PROFILE / Harrington: Steady, sensible

Mayor James E. Harrington
Age: 59
Married with four children, six grandchildren
Address: Thorny Lea Terrace
Education: Graduate of St. Clements High School, Medford
Owner of Centre Street Financial, a tax and insurance business, now run by his daughter, Shannon
Served on City Council for 16 years, first as Ward 5 councilor, then councilor-at-large. Served as council president three times.
U.S. Army Reserve veteran
Member Thorny Lea Golf Club
Years living in city: 35

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By Maureen Boyle
ENTERPRISE STAFF WRITER

BROCKTON — It was a house that convinced James E. Harrington to make Brockton his home.

An affordable house, that is.

It was 1972 and, with three children at the time, Harrington and his wife, Karen, then living in Somerville, were scouring the region for a house that would match their budget.

They found it on Algonquin Street.

“We thought it was out in the country at the time,” he said.

Today, at age 59, with four grown children and six grandchildren, Harrington lives in a different house in the city and, as mayor, extols the virtues of the city as an affordable and family-friendly alternative to Boston.

“We didn't forget where we came from,” Harrington said. “I want to try to give young families the same chance I did.”

Harrington won the mayor's race in 2005, taking the helm from John T. Yunits Jr. in January 2006. Now, he is facing two challengers for the mayoral seat — Gayle Kelley and Jass Stewart — in his re-election bid for the city's top job.

Harrington's path to the mayor's office was a winding one.

Harrington cut his political teeth in the city as president of the Ashfield School Parent Advisory Council and then moved up to the City Council before finally running for mayor in 2005, when Yunits announced he wouldn't seek another term.

“I was in a place in my business life when I knew I could afford the time to do it,” Harrington said. “He knew that there were going to be some trying times for the city ahead and he knew I would try to be there to do what I could. I had been the fiscal conservative to the city on the council and that's what was needed,” he said.

Born in Somerville, Harrington was the third eldest of nine children born to Francis and Theresa Harrington. His dad worked in a warehouse; his mom stayed home.

“I came from a hard-working family background,” Harrington said. “I learned that nothing is easy. Whatever you want, if you are not willing to work hard for something, you're not going to get it.”

His first job was at age 13, delivering groceries. By age 20, he was married, working in the pressroom at the Herald-American, where the hours were long.

“You could go in one night and not get home for two days,” he said.

It was not a life, he decided, that would be good for a family.

He eventually got a job as a manager at Wang Laboratories and began taking a variety of financial courses. Eventually, he took the tests to gain his state insurance and security licenses. He also obtained a license through the National Association of Security dealers.

He started his own tax and insurance business in Brockton, Centre Financial, now run by his daughter, Shannon. After he moved to Brockton, Harrington decided to get involved with the schools. His first Ashfield School Parent Advisory Council meeting didn't go well.

“My wife and Jim went to the meeting and he introduced himself as being new to the city,” said Dennis DeNapoli, now a city councilor. “They were told to sit down back and listen.”

Harrington listened, then became president of the PAC a year later.

Years later, DeNapoli would convince Harrington to run for Ward 5 councilor in 1985, a race he won.

“It was either him or me, and he had more involvement back then,” DeNapoli said.

Yunits met Harrington about 25 years ago through golf.

“I met him through mutual friends,” Yunits said. “He was always sensible and mature compared with some of us, myself included. Jim was always no-nonsense. He was predictable, he was steady, he was under control.” As City Council president, Harrington was tough, Yunits said.

“On the council, he was straight with me all the way. It was no dog-and-pony show. He was always sensible,” Yunits said.

Harrington said he takes a no-nonsense, get-to-the-point approach to politics and to running the city. When he took office, Harrington told staff to make City Hall more user-friendly to residents, the customers of the city. He stopped the practice of closing shop on Good Friday, a decision that drew the ire of workers. He stopped a longstanding practice of allowing dozens of city workers to take home municipal vehicles to save insurance and gasoline costs, an unpopular move among employees.

“It is a community with more than one billion dollars in assets we have to protect,” Harrington said. “You are the CEO of a very big corporation in a sense.”

Harrington said he's been faced with budget shortfalls — thanks to state funding cuts — but has still been able to balance the budget without cutting services.

The assets to protect go beyond the buildings and the land, he said.

Fighting crime and finding ways to stop street violence is a top priority, he said, but the solutions aren't easy or quick.

Harrington said he's met with religious leaders in the city to forge a “faith-based” coalition, pressed for grant money to expand programs and find ways to link existing services, and works closely with police and the district attorney's office.

“There is no single solution,” he said.

Harrington, to some, comes across as tough and aloof, several said.

“His hair is in place, his clothes are in place. His tie is straight. Is there a little bit of the perfectionist in him? Yes,” said Mary Waldron, executive director of the Brockton 21st Century Corp. “It is all straight and organized. It is who he is. If he knew he had a quirkiness that he didn't know about, he would straighten that out.”

“He never held back on how he felt. He is a straight shooter. There was no beating around the bush with him,” said Waldron.

But, peel back the layer, and there's a softer side, several said.

In the 1970s, sporting long hair and a mustache, he helped set up a scholarship fund at the Ashfield School and a fair to raise cash for it.

Some of the organizers dressed up for the event and the dunk tank. DeNapoli dressed up as a teddy bear. Harrington, for the record, didn't wear a costume.

“I wanted everyone to see who they were dunking,” Harrington said.

One of his passions is golf, a game Harrington said he doesn't play as much as he likes these days. Waldron met Harrington through her husband, John, and golf. Over the years, they have socialized at barbecues and other events.

“He's a charming and bright man,” Waldron said, adding that Harrington will spend hours talking to children. But she can understand why some may not see that softer side.

“His management style is very straightforward,” Waldron said. “That is in contrast, I think, to Jack Yunits, who I worked for. Jack wasn't as forceful. He tried to bring the team together. Even for Jack's mindset, I think he realized it was taking too long to get things done.

“Jim, also, being a fiscal financial planner, knows what is looming in his back yard. He knows this is the year to get things done. He is very much a numbers man. He tends to be on the conservative side.”

Maureen Boyle can be reached at mboyle@enterprisenews.com.