Dale Denton named Public Works director

Dale Denton horizontal

The office walls of Gastonia’s new Public Works director are decorated with framed sketches of characters from the 1960s TV hit The Andy Griffith Show. Dale Denton even has an Andy Griffith Show wall calendar, a Christmas gift from a fellow employee. Although Sheriff Andy Taylor was a fictional character, don’t be surprised if Denton tries to bring some of Andy’s legendary wisdom to the workplace.

“Andy is always trying to make other people look better. I like that about his character,” Denton says. “Barney kept messing up, but Andy would figure out a way to fix it so that it would work out and Barney would look like a hero. I try to do that as much as I can. If anyone else can get credit for something, I try to push it to someone else every time.”

Denton, a Gastonia native and City employee for 32 years, became director of Gastonia’s reconfigured Public Works Department on July 7. He oversees a $15.9 million budget and 123 employees who work for four divisions within Public Works: Solid Waste, Field Operations (including Stormwater, Streets and Traffic Services), Equipment Services and City Building Maintenance. For the past 11 years, Denton had been division manager for Field Operations.

Becoming a department head during a time of reorganization presents both opportunities and challenges for Denton. Since May, numerous City divisions and programs have been realigned, renamed and even dissolved. But Denton says the decision to create a more traditional city public works department makes sense and may lead to improved service and cost savings.

“I think of public works as being all about providing services,” Denton says. “You’re making sure the streets are safe, running the City’s traffic signal system, addressing stormwater issues, providing solid waste services. You’re maintaining the City’s 900-plus vehicles and related pieces of equipment and more than 140 City-owned facilities.”

Wants to learn what motivates each employee
Denton’s initial goals are to focus on safety, develop a cross-training program, further improve customer service and, in the coming weeks, meet with every Public Works employee.

“We must make sure that every operation, every division, is safety minded,” he says. And he’d like to develop ways for employees in one division to try their hand at jobs in a different division. He says cross-training might open career pathways for employees and also make it easier when one division or program needs some temporary help. As an example, Denton says some Solid Waste employees could help Street Maintenance crews during a snow event.

Denton says he’s most excited about meeting with every employee in Public Works. “I’d like every employee to wake up in the morning and look forward to coming to work,” he says. “One of my goals is finding out what can be done to accomplish that mindset for each employee. What motivates each one of them?”

In those upcoming conversations and crew/team meetings, Denton will ask Public Works employees what they think the City is doing right and what can be improved. “Employees have good ideas if someone is listening to them and paying attention,” Denton says. “You use their input to develop a plan and department-wide goals. Because it comes from the employees, not top down, you get more buy-in.”

Another of Denton’s goals is building on what he calls the City’s family atmosphere. “Nothing would be more awesome than if we all view each other as family,” he says. According to Denton, that includes less of a silo mentality and more focus on solving problems and helping one another. “Customer service is not just for residents,” he says. “It’s also internal: how City employees treat each other.”

Denton started as a drafting technician in the City’s Engineering Department in 1986. He worked 16 years as an engineer, first in the Engineering Department, then in Public Works & Utilities. In 2007, Denton became division manager of Field Operations. He held that role until being selected in early July as the new Public Works director.

Inspired by The Andy Griffith Show

A “practical, common-sense approach” is how Denton describes his approach to management. And it may be why he’s such a fan of The Andy Griffith Show. “It was a simpler time,” he says of the show. “It’s all about the simplicity of life. Today, we’re all just too busy.”

Andy Photo

TV critics say that even when The Andy Griffith Show first aired in 1960, it was supposed to be an escape from real life, not a reflection of it. But fans quickly discovered real-life wisdom in Mayberry’s folksy fantasy. In the more than 50 years since its debut, The Andy Griffith Show has never been off the air. The show and its reruns remain a pop-culture tribute to small-town virtues and American values.

Those iconic ideals fit well with Denton’s workplace goals of strengthening the family-like atmosphere and encouraging employees to see the best in their co-workers, even if colleagues might occasionally act like the bumbling-but-well-intentioned Barney Fife.

Denton says he intends to lead by example and give others the credit when things go well. “I can’t do much of anything by myself, but I’m surrounded by some amazing people who love the City as much as I do,” Denton says in a wise-but-humble tone reminiscent of Sheriff Andy Taylor. “I work with some really good people, and I am extremely grateful for this opportunity to serve as director of public works for my hometown.”

Image: http://goteenwriters.blogspot.com/2014/05/andy-griffith-on-being-good-loser.html

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Dale Denton named Public Works director