Every day is a winding road for Patty Johnson. As street commissioner for the city of Noblesville, Ind., she never knows what to expect when the phone in her office rings. It may be a resident reporting a deer carcass in the road that needs to be removed, a pavement problem that needs to be addressed or a request to have a crew dig a new grave in the city-owned cemetery. However, her team has also fielded calls about a dead racoon in a tree; residential leaf raking services, which they do not offer; general inquiries; and complaints regarding neighboring municipalities.

          “It’s amazing what people think we can help them with,” she laughed. “We joke that our department must be the information hub for the county. They call us for just about anything.”

A unique career path

          A graduate of Hamilton Southeastern High School, Johnson’s career with the city of Noblesville began in 1991 when she was hired to serve as a clerk in the treasurer’s office. Within five years she had become the bookkeeper for the city, but she was eager for a new challenge. She became the secretary for the street department and found that she enjoyed both the daily variety that came along with her new position as well as the people with whom she worked.

          “Working in an office with the guys was different than being in an office with a lot of females, but I grew up in a family of boys, so I was used to it,” she said.

          Johnson learned on the job and worked her way up to office manager, then operations manager and, eventually, assistant street commissioner under Len Finchum. When Finchum retired in 2011, then-mayor John Ditslear tapped her to replace him, calling Johnson “without question the best person for the job.”

          Johnson said the position was a great fit for someone who was raised in a DIY household where repair, rather than replacement, was emphasized. Although the engineering department handles any large resurfacing projects that are required, the street department is responsible for maintenance such as strip patching, crack sealing and micro surfacing, as well as concrete work along sidewalks and curb lines. They also remove roadkill, maintain Riverside Cemetery and clear the streets of snow during the winter months – something Johnson herself has taken part in.

          “I’m not afraid to get my hands dirty when I need to,” she said. “I don’t have a CDL license so I can’t drive one of the big vehicles, but we have a lot of pickup trucks and vans with plows. It’s not that hard when you get the hang of it. In fact, it’s kind of cathartic to get the roads cleared.”

The road less traveled

          As the only female street commissioner in the state of Indiana at the time, Johnson was a bit of an anomaly. Although she had 15 years of experience in her field, she knew there was more to learn. She quickly became involved with professional organizations such as the American Public Works Association and the Indiana Street Commissioners Association, where she networked among the membership and eventually served as an officer and as a member of the board.

          “I felt like a fish out of water with all of the men in the beginning,” she said. “Thankfully, a salesman took me under his wing and introduced me to people. I have been blessed to have some great mentors as well as an incredible team to work with.”

Over the past 13 years, Johnson has worked to improve processes at her department and shore up teamwork to make that team more efficient. When she first arrived, the department staff would use a pitchfork to lift brush and heave it into a dump truck, which led to a lot of on-the-job injuries. Today, they use a grapple truck that can pick up larger items and pull-behind leaf machines so that no one is breaking their back.

At the present time, the department is working to update 25-year-old school zone flashers to help keep students safe as well as the rapid flashing beacons used to catch a driver’s attention at roundabouts.

“They aren’t that old, but the tech is outdated so we have to replace them,” she said.

Although Indiana winters are relatively mild, every once in a while, Mother Nature comes up with a storm that can challenge even the toughest team. In 2013 a strong winter storm system moved through the area, causing a salt shortage for the Noblesville crew.

“That was my second season as director and it was one of the roughest,” she said. “We ran out of salt, ran out our contracts and had to find new providers,” she said. “We worked 70 days straight to get all of the roadways and everything up to the level of service that we wanted: We all pulled together so even that was not insurmountable. But it was a team effort.”

When she is not working, Johnson can be found puttering around her home with her husband and enjoying time with her two grown sons and her two grandsons. “I am still surrounded by guys, and I still enjoy learning things and doing things with my hands,” she said. “I stay very busy both at home and at work.”

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