Maintenance and Operations Supervisor Steve Gonzales works to ensure the Town’s high use, high visibility areas are maintained.

By Donyelle Kesler, Digital Information Specialist

When residents begin heading out to their favorite biking and hiking trails and Little League teams hit the ball fields, Maintenance and Operations Supervisor Steve Gonzales is working to ensure all Queen Creek parks and municipal grounds are in top condition and ready for their use.

Gonzales is responsible for the Town’s high use, high visibility areas and also oversees department-wide purchasing, works with contractors and takes lead when needed on Town improvement projects.

“Our parks and municipal grounds are important to establishing and maintaining the quality of life and vitality in our community,” Queen Creek Mayor Gail Barney said. “We are lucky to have Steve and his team in our Maintenance and Operation division. These professionals are committed to maintaining the Town land and helping to enhance the quality of life in Queen Creek.”

Despite having multiple individual responsibilities, Gonzales possesses a team mentality and believes that it’s through the hard work of entire Maintenance Division that things run smoothly.

“Nobody does anything without each other,” Gonzales said. “We have a very strong team that takes a lot of pride in what they do. For us, projects are never finished. When people say the parks or projects are looking good, our response is ‘We’re getting close.’”

Gonzales supervises four part-time and six full-time technicians. He makes it a priority that each member of his team has the opportunity to attend the most comprehensive trainings to perform to the best of their ability.

“Watching the team members grow professionally is really rewarding,” Gonzales said. “Seeing them come in green and being able to help them, making sure they get the best training they can so they can do their best, that’s what I enjoy most about what I do.”

And Gonzales’ workload won’t slow anytime soon as he begins focusing on upcoming projects such as the Town’s planned dog park and splash pad, both of which he’ll will be working to create a maintenance plan from scratch. He also recently took lead on a project to implement a Town-wide computerized irrigation system.

“Everyone goes to Steve for everything,” Municipal Grounds Unit Superintendent Rich Purcell said. “He’s really the go-to guy in our division and is always the first one here and the last one to leave.”

Gonzales has worked with the Town for more than eight years and has an extensive resume with certifications in pest management, playground safety inspection and turf grass. He is also a certified arborist, and has received certifications from the International Society of Arboriculture, Professional Landscape Network and the University of Georgia, National Recreation and Parks Association and Arizona Department of Agriculture Office of Pest Management. The days he can use those certifications outside of the office are the ones he says he looks most forward to.
“Those are the days I really enjoy,” Gonzales said. “I’d much rather be out in the field doing work than sitting in the office.”

By Donyelle Kesler, Digital Information Specialist

When Recreation Division’s Customer Service Coordinator Marianne Fulton isn’t at her desk at the Queen Creek Library Recreation Annex entrance, the children attending pre-school, sports and recreation classes take notice.

“’Where’s Ms. Marianne?’ the kids will all ask,” Recreation Technician Rachel Thornton said. “They miss her if she’s not there to greet them.”

Despite having numerous responsibilities including handling class registration, answering phones, assisting with special events and other administrative responsibilities, Fulton has built a close rapport with all Recreation Annex visitors. “That’s my favorite part,” Fulton said. “I enjoy welcoming our students and families and getting to know everyone. I’ve always been in customer service and always try to ensure that people have a positive experience with us.”

A Queen Creek resident for the last 13 years, Fulton’s service has gone beyond recreation customers, she also works closely with class instructors to solve issues, helps schedule their classes and offers support. Her hard work also helps recreation’s major, annual events, like Trunk or Treat and Passport to Discovery, run smoothly.

Fulton says that the family-oriented, community feel of Queen Creek is what she and the recreation staff emulate through their services.

“The activities offered through our division are important for Queen Creek families,” Fulton said. “Recreation provides opportunities for children to learn build self-esteem and create life-long healthy habits. I also always encourage adults to take time for themselves and take the adult classes we offer, too. We like to see the successes that come from the programs we offer.”

“Our Recreation Division strives to provide the community with the highest quality recreational activities by promoting social interactions through safe, fun and affordable special interest classes and events,” Queen Creek Mayor Gail Barney said. “Marianne and the entire recreation staff deliver exceptional services to support the health and happiness of our residents. The environment they have created, has continuously kept residents active in the services offered through the Town’s recreation program.”

By Donyelle Kesler, Digital Information Specialist

When Engineering Technician Salamatullah Sayeed looks at Queen Creek, he said he sees a community with enormous potential for growth and development. Those were things he also said he saw for himself with the opportunity to work with the town’s Development Services department.

