The City of Signal Hill selected Associate Engineer Jesus Saldaña as its 2021 employee of the year.
During a Tuesday, Jan. 11 Signal Hill City Council meeting, Mayor Keir Jones announced Saldaña’s selection, noting that Saldaña proved to be more than just a good city worker last year.
“The employee of the year embodies excellence in not only their specific job duties, but in demonstrating an attitude that reflects Signal Hill’s spirit of teamwork, dedication and commitment to excellence,” Jones said.
A member of the Public Works Department since 2018, Saldaña oversees project development and has worked to streamline department processes, Jones said.
Jones added that Saldaña is a team player whom his colleagues throughout the city appreciate and chose for this recognition.
“Jesus is known for his composure and his measured approach to problem-solving,” Jones said.
Community Development Director Colleen Doan, who has worked with Saldaña on various development projects, told the Signal Tribune he is a “stellar” employee.
“He is efficient, reliable and a super nice person,” Doan said. “I have a world of respect for him as part of our City’s team.”
Saldaña started working for Signal Hill in April 2018 as a senior engineering technician, becoming an associate engineer in July 2020. He graduated from Cal State Long Beach with a civil engineering degree in 2016.
The Public Works engineering department is responsible for planning land development, constructing public facilities, conducting traffic engineering and developing the capital improvements program, according to the City’s website.
Though Saldaña wears many hats for his job, he especially enjoys transportation and traffic-related work, he told the Signal Tribune. He also leads and organizes the City’s traffic safety committee, so “All things traffic-related come to me,” he said.
Saldaña’s interest in transportation also extends to his free time. Lately he has been off-roading, he said, “getting off the beaten path, setting up camp and enjoying nature.”
One of Signal Hill’s traffic projects Saldaña recently helped complete was at the intersection of Pacific Coast Highway (PCH) and Junipero, which he said the community there had been wanting for some time.
Drivers would pass through that residential intersection at high speeds to avoid traffic congestion at nearby Cherry Avenue and PCH. New signaling now restricts their ability to pass through on Junipero and also reduces neighborhood traffic congestion.
But the project took “years of work,” Saldaña said, since PCH is a state highway and the City had to work with Caltrans on it.
“That was a pretty cool one to finish,” he said of the project.
Upcoming projects Saldaña is working on include repaving Spring Street and working with the City of Long Beach to add new traffic signals at the intersection of Redondo Avenue and 20th Street, which currently has none.
“It will be a completely new intersection,” Saldaña said.
Saldaña also works with other City departments on new development. Signal Hill is planning to build a new business park at 2020 Walnut Ave. and four new housing developments over the next few years.
For those projects, Saldaña consults on street improvements and layouts, grading, stormwater quality and traffic concerns.
Though challenging, using different skill sets is one benefit of working for a smaller city, Saldaña said. At a larger agency, he might work on one type of job, such as permitting, and nothing else.
“I have to think in different ways and change my mindset as I work on one side of the coin versus the other—for example, our own capital projects to improve infrastructure versus private development,” he said.
Saldaña also likes the working environment of Signal Hill, where he knows nearly everyone at city hall and the city yard, he says.
“The small community aspect of it is really enjoyable,” Saldaña said. “Nobody is a stranger here.”
