EDITORIAL: A nod to Roger Hagan

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Roger Hagan made his public debut as president of Port Townsend Paper Corp. on June 4, 2013, telling a crowd of more than 150 that insinuations the mill would ever falsify data were wrong.

Hagan had been on the job for about a month.

That was a story in The Leader in 2013. After that story appeared, Hagan kept going, trying to improve the image of the mill by hosting the first public tour of the mill in more than 60 years.

Sadly, Hagan died March 7, 2017.

It was clear from the moment he stood up in that packed public meeting in 2013 that he was trying to move the mill forward. His day-to-day task was to get the mill in shape to sell. The job he assigned himself was to improve the relationship with the community.

By December 2014, fewer than a dozen people showed up to express concern about a $10 million air pollution control emissions project. But Hagan was still there, with several employees, ready to answer questions

Under Hagan’s watch, there were efforts to improve the smell of the 33-acre treatment pond, and a hotline was changed to serve as a community impact line to accept any kind of comment, not just comments about smell. He also started the Christmas Tree Decorating Contest as a way to engage the community.

The mill was a finalist for the 2014 Pulp and Paper International Awards in the categories of environmental strategy and water efficiency. It won that award last fall.

Hagan left the mill a matter of days after it was purchased in 2015.

While the new owners also have made progress with the mill, it should not go without saying that Hagan’s work helped ensure the mill’s future in the community.

He stood up that day on June 4, 2013 for every mill worker and for all of their families. He needs to be remembered for that.