Randy Pogue, Warsaw City Administrator, has been named Person of the Year by the Benton County Enterprise. He is the third person to be honored with this fairly new annual award for accomplishments in the community that promote the health and well-being of its citizens. Pogue was presented with a plaque from the Benton County Enterprise staff on Friday, December 29.
Adam Howe, Editor of the Benton County Enterprise, said that he as well as publisher Jim White and other staff on the select committee look through the county each year to see what good things people in the community are doing and in 2023, they found Randy Pogue. During Pogue’s award presentation, Howe spoke about how Pogue and his staff have put great efforts into obtaining many grants that have improved infrastructure and amenities within the city. He said that those improvements have also brought profound impressions that extend into the county as well.
“The persistence and the efficiency that he exhibited to recently obtain the RAISE grant and the unequivocal impacts that those upgrades will have in the Warsaw community will be felt for many years to come,” said Howe.
When Pogue was asked to name some of his proudest accomplishments while serving as City Manager and City Administrator, he mentioned the ability to be able to get funds to revitalize town and waterfront trails, and all the parks. He said that grants provided most of the funds and he thanked employees in field, parks, and transportation, because labor was a big part of matching funds for trails and parks. He also said that he is excited about the Steamboat playground Phase II because he likes to take care of the community’s kids. The Bibb family wants to contribute a dollar of their funds for every dollar the community donates to make a more age diverse playground area, shade structures and a restroom. If the community can match up to $300,000 that the Bibb family is willing to donate, Pogue expects that the playground can be expanded to triple its current size.
“We recently were made the recipients of a $25 million RAISE grant which is going to help develop multi-modal transportation,” said Pogue. “We are going to transform Main, Jackson, and Commercial streets into complete streets with five-foot sidewalks on each side. We will take away ditches and storm drains, and put in curbs, gutters, and five-foot bicycle lanes on each side. They will tie into downtown and the waterfront. The project will probably take five to six years, but we are looking at ways to speed that up.”
Pogue said that he had applied for the RAISE grant over the years during the terms of three U.S. presidents, when the grant went by different names. He failed to get the grant 12 times; learned lessons from his efforts 12 times; and was lucky on try number 13.
Pogue was born and raised in Clinton, and he remembers his father telling him that Warsaw would one day be a tourism place. That stuck in his mind until years later when he helped bring that prediction to fruition. He is a local native who is happy to live and work in the community. He and wife Leasa have four grown children and two of their grandchildren live nearby in Lincoln.
Pogue worked in construction for 17 years until he was involved in a car accident and some nerve damage prevented him from continuing to work in that field. He next went to Central Missouri State in Warrensburg and earned a bachelor’s degree in Tourism, Planning and Development, before being wooed to Warsaw as City Manager 26 years ago by Tom Hill who worked with Pogue on the Economic Development Committee.
“He has been stellar since he was hired by the City of Warsaw,” said Hill. “He is a keeper, a dynamo! He does a great job of writing grants and getting money for the area for projects in the community. He just keeps going on and we are fortunate to have someone like Randy come to our small town. He has done a great job on Phase I on the harbor and while putting in Phase II.”
Pogue recalls that since 1997 Warsaw has received $50 million in grants and low interest funding. He says that the funds were used for all the improvements stated previouslu plus roadway, water, and sewer updates. He also remarked that he has served in Warsaw under five mayors and various aldermen and alderwomen.
“Each administration has been very supportive in my vision and that goes a long way to helping me and my team be successful,” said Pogue. “Our success is due to the people who have been around me and the city staff in the front office. My first City Clerk, Betty Brumbaugh, was my mentor and she really taught me how the city government functions. It felt like I have always been part of a team. I may be the head coach, but it takes a good team to win. I’m excited for the future. We are all going to work together to make Warsaw an even better place to live and visit.”
Current City of Warsaw Mayor Eddie Simons praised Pogue's efforts over the years.
"It's been a privilege to work alongside Randy. I appreciate all of his hard work and dedication to the City of Warsaw," the Mayor said. "His willingness to take the lead and come up with new ideas adds so much richness to Warsaw. It's been incredible to see how Warsaw has been able to push the bar under his helm with much more to come."
Jessi Kendall, City Clerk of Warsaw, says that Pogue is never boring, and that she has never met a city administrator that can look to the future and match this and that grants and visualize where he wants to go.
“He (Pogue) can visualize what is to be and how to get there,” said Kendall. “It’s amazing how he can write grants. It is a gift.”
Mayor Simons conluded by saying, "Congratulations on an award much deserved!"
Linda Viebrock, Benton County Health Administrator, was the 2021 recipient of the award for her “unwavering commitment to the health and well-being of the citizens of Benton County” during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Chuck Allcorn, Market President at Hawthorn Bank in Warsaw, received the award in 2022 for his dedication to volunteerism and leadership in multiple organizations.
