Sargeant to leave Polson after nine years

Karen Sargeant, Polson Parks Department Superintendent, Polson Fire Department Chief Engineer and Polson Fire Department Public Information Officer, is leaving her post.

There was nothing that made Sargeant want to leave Polson, she said. It was simply time to try something different.

Sargeant will move to Chelan, Wash. this month to begin a new life challenge when she takes over as the city of Chelan’s Parks, Recreation and Community Service Director on March 21.

But Sargeant leaves an enormous hole in the city she served with abundant grace, the home she helped build, maintain, protect and lead for nine years.

In her official position as Polson Parks Superintendent, Sargeant worked across the city ensuring that parks were safe, clean, and well maintained. Sargeant oversaw 30 acres of parkland, a dozen park areas and a park staff. She watched Polson’s skate park, dog park, sports fields, picnicking facilities and playgrounds. She kept an eye on more than 10 miles of walking and biking paths within city limits that are connected to an additional 20 miles outside city boundaries.

While at the city Sargeant wrote grants to help the municipality acquire things like the global information system. She spearheaded the successful effort to put a skatepark at the Polson Sports Complex and worked with two Eagle Scouts and Boy Scout Troop 1947 as well as the community to clean up and prepare an area that became the Travis Dolphin Dog Park.

But the Parks Department was a tiny part of Sargeant’s day job. 

Well versed in running an administration, Sargeant spent several months as Interim Polson City Manager in 2013 until Mark Shrives was hired and took over the position in October of 2013.

“It’s a big loss,” Shrives said about losing Sargeant. “But she’s got a great opportunity. It’s bittersweet.”

Shrives said one of Sargeant’s hallmarks in Polson is how much she cared.

Sargeant was on-the-spot, ready to help at a moment’s notice, for anything, he said. 

Along with her various pet projects, committee appointments, grant writing efforts and job duties, Sargeant made time to volunteer at the Polson Fire Department where she is the Polson Fire Department’s Chief Engineer and public information officer.

Her job was to drive the engine and run pump operations. 

“She’s a doer,” Clint Cottle, Polson Fire Chief said. “You need something done, you go to her and she’ll get it done.” 

Cottle said Sargeant’s absence will leave a hole both in the fire department, and city wide. 

“She has a vast knowledge of wild land fire as well as the administrative end. She’s always there to step up,” Cottle said. “If somebody needs a hand she is there. When we didn’t have a city manager, Karen stepped in and she did it flawlessly. She is definitely somebody we can count on in those types of situations.”

Forrest Niemeyer, GIS tech and water clerk, was hired by Sargeant after he completed a 2013 internship for the city. As he got to know her, Niemeyer said his respect for Sargeant continually grew.

“I got to know her over the years as a person who would do anything possible to make things happen. She is a pinnacle of our community,” Niemeyer said. “She is a powerhouse in our community. She exemplified her character in how she cared for the youth and the community.”