Bill Harris was rare combination of vision, leadership

We tend to look to programs and systems -- not to mention the money it takes to support them -- when we think of community progress.

But no organizational procedure can succeed without the vision and personal leadership it takes to make it work.

Bill Harris, who died unexpectedly in his sleep Tuesday morning, was a prime example of that leadership.

The city of Lincoln remembers him as mayor from 1987-1991, when he spearheaded projects like University Square, Lincoln Station, Technology Park and the Highland annexation, not to mention the transformation of the Haymarket from a rundown warehouse district to a thriving downtown business area.

Before that, he was appointed to the Legislature by Gov. Bob Kerrey in 1983 to represent the 27th District. He also taught social studies in the Lincoln Public Schools from 1969 to 1974 and achieved the rank of staff sergeant in the Nebraska National Guard in which he served from 1962 to 1968.

But around McCook he was one of the "Harris boys," sons of John T. and Eleanor Harris of the DeGroff's Department Store at Norris and B, recalled Gazette columnist Walt Sehnert in a 2008 column.

It was destiny for Harris to wind up in politics; his dad was Frank B. Morrison's best friend and a supporter of Gov. Ralph Brooks of McCook.

That, and the experience he and his older brother, J.T., gained working as bus boys and bell-hops at the McCook Keystone Hotel during their high school and junior college days helped land them jobs in the new governor's mansion when they attended the University of Nebraska. J.T. worked there during his last semester at the University in 1959; Bill following in the fall of 1959 until Brooks' death in 1960.

The political waters that produced the likes of George W. Norris, Ralph Brooks and Frank B. Morrison also proved hazardous for Harris, Ben Nelson defeating him in gubernatorial primary in 1990.

But as longtime friend Bob Hanna told the Lincoln Journal Star, being out of office didn't mean Harris lost interest in politics or anything else.

"He didn't miss a thing. And it didn't have only to do with politics. It had to do with the unusual music, with movies, with history," Hanna told the newspaper.

Those interests led to development of a city partnership with the Lincoln Arts Council to provide young people representation from all areas of the city, initiatives to promote recycling, create a state-of-the-art landfill, raise environmental awareness and help make Lincoln one of "America's Most Livable Cities."

McCook benefited from Harris' wide interests in many ways, including, as one example, his support of the production of his brother's "Civil War Voices," musical here, in Lincoln, in Pennsylvania and in New York.

Bill Harris was one of a rare breed who had the combination of vision and the interpersonal skills to see that vision turned into reality.

We can only hope the next generation of leaders is able to follow his example.

Walt Sehnert's column can be read online at http://www.mccookgazette.com/story/1439240.html