling a myriad of other duties, Leanne Zarling has retired from a job she loved and from co-workers she refers to as family.

Zarling’s emotions ran the gamut from laughter to tears as she looked back on her lengthy tenure at a job she originally thought would last two years.

“Before I came here, I was changing jobs every two years,” she said, recalling a series of jobs she held before coming to Fairmont at the age of 26. “I really didn’t think I’d stay this long. I worked here 32 years. That’s just mind-blowing.”

She remembers her first day vividly. It was the Wednesday before Labor Day in 1985, and she drove to Fairmont from Emmetsburg where she lived at the time.

“I left my lights on in my car so Aldo Rose (former city building inspector) and somebody else had to jump my battery on my first day. I was so embarrassed,” she said.

“When I first started, I worked as community development secretary. I worked for the building official, the fire marshal, the zoning official and engineering. I’m still doing that, but I really faded in and out of other different jobs.”

When Mike Svoboda was hired as the city’s first economic development director, Zarling worked for him. When he left, she was tagged to fill in that role.

“That was probably my hardest work time here because I just felt so inadequate,” she said. “He was an excellent mentor, but I was a secretary going in to meet with CEOs. I learned a lot, and I was always treated with respect. I wasn’t afraid to ask questions. I don’t know how I did it, but I did go in confidently. Then I’d come back shaking.”

“I tell people that 95 percent of my 32 years has been amazing. That would have been part of the 5 percent. It was really rough.”

Zarling marvels at the opportunities she was given, the challenges she accepted and the support she received.

“I’ve just been blessed to have gotten to learn so many things and do so many things,” she said. “Maybe it’s just my age, but when there was something to do, we just stepped up and did it. The reason I have learned so much is because I was given the opportunity, but I’ve also been willing to do whatever was needed. I’ve always been very motivated to take on more responsibility.”

In July 1990, she had her husband, Jim, got married. He too was a long-time city employee, starting as manager of accounting and data processing, moving to finance director and ultimately as city administrator until retiring in 2012. She remembers meeting with then-city administrator Tom Reber and city attorney Elizabeth Bloomquist about any possible conflicts of interest that might occur with the marriage of two city employees.

“I thought one of us was going to have to quit – and it would have been me – if there had been any issue at all, but there was no change in our positions,” she said. “It was all about perceptions, and I get that. I would respect people’s feelings about it. We tried to be very respectful of our co-workers, and I hope people felt that way.”

Over the years, Zarling’s job evolved as the size of city staff shrunk and demand for services grew. When Mike Humpal took over the role of city administrator, she became his support staff. She continued to take care of building permits, do all planning and zoning work, administer the city’s housing rehabilitation program doing client intake and paperwork, keep track of the city’s rental housing registration and manage the city’s 24 units of townhomes.

“The work had to be done,” she said. “You picked up. You filled in. You did and you learned. Had I not gone through those experiences, I would have learned, but I have had amazing co-workers and mentors.”

Two aspects of her career stand out as favorites, managing the townhomes and the housing rehab program. Both projects involve taking care of people.

“I love that,” Zarling said. “With the townhomes, I got to watch people move out of their homes where they couldn’t handle it, and move into a place where they could thrive.” Three of the eight occupants of the Burton Lane townhomes, open since 2001, are original tenants.

“My other favorite part would be the housing rehab program. I got to help people make their lives better, and maybe more cost-effective, take more pride in their homes, when they just couldn’t afford it.”

She strived to respect every citizen who contacted city hall.

“It’s important to me to treat everyone with respect, that no matter who you are, you got respected and valued here,” she said.

The evidence of Zarling’s value at city hall is evident with the division of her work, which has been spread out to three people after her departure. Darcy Jones, who formerly worked in the Martin County treasurer’s office, will be the community development secretary, handling building permits, rental housing registration and servings as staff for the building officials. She also will be support for Megan Boeck, the new community development director. City clerk Patty Monsen will take over as Humpal’s support staff.

“I think about all the work that goes on here every day,” she said. “People just don’t have a clue. I think the employees that the city has are giving it their heart and soul because they take pride in this community.”

Zarling gets emotional when she talks about leaving her work family, not being part of the weddings, births, graduations and other milestones that were celebrated.

“That’s what’s hard, but I’m excited about spending time with Jim. We really like each other, and I feel really blessed by that,” she said. “We have a blended family of four beautiful children, three girls and a boy. The girls are married so we have three wonderful sons-in-law. All three are bonus sons. We have four grandchildren and a new grandbaby in July.”

Most of their vacations have been family-related or involved a work conference, but Zarling is anticipating some time as a married couple.

“We will enjoy time with family, but now that we’re retired, I want us to take at least two trips a year not involving our children,” she said. “That will be different – just the two of us.”

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