Has worked with 12 mayors

Eygló Hauksdóttir has worked for the City of Hafnarfjörður since 1977, under 12 mayors. She will turn seventy in April and admits the thought of retiring during a lockdown is a strange one, but she looks back with great gratitude on her career and has no worries about restlessness when she finishes work this month.

The local paper Hafnfirðingur met Eygló the other day. 

Eygló was originally appointed as secretary for all the town's business, which at the time was considerably smaller in scale than it is today. „I was responsible, among other things, for typing all the minutes and writing all the letters for the mayor, the social services department and all the town's institutions. This was the responsibility of a single person at the time.“ Eygló recalls and adds that her first place of work was not so far from where she is today, on the second floor of the town hall on Strandgata. Eygló had learnt to type and was hired by the town council because she was considered a good typist. She worked as a secretary for three years, until the position of assistant town treasurer became available, for which she applied and was successful. At that time, the town had three treasurers: a transaction treasurer, a chief treasurer, and a town treasurer.

It's a good feeling to see how gender roles have changed.

Shortly after Eygló took up the post of assistant treasurer, the chief treasurer retired on grounds of age. Eygló applied for the job and was successful. The Chief Accountant relieved the Town Accountant, who, among other things, received payments for all fees, such as property taxes, for which all receipts were handwritten. At that time, people received cash payouts and cheques and paid their fees with them. „I was in this job until 1985, when the town established a fee office at 14 Suðurgata, which took on the collection of court fees and other charges for the sheriff. I moved over there as cashier, and my job title was changed to Assistant Fee Collector. I also deputised for the town treasurer at the Town Hall on Strandgata and ran between the two locations, deputising for both of them whilst also carrying out my own duties.“ Eygló says it has worked out well. There was nothing to complain about. She says it is a good feeling to see how gender roles have changed over time.

^{Eygló at her current workplace in the Hafnarfjörður Town Hall.}

Major changes over many years

The tax collection was then abolished in 1991 and Eygló's office was once again moved to the town hall. „At that point, she was asked to take on the role of town treasurer, which she had been acting in for several years, and subsequently asked to establish a collections department, which today is called the Finance Department, and Eygló is its head.“ Eygló was fundamentally the town treasurer, responsible for paying all the town's and its institutions' bills, as well as the harbour fund, and writing cheques for contractors who queued up for payment on Fridays. When asked, Eygló says she is very happy in her job and that she wouldn't have stayed for so long otherwise. „I have also worked with very good people, including 12 mayors, one of them twice. There have been many changes over all these years, from typewritten letters and stencils, where you had to be careful to avoid mistakes.“

„There has always been a good spirit here.“

When asked, Eygló says she certainly doesn't intend to sit on her hands after her work is done. She finds it a bit strange to be stopping work in the current situation. „I was going to go abroad this spring but I put it off, and then it just didn't happen. I'm going to see how things pan out and I've not really had time to think about what I'm going to do, and I'm not going to plan anything in advance. I'm not worried about not having enough to keep me busy. Above all, I'm grateful in my heart for these decades with the town, and it's been a privilege to have worked with and known all these wonderful people. I'm very happy with this. There's a very good spirit here, and always has been.“ Eygló says at last.

An interview with Eygló was published in Hafnfirðinginn on 5 April 2020.