Are you familiar with the Department of Public Works? Well, I am its self-proclaimed biggest fan.
That may sound like an odd declaration, but it’s certainly true. I mean, I’m not only a huge fan but can get geeked-out when I see a crew out there doing things to maintain the city.
I think my fascination with the department started when I was a child, learning about jobs and professions. I grew up playing a record by Tom Glazer called “Building a City” and the songs taught me about police, fire and construction workers and had all types of cool “city” sound effects.
Admittedly, I’m the least qualified to drive a sweeper vehicle, or be a plumber, electrician, carpenter or traffic engineer. I never studied any of that in college, so maybe that’s why I’m fascinated and amazed by how this department keeps the city operating each day. And hands down, Public Works is the most unsung department in the city.
Other departments may get more press, but Public Works is most definitely newsworthy and consists of hard-working men and women tasked with maintaining a complex matrix system across 50 square miles of Long Beach.
I’m sure you can all recognize the red fire trucks of LBFD or the black & whites of LBPD, but what may be invisible to you are all the white utility trucks driving around to make sure it’s easy and nice for all of us to drive around.
Taken directly from their website:
“When you travel on a City street, walk on the sidewalks, travel through the airport, dispose of garbage and enjoy the shade of a City-owned tree, you are benefiting from the diverse range of services that the Public Works Department provides. These are some of the most basic and critical services in our lives, yet many of us take them for granted.”
I happen to agree.
My personal experience with the department dates back to 1999 with my time organizing the Long Beach Marathon. I had to plan my first race in just five months and received a lot of guidance and mentoring about street closures, coning patterns and traffic control from Public Works staff. And on the morning of that first race when we realized we had no clean-up plan— none— the crew came to our rescue. As the apples, orange peels, bottles and Mylar blankets began to pile up on Ocean Boulevard, my Public Works contact asked if I wanted him to call in the cavalry. Heck yes! Next thing I saw through my sleepy eyes was a buzzing and swirling parade of street sweepers to help clean up our mess.
Over the years I have had the pleasure and privilege of working side by side a lot of the street-maintenance crew at many events, including my involvement with the annual Tour of Long Beach cycling event. And I’ve seen the massive Public Works compound at the Grand Prix to address any and all issues on the track and venue site. And who do you think works with police and fire to set all road closures and detours for all major events or emergencies in this city?
I sing praises for the department both as a resident and the director of a business association. Public Works is always responsive to our requests to handle trash and fallen tree branches, fix trip hazards or help with parking issues. In fact, the department has helped us gain parking spaces by removing obsolete yellow, white or green zones along the corridors.
If you take a minute to think about it, the amount of responsibilities of this department can be mind-boggling. What a daunting and impossible task attempting to meet the demands of nine council offices, a mayor, city manager and a half-million residents on top of scheduled daily duties. Think about that challenge.
I have to chuckle a bit when I hear people yell, “My tax dollars pay for this. Fix my sidewalk now!” Well, there’s truth there, and the City will indeed come and take care of it, but there is also your neighbor’s sidewalk and their neighbor’s sidewalk and their neighbor’s sidewalk and so on. There are: 810 miles of streets; 1,500 miles of sidewalks; and 350 miles of alleys in the city. I’ve been told that there is an indefinite number of demands but with finite resources. And if you’ve been paying attention, over the years there have been staff cutbacks on carpenters, painters, electricians and tree trimmers, but the crews are out there working on the demands list nonetheless.
Have you ever heard the annual stats from the department? It’s more than impressive. In 2017 alone, Public Works abated 1,250,000 square feet of graffiti, trimmed 24,000 trees throughout the city (and maintains approximately 93,921 trees), filled 31,000 potholes, replaced 587 street-name signs, replaced 6,139 traffic signs, repainted 8 linear miles of curb, replaced 15 miles of sidewalk, fixed 15 lane miles of major streets and 75 lane miles of residential streets, constructed 166 access ramps as a part of ADA Access Ramp Response Program and installed nine miles of bike lanes. The Clean Teams collected 11,125 tons of debris through street sweeping and 193,623 tons of trash from residential and commercial accounts.
And can you imagine what it’s like picking up 50,000 mattresses throughout the year? Or the indescribable mountain of debris dumped on curbs and alleys? The dumping of items in this town is epidemic!
More from their website: “The Public Works Department strives to operate, preserve and enhance the city’s physical infrastructure and transportation systems. The department provides a variety of community services including the repair, rehabilitation and general upkeep of city streets, trees, sidewalks and city structures. We also provide emergency support services throughout the City.”
Seriously, the breadth of scope of duties is enormous and probably invisible to most people. In addition to the above accomplishment list, Public Works manages 23 pump stations and all drains and storm catch water basins. It has its own business-operations office and manages and maintains all city facilities and all the “forgotten areas of the city” including concrete medians and the area all around the traffic circle.
Need more specifics? The department works with Cal Trans on the state highways and freeway on- and off-ramps, coordinates the city’s bike programs, manages and maintains citywide parking meters and parking enforcement operations, has a safety office and disaster-preparedness officer and manages the handling of hazardous waste.
That’s a heavy load to carry on your shoulders. Even Atlas couldn’t shrug it off carrying this much weight.
You often hear all the hype, hoopla and cheering for the police and fire departments as heroes and first responders, but we shouldn’t forget that Public Works are also first responders too. They are there immediately to set up detours, road closures and “perimeters” for any accident or crime scene.
I’ve personally seen street-maintenance crews out in the rain removing debris from curbside storm drains by hand. They are also the last on the scene sweeping up the glass after an auto accident. I have bumped into guys trimming palm trees and then giving the fronds to the local synagogue for its Sukkot holiday celebration. There are crews out on all holidays including Thanksgiving and Christmas. As a matter of fact, Alissa and I on a few occasions have tracked down these city workers on holidays to give them pies to take home after their shifts.
As I drive around the city, I always stop to look at who’s in the truck because maybe I’ll recognize them and wave hello. I have to control the impulse to jump out and help sweep or move barricades just as a token of gratitude.
It’s easy to take things for granted that you come to expect. And we all expect our neighborhoods and streets to look good and function well for us. Just keep in mind that the worker bees are out there making that happen. So, next time you are out and see a city vehicle, please take a moment to give a thumbs-up to the street sweeper, tip your hat to the guy changing out the old street sign and say “thank you” to the refuse collector. One of these days you might look and recognize this fan out there sweeping, setting a cone pattern or moving barricades alongside the crew.
