They make it work
City officials praise public works crews at open house Wednesday
Public works crews fix potholes, pick up trash and make sure the city has clean water. But often Yuma residents don’t notice the work they’re doing day in and day out.
However, they would probably be missed if crews stopped repairing and sweeping roads and picking up trash. Public works employees also maintain fleet vehicles, road signs, streetlights and traffic signals.
This week the city is celebrating their hard work as part of National Public Works Week. On Wednesday, the city hosted a community outreach open house at the Public Works Services Building, 155 W. 14th St. Through displays, residents were be able to learn more about the services that comprise public works in the city. The event included the reading of an official City Council proclamation of Public Works Week (May 20-26).
City Administrator Greg Wilkinson talked about the importance of public works. “Obviously, people take it for granted that they will have water and it’s clean and sewer is going to be taken away and streets are taken care of and sidewalks are taken care of. These are the guys that we’re honoring today,” he said, adding that public work crews are “very responsive” and part of the city’s public safety operations.
The theme of the weeklong celebration is “The Power of Public Works.” Joel Olea, public works director, explained what that meant. “We tell employees it’s really the power of influence. Every day we come to work, we have an opportunity to better our community.”
Through that message, he encourages workers to try to influence their community by what they do “every single day to ensure our community is safe, whether it be drinking water, the environment, our roads.”
He added: “It’s important that we relay that message to our staff members so that when they go out they project that to our community because we all live here, we’re all raising our families here.”
Before Deputy Mayor Gary Knight read the proclamation, he shared a story that demonstrates the role of public works. He got a phone call from a resident who needed a sidewalk repaired. “Within one day we had somebody out there looking at it. By the end of the week, her sidewalk was fixed. She called me to let me know how happy she was, that everything was fixed and it was done so quickly. It was a safety hazard. People could trip over it where the sidewalk kind of buckled.”
Knight joked that it was
nice to have a constituent call with something other than a complaint. “She was very complimentary of public works and how they handled the sidewalk situation.”
He agrees with the resident. “Public works does a great job. They really do keep up the sidewalks and they do the best they can on the roads with the money we have that isn’t much. So I was real happy to read the proclamation and give kudos to the employees for doing their job and doing it well.”
The proclamation recognized the contributions that public works employees make every day. “Public Works services in the community are an integral part of the citizens’ everyday lives, and the support of an understanding and informed citizenry is vital to the efficient operation of Public Works systems and programs such as water, wastewater, streets and solid waste collection.
“The health, safety and comfort of this community greatly depends on these facilities and services; the quality and effectiveness, as well as their planning, design and construction, is vitally dependent upon the efforts and skills of our public works employees.
“The efficiency of the qualified and dedicated personnel, who staff public works departments, is materially influenced by the people’s attitude and understanding of the importance of the work they perform.”
Public works staff kicked off the special week by visiting Salida Del Sol Elementary School on Monday for an equipment demonstration. On Tuesday, they made a presentation to the Yuma Jaycees.
On Thursday, staff will unveil a new welcome sign at the corner of 32nd Street and Avenue B. Welding students from Kofa High School helped make the sign.
To cap off the special week, staff members will attend an annual employee recognition event on Friday.