In a sense, Scott Hartman came home last year.

While he lives in Crystal Lake, the former administrator for the city of Marengo left to do the same job for the village of Pingree Grove, and after a brief stint did the same for the city of Highwood in Lake County.

But when McHenry County deputy administrator John Labaj retired last year, Hartman saw an intriguing opportunity and took it. Hartman went from managing a city of 5,300 residents to helping manage a county of more than 307,000 residents.

Senior Reporter Kevin Craver, who dealt at times with Hartman back in his Marengo days while covering the city of Woodstock, talked with Hartman about his new job, new challenges, and a shared interest in military history.

Craver: So, how does it feel to be back?

Hartman: It’s wonderful to be back, and to be working for McHenry County as a resident. There’s a certain satisfaction in serving the county in which you live. And from a quality-of-life standpoint, the commute is very enjoyable as opposed to my previous commute, which was borderline an hour and 15 minutes, an hour and half, one way.

Craver: What’s the learning curve like?

Hartman: Then interesting thing is that I previously worked in the municipal side of public administration, and to learn how a county operates and how it is structured is quite fascinating and significantly different. But I’m enjoying learning that structure.

Craver: How did you end up in Highwood?

Hartman: I was looking for the next opportunity and Highwood was hiring a city manager. My career had been in smaller communities, and there’s a certain approach and skill set. You need a jack of all trades, because they don’t have the depth of staff as a larger organization … it was a good fit on both sides.

Craver: And now you’re helping administer a government that represents more than 307,000 people.

Hartman: Working for Highwood was a great experience, but the commute was challenging, as you can imagine, and when this opportunity opened up it was very appealing to me. Not only its proximity, but also that I found the position very interesting and it was a good time to take a different path in my career.

Craver: What are your priorities?

Hartman: I want to focus on applying my skills and experience to assist the organization, the County Board, the county administrator and various departments to help achieve the county’s strategic objectives and make McHenry County a fantastic place to live.

Craver: And being my point of contact for responding to my [Freedom of Information Act] requests.

Hartman: (Laughs)

Craver: Why is "A Bridge Too Far" your favorite book? I re-read it myself last year.

Hartman: I’ve always had a strong interest in military history. It’s a well-written book, from my perspective. Operation Market-Garden (the U.S.-British airborne attempt to liberate the Netherlands in late 1944) was a very intense campaign, and I think the book did a very good job in capturing the strategies and articulating the challenges.

Craver: For me, the book is a textbook example of the consequences of hubris and extreme overconfidence. A plan has to count on two, three, four things going horribly wrong and still succeeding. This plan required perfection and failed.

Hartman: It was your proverbial “house of cards” conundrum – if one piece failed the whole campaign failed.

Craver: Any other interests besides military history?

Hartman: I fish. Really my one hobby is that I’m a fisherman. We go fishing and boating quite a bit.

Craver: What was your last catch?

Hartman: Haven’t done much this year. I caught a 24-inch northern pike last weekend, but that’s not a big catch. Last year was a really good year.

Last weekend I had a wonderful moment for my family in that I was fishing with my little girls who are becoming very exceptional fishermen. My two older girls, mind you they’re 6 and 4, with their princess poles, made their own cast and reeled in their lures, and they both caught fish. Daddy didn’t help them at all. It was all them – all daddy did was take the fish off the hook.

The Scott Hartman lowdown

Name: Scott Hartman, McHenry County deputy administrator

Family: Wife, Cheryl; three daughters: Allison, 6, Jessica, 4, and Molly, 3

Favorite food: Sandwiches

Favorite book: “A Bridge Too Far,” by Cornelius Ryan. The film based on the book is his favorite movie.