L to R: CSEA Town of Orchard Park Blue Collar Unit employees Paul Tuttle, Dean Welch and Unit President Dan Sweet. Photos by Ove Overmyer, CSEA ©2017.
ORCHARD PARK—Excellence and expertise can mean different things to different people.
To longtime Town of Orchard Park resident Tracy Todaro, it means doing ordinary things extraordinarily well. This is particularly the case for town employees when severe weather strikes Western New York, including crippling snow events or devastating wind storms that upend daily routines.
Todaro said the professionalism of our blue collar unit should not only be acknowledged when a weather crisis occurs, but it should also be in those quiet moments when town employees continue to keep her bustling community operating to the best of its ability.
“I know sometimes we take these folks for granted, but I want them to know I really appreciate their hard work,” Todaro said. “The Town of Orchard Park is a great place to live and raise a family, thanks in large part to our crews out there constantly maintaining our neighborhoods and making beautiful improvements to our community.”
The CSEA Town of Orchard Park Blue Collar Unit comprises 26 full-time employees, 18 of whom are doing crew work on any given day. Laborers, a clerk, light and heavy equipment operators, truck drivers, mechanics and others are charged with making the community healthier, stronger and safer. A typical workday may include tree and flower planting, street sweeping and parks maintenance, leaf and brush pickup, and sometimes when deemed necessary, the total reconstruction of a road.
Other days, tasks can be more of a challenge, including when workers are asked to remedy emergency street flooding, the removal of fallen trees from roadways or plowing two feet of overnight lake effect snow that rolled in from Lake Erie.
Laborer Paul Tuttle, who started his public service career in 1993, says working for the town is a calling like no other. “I love my job,” he said. “We take a lot of pride in our work, but it disturbs me sometimes when folks call us glorified ditch diggers. It’s just not the case. We are highly experienced and skilled tradesmen, and we provide an enormous cost benefit to town residents. All our work is done in-house, even the maintenance and repair for our vehicles. We outsource nothing, farm nothing out and that translates into a ton of tax savings for town residents.”
For 36 years, Laborer and CSEA member Dean Welch has poured his heart and soul into providing the best possible service to Orchard Park residents. “It’s very rewarding when someone stops you on the street or in a park and says they really appreciate what we do for our community,” he said. “It’s a reminder that what we do and who we are has value, and some people get it. Others, maybe not so much.”
CSEA Erie County Local President Denise Szymura said town employees are not only special, but they continue to make significant contributions to improving daily life to residents and visitors alike by performing at an incredibly high standard.
“The Orchard Park Blue-Collar Unit crews are some of the most talented, experienced craftspeople I know,” says Szymura. “Their diligence and problem solving skills are second to none and their work has long-lasting impacts on the residents and families who call Orchard Park home, whether they realize it or not. The workers have warm hearts for their community and are devoted to public service. They are an extraordinary bunch and their top-notch work ethic should never be marginalized.”
-Ove Overmyer
