Showing Appreciation For Essential Workers Is The Best Gift In Phoenix

Press release from the City of Phoenix:

December 16, 2020

'Tis the season of giving! For one resident, it's not gifts she is giving, instead it's compliments.

Retired city employee, Ann Barnett, has been routinely impressed by the punctuality and service provided by two of our Solid Waste Equipment Operators (SWEOs)–the men and women who collect trash and recycling.

Amidst all the chaos this year, Barnett wrote, “They never missed a scheduled service, time or date . . .." She added, “I could set my alarm clock by them if I needed to."

And she is absolutely right! Phoenix's SWEOs have been showing up and showing out for their city – providing even the tiniest bit of certainty during these uncertain times.

Lucas Coleman, an 8-year vet with the Public Works Department explains, “We are expected to provide an essential service that everybody needs and we want to provide exceptional customer service for our residents."

Coleman works Barnett's route in west Phoenix and said at the beginning of the pandemic, “thank you" signs attached to solid waste containers were common. As the pandemic drags on, not so much.

In response to receiving compliments and praise from residents, Coleman plays it cool.

“That's the stuff that means something, it makes you feel like people truly appreciate what we are doing out here," he said.

The pandemic has not been easy on SWEOs. As more and more people were advised to stay home, Phoenix saw sizeable increases in solid waste tonnage this year—20% increase in trash and recycling and 15% increase in bulk trash collection. The increase in material has extended workdays and sometimes forcing crews to work into the weekends.

These essential workers are heroes to the residents of Phoenix, but for Coleman, who shares the same sentiment as his colleagues, “It's just an everyday job."

As for Barnett, she wants to make sure our SWEOs get the credit they deserve.“(SWEOs) are as essential as police and fire….imagining our city without garbage collection throws us back centuries," she wrote.

Residents who want to send a note of appreciation to SWEOs and other essential workers from the Public Works Department should email ReimaginePhoenix@phoenix.gov. Their home address or location of their neighborhood must be included in the email for staff to determine which driver or staff member should receive the note.

Written by Alexander Johnson.

Johnson is a Digital Communications Assistant with the Public Works Department. An Arizona native, Johnson earned a B.S. in Communicaitons from Arizona State University in 2018 and continues to pursue his passion for sustainability and digital media with the city of Phoenix.

This press release was produced by the City of Phoenix. The views expressed here are the author’s own.