I don’t need to tell you it has been a hot week. With temperatures exceeding 110°, my rotations took me outside working alongside the Public Works Department. Public Works consists of about thirty hardworking individuals who are dedicated to maintaining Marana. The majority of tasks this department takes care of are often taken for granted, yet without them, the Town would look more like an anarchic state in contrast to the safe, friendly Town we all love.
The Street Maintenance team is responsible for roads, sidewalks, and most of the landscaping citizens interact with on a daily basis. Located on the Town’s website, the Marana Street Maintenance Map specifies the year the road was built, the year the funding will be available for the next preservation treatment, and the type of treatment required. This is a great tool if you are curious about a specific road within your neighborhood or if you like to see directly where your tax dollars are being spent.
In addition to street maintenance, Public Works operates traffic signals and installs street signs within the Town. These signs and signals are often held to strict specifications which are required due to safety regulations. However, Marana tends to go above and beyond, making sure lights are LED (therefore environmentally friendly), and using high quality signs to increase visibility and safety.
When it comes down to it, the Public Works Department is made up of dedicated civil servants. The majority of citizen requests are filtered to Public Works and consist of anything from potholes and traffic concerns to removal of roadkill. When a request is delivered, the staff prides themselves with replying as soon as possible--in the month of May, the average response time to resolve an issue was only four days. These monthly response times can be found within the Council Executive Report on the Town’s Website.
Last semester I took a few courses about building leadership skills and the Public Works Department is a perfect example of Servant Leadership in action. Servant Leadership stems from an individual who has a genuine passion to serve. These individuals focus on the betterment of others and their community. This form of leadership can be clearly identified within the Public Works department when they are called out in the middle of the night to clean up the debris from a car accident, or when they fill a pothole you may have noticed on your morning commute, but has vanished by the time you are heading home. These individuals are passionate about Marana and dedicate 100% of their effort to maintain our beautiful Town.