“Queen Creek is a community growing at a very fast pace. With my academic background and experience, I felt I had a lot to offer and saw a great opportunity to be part of that expansion,” Sayeed said.

Since joining the town staff in January 2013, Sayeed has taken on a number of responsibilities. He reviews engineering plans and retention basins, issues encroachment permits, and works with custom home and general subdivision developments issuing permits throughout the construction phases. He works closely with Engineer Marc Palichuk, Senior Inspector Todd Sautter and other divisions to ensure operations run smoothly.

Sayeed received his bachelor’s degree in engineering in 2008 from Arizona State University. His previous work experience in the private sector and with the city of Tempe’s Public Works Engineering Division make him instrumental in the town’s efforts to be responsive to customers, according to Development Services Director Chris Anaradian.

“Sayeed is part of our next generation of technical specialists who will help us increase the quality of life for all in Queen Creek as the town experiences the next leap of growth and development,” Anaradian said. “He is providing the kind of added value that prevents problems from happening when they are on paper, before becoming costly delays on a construction site. Everyone benefits from that kind of assistance.”

“Having professional individuals like Sayeed working for our community makes us stronger as a town and a more appealing place for developers to build quality projects,” said Queen Creek Mayor Gail Barney. “We’re fortunate to have such qualified staff whose attention to detail is unwavering.”

Sayeed says the biggest challenge he’s faced since starting with the town was beginning work on a number of subdivision projects already in progress while still becoming familiar with the layout of the town. He says he is also looking forward to future projects he will have the opportunity to assist on, including working towards town plans for a possible hotel and public transportation.

“There’s lots of variety with my job that I really enjoy,” Sayeed said. “I like being able to take on multiple tasks and no two are the same, so I’m constantly interacting with different people. It keeps my job from being repetitive.”

Settling into his new position, Sayeed said one thing he has observed and enjoyed most about being part of the town staff is the dynamic among employees and their ability to work closely as a team no matter which department they belong to.

“With every department in one building and working so closely together I think it has a positive impact on the town,” Sayeed said. “It seems that everyone shares the same vision of where we want Queen Creek to be five, 10 years from now. We have people who have come from other places and know the challenges growing communities encounter and how to best deal with them and then there are people who have been here for a long time that really understand the community and can share their knowledge.”

By Donyelle Kesler, Digital Information Specialist

Walking into the Queen Creek town hall municipal services building, the first person likely to greet you is Customer Service Coordinator Margie Payton.

Payton, who worked with the Queen Creek Water Company before joining the town five years ago, knows all about water services in Queen Creek and how to ensure residents receive excellent customer service.

“I really enjoy interacting with residents, seeing them in our lobby, talking to them on the phone, I just really love that part of my job,” Payton said. “I feel every person should be helped in the same manner. No matter how important the issue, how big or small the problem is, all of the calls that come through are important,” Payton said.

Payton works along with Customer Service Representative Lacy Heiney and Administrative Assistant Elizabeth Martin to handle customer payments, water service connections and disconnections, work with builders and utility field staff on work orders and hydrant meter information and placement, and answer all incoming telephone calls for the entire municipal service building.

“We all complement each other,” Payton said. “We all know what we needs to get done and what we need to do individually and that makes us a great team.”

“Margie does an exceptional job serving our residents,” Queen Creek Mayor Gail Barney said. “She is sensitive to issues they may be undergoing and ensures that every interaction residents have with the town regarding services is a positive experience.”

Payton recently took part in and graduated from the Queen Creek Citizen Leadership Institute. She said that the Institute was something she wanted to take part in to become even more connected to the town’s inner workings.

“I loved being a part of the Institute,” Payton said. “I enjoyed being able to see what town staff does and see and experience things I hadn’t even realized in my five years were here. It was great to see that my fellow citizens enjoyed it just as much as I did.”

Payton considers herself a Queen Creek native. Her family moved to the community from Wyoming when she was 14 years old, and Payton notes the tremendous growth she’s seen in the community from street signals to new businesses. But she says despite that growth, the small-town feel and sense of community has not changed.

“When you go to the post office everyone is so nice, you know your neighbors, it’s a fun-loving community,” Payton said. “My favorite part of my job is when people come into the office when I’m working just to say hello. When people come in and say ‘I could have put this in the drop box but I wanted to say hi,’ I love that aspect of my job.”

Queen Creek Customer Service Coordinator, Margie Payton works to ensure that town residents receive exceptional customer service and support.