On February 11, 2021, the longest-serving employee in La Paz County history retired. Tom Simmons began his career when the county was first established in 1983 and ended an incredible 38-year career with the county Department of Public Works. When Tom began his career with the county, Ronald Reagan was president, gas was 96 cents a gallon, the Mario Bros. video game was released, and the La Paz County Board of Supervisors was headed by Marietta Tsosie (District 1). , Don Denton (District 2) and Wayne Sweetland (District 3).

Tom was born in California and moved to Parker at the age of 12. Tom graduated from Parker High School in 1974 and explored much of the western United States after graduation. It was during his time in Utah and Colorado in the late 1970s that Tom became skilled in operating heavy equipment and mapping fields for uranium exploration.

“At the time, I was chasing a job and my ex-roommate Mike Hill contacted me and asked me to work in uranium exploration,” Tom said. parker live In an interview. “I thought this was a good opportunity and the experience definitely helped.”

Tom also worked briefly as a performance examiner for the Central Arizona Project.

In 1983, after intense national debate, northern Yuma County separated from Yuma County to form La Paz County. At the time, Tom was working in Vista, California, and was hired to work in the newly formed county. Al Dent, the county's first public works director, hired Tom.

“Al had wanted me to work there, so I thought it would be good to come back to the county. I love it here,” he said.

Tom accepted a job with the Department of Public Works and, as the county's motto says, his future is limitless. Public Works is responsible for paving and maintaining roads, installing and maintaining culverts and bridges, and maintaining county vehicles.

In 1983, Public Works had six employees. Director, deputy director, 3 field workers, and 1 administrative manager. Tom's original duties as a field worker were to drive water trucks and perform field work. After his four months on the job, Dent decided that Tom could operate heavy equipment, and Tom took on additional duties.

“One day I was at an open-pit dump. Back then, each town had an open-pit dump on its property, and Public Works was responsible for keeping the dump open using heavy equipment. My boss, Wayne Arrington, offered to teach me how to run a bulldozer, so I just played along. He told me that tearing up and moving dirt was in my wheelhouse. I didn't know it was. Anyway, after I started moving the bulldozer, he watched for about a minute and then drove off. I've been driving the bulldozer ever since.”

In 1992, Tom was promoted to Deputy Director of Public Works, by which time the department had grown from its original six employees to 16 employees. The department needed to grow to reduce the amount of work that had to be outsourced. “Outsourcing can potentially double the cost of a project,” he said.

Ten years later, Tom was promoted again, this time as Interim Director of Public Works. Tom holds the distinction of not only being the longest serving employee in La Paz County history, but also the longest serving Interim Department Chief in La Paz County history. Tom served as Interim Public Works Director for 14 years until he was finally given the permanent job in 2016. He was a long-running joke among public works employees across the state. When Tom attended statewide meetings, his colleagues always asked him if he wanted to take the job. “I always took that joke in stride,” he said.

Without hesitation, Tom says his greatest public works accomplishment was paving the county's roads in the 1980s. Prior to 1985, all roads in unincorporated La Paz County were unpaved. The unpaved roads generated enormous amounts of dust, which caused significant complaints throughout the county. “At the time, there were a lot of complaints in the county because of the dust,” Tom said. In response, utilities used the fastest and cheapest methods to pave roads. I applied a strong oil to the stain and let it cure for a month before applying Chip Seal. This worked so well that the county still uses this process today. Currently, unincorporated La Paz County has approximately 1,000 miles of roads, 450 miles of which are paved.

In my 38 years in the county, I have rarely been disappointed. In general, Tom's biggest disappointment was the recent dissolution of the Department of Public Works. In 2010, the county began cutting funding for public works. Wages have started to lag behind other counties, Tom said, and attrition has led to vacancies, unfunded positions, and unfunded positions have led to position cuts. The county suspended purchases of major equipment for an extended period of time, and in 2016 there were significant reductions in troop strength.

“Around 2013, the department had 42 employees, and now there are 18. Of the remaining 18 employees, seven are mechanics and four are managers.” he said.

Tom said the county currently uses Salome Yard only for refueling and has closed it for all other purposes. Tom hopes that one day the county will return to a fully functioning department that does not rely on outsourcing.

Currently, the county's biggest public works challenge is road maintenance. Due to staffing shortages and funding cuts, road maintenance has been significantly delayed and many county roads have become obsolete.

“La Paz County used to have some of the smoothest dirt roads in Arizona, but now La Paz County has some of the roughest dirt roads in Arizona,” Tom said. parker live. “It is the result of lack of proper road maintenance.”

Outsourcing and loss of funds are also delaying large projects. Major projects coming up in the county include Riverside Drive (9 miles), Alamo Road (53 miles), and Vicksburg Road (13 miles), all of which require major maintenance. is. Ironically, in 2014, the Riverside Drive project was fully funded as a budget item, but at some point that money was removed from the budget and the project was never completed, Tom said.

“The funding for the Riverside Drive project is gone.”

Overall, Tom is very happy working for La Paz County.

“La Paz County has been very good to me. One of the things I most enjoyed about working in public works was traveling through the county and enjoying the natural beauty and solitude of the area. . The province of La Paz is a truly beautiful place. Work is never boring, there is always something new and my colleagues have become family to me. I miss seeing them regularly.”

Tom has no plans to leave the county after he retires. He plans to continue living near Poston and manage the seven-acre property with his wife, Joanna. He also plans to spend a lot of time visiting with his daughters, current La Paz County Governor Megan Spielman and Christy Gonzalez, and his grandchildren.

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