MARCH 163 20183 KEIZERTIMES3 PAGE A3
Stormwater systems are Griffi n’s specialty
say I was able to raise my fam-
ily here as well,” Griffi n said.
These walls sum up Grif-
fi n, who describes himself as
a family man who loves his
hometown and his job. Call-
ing the staff of public works
his second family wouldn’t be
wrong, he is devoted to them
and to making the community
he calls home.
“We have a group of guys
and we lead by example. We
are a tight knit group and we
pride ourselves on doing a
good job,” he said.
At 46, he’s come a long way
from the 18-year-old who
wasn’t sure what he wanted to
do with his life.
After graduating from Mc-
Nary High School, where
he was a theater kid and
played football, Griffi n went
to Chemeketa Community
By DEE MOORE
For the Keizertimes
Ask Mike Griffi n, street
and stormwater operations
division manager of Keizer
Public Works how long he has
worked for the city and he
pauses to remember how old
his daughter is.
“Eighteen years, because
my daughter is 18,” Griffi n
said.
His offi ce is a monument
to that love. Every bit of wall
space is full of cards, notes and
drawings from his daughters.
These compete with diagrams
and plans for work. He has
several photographs that were
taken by his daughter who is
a young entrepreneurial pho-
tographer.
“This community has held
a special place in my life from
a young age and I am happy to
College, where he majored in
general studies “so that I could
fi gure out what I wanted to
do,” he said.
After earning his AA at
Chemeketa he went to work
in construction as a pipe layer.
This required going through
an apprenticeship program at
Clackamas Community Col-
lege. This program taught him
what it means to work hard.
“My work ethic comes
from that,” Griffi n said. But,
driving all over the valley and
beyond was taxing and he had
a young family and as it grew
he realized he wanted to work
in Keizer where he could be
close to home and to his wife
and children. His fi rst choice
was to work for the city he
calls home.
It is the teamwork and the
camaraderie that keeps it fresh
and interesting from day to
day.
“We do everything from
repair mainlines, leaks, putting
in new water services, fi lling
potholes and dealing with vi-
sion complaints. Everybody
does their part,” Griffi n said.
“I like accomplishing a job
and the benefi t that comes
from providing a service to
the community.”
Public works is made up
of 28 staff members. Griffi n is
one of the four division super-
visors in the department. He
has four staff members who
are designated storm water di-
vision specialists.
“My typical work day starts
at 7:30 a.m. with a cup of cof-
fee and a group meeting. We
catch up on what’s going on
around town, safety issues and
any other issues that we need
to be aware of. From there
our teams may meet separately
with their respective supervi-
sors for any specifi c informa-
tion and then we will begin
loading up materials and prep-
ping for the day’s jobs,” he said.
“I will discuss with my
four stormwater guys what
they have going for the day
from our ever growing work
list and will add anything new
that has come up from a faded
street sign to a catch-basin that
is draining slowly.”
“Right now we are work-
ing on storm line repairs that
were found during stormwa-
ter pipe video inspections.”
Griffi n is very earnest
when he talks about his job
and how that factors into
making life better for Keizer’s
Mike Griffi n3 street and
stormwater operations
division manager of
Keizer Public Works
Making
Keizer
work
A Keizertimes
series pulling
back the curtain
on the people
who keep the
city running
smoothly.
residents. It never gets old.
“My day can be a whirl-
wind of activities and con-
stantly switching gears, we
have a great group here who
are outstanding at their jobs
and help make mine easier,”
he said.
This can include respond-
ing to customer concerns
and issues through emails
and phone calls. Many of the
calls and emails are complaint
based, a pothole that needs to
be repaired, a corner that is
obscured or a full catch basin.
These take priority because
customer service is a priority
at public works.
“We jump on calls and
complaints and we do the best
we can to respond to all of
these,” he said.
In addition to responding
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tricks like that
the kids doing
Johnson eagerly
HOWALD
in years,”
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By ERIC A.
es
councilors and a tour
Of the Keizertim 9, is a day told city
during
board members
11.
Saturday, Sept.
Johnson will of parks Monday, Sept.
that Robert a while.
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KEIZERTIM
and
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HOWALD
Robert Johnson Monday, Sept. 11.
By ERIC A.
Supervisor
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orthodontics for children3
adolescents & adults
Happy
Independence
Day!
New pastor
NEIGHBOR
PAGE A4
people
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OR YOUR
Design by
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Jackson
KEIZERTIM
Keizer man
turns 100
PAGE A3
Claggett
Creek
maestro
retires
PAGE A8
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