Public Works: The Silent Arm of Public Safety

Most of us have a pretty good idea about the role of first responders. Police officers patrol the streets of our town 24 hours per day. In the community where I work, 99% of residents say their overall sense of safety is good or excellent. While, thankfully, most residents have not needed to call on fire or emergency medical services, they likely know someone who has. Satisfaction with Fire services is also very high.

I find that most people don’t naturally think of public works employees as first responders. And yet, if you see a car accident, crime scene, or house fire, look beyond the immediate perimeter and you will find DPW employees setting up traffic barriers, cleaning up debris, and lending a hand. I routinely ask front line police and fire personnel about their work with DPW employees, and they universally tell me that the relationship is essential.

Public Works employees are on the job every day of the week. Cities and towns that run their own water or wastewater treatment operations rely on daily monitoring. In our part of the country, there are two seasons – snow and ice removal and construction – meaning that it is never a good time for DPW employees to go on vacation. When it is windy and rainy and we are home watching football, you can be sure that DPW employees are being called out to manage downed trees and flooding. And as for wishing for a white Christmas? Don’t get me started.

I work in a full service, family-friendly community with excellent municipal services and top notch schools. One unusual feature of our town is that we have never offered municipal curbside trash collection. As a result, all 11,000 households must arrange for private trash pick-up, or, as the vast majority elect, fill the trunks of their cars with trash in “pay-per-throw bags” and recycling buckets and drive to our Recycling and Transfer Station. Literally thousands of them do this every week, most on Saturdays. Many residents will tell you going to the “dump” is a social event. They talk to neighbors, visit the “re-use it” shop for treasure, and maybe get their car washed by high schoolers at the park across the street.

This arrangement saves the Town budget millions in transportation costs. A side benefit of the system is that many residents get a true appreciation of the hard working employees who are directing the operation, and preparing the solid waste and recycling material for disposal. “Preparing” isn’t quite the right word for driving a piece of heavy (and thankfully enclosed) equipment over a towering mound of household trash to squish it into as little space as possible to fit into a hauler waiting below. (If this sounds exciting to you I can easily arrange for a tour). These employees are rightly proud of their work, performed in all conditions every week of the year.

Do you have a public works story to share? Try thanking a DPW employee next time you see one. Or, better yet, don’t groan when the plow comes by just after you cleared the end of your driveway…just wave.

Let’s practice.