Public Works Week: Celebrating the champions that keep the City running
May 19, 2025
People. Purpose. Presence.
Every day, Public Works employees wake up and come to work ready to serve our community. They keep our City running smoothly by maintaining critical infrastructure, providing key services and responding to emergencies. Public Works staff are there when our community needs them.
Meet seven of the excellent individuals who help make our City more livable and vibrant, and protected.
Jeff Brown, Senior Construction Inspector
Jeff has over 30 years of experience in engineering and construction inspection and has been with the City for 25 years.
One of his favorite parts of his job is designing ADA curb ramps and being the inspector on his designs to better solve design challenges during the construction phase. Our City builds around 200 to 300 curb ramps a year, improving accessibility for the community.
He also inspects pavement preservation projects and enjoys quality assurance and control, and working with subcontractors on striping layout and installation.
“I love what I do, from design to inspection to the final striping for a completed project.”
Jeff brown
Tim Esary, Public Works Supervisor with Greenway Sensitive Lands
Over his 22 years with the City, his favorite part of his job is seeing the drastic changes his team has made by enhancing the Burnt Bridge Creek riparian buffer and other natural areas.
This work helps improve water and air quality, increase habitat and improve opportunities for recreation. Tim’s typical day includes data entry, coordination with leads to determine priorities, and working in the field.
Jeff Lindsley, Lead Traffic Signal and Street Light Technician
On a typical day, Jeff works on emergencies and locates. The dispatch department will call out issues that need to be looked at and fixed. A common issue Jeff works on is signal head burnouts. He also works on locate requests from contractors working around City signal and lighting infrastructure.
Through his work, Jeff strives to help our community by keeping signals and streetlights operational.
A meaningful part of Jeff’s job is working on emergency vehicle preemption, which allows emergency vehicles to get through intersections faster.
Kristi Lucht, Water Quality Coordinator
Kristi helps to make sure that we are all doing our part to keep our water distribution system free from pathogens and works to keep customers notified of the annual backflow assembly testing requirements. She coordinates on-site hazard assessment surveys of facilities to verify that connections have a backflow assembly.
Kristi has been working with the City for over 19 years. One of her favorite parts of her job is knowing that she’s making a difference to ensure we provide safe, clean and reliable drinking water.
Kai Pajala, Senior Fleet Services Emergency Technician
His job includes working on scheduled repairs to Vancouver Fire Department equipment or responding to issues moment by moment. He’s worked with the City for over 17 years.
Working behind the scenes, his work helps keep firefighters able to respond to emergencies. For Kai, the most meaningful part of his job is working for the hardworking people serving the Fire Department and being treated like a part of the firefighting family.
Aleesa Stoolfire, Grounds Senior Maintenance Worker
Aleesa’s duties change day-to-day. You might find her mowing, pressure washing, trimming trees, emptying trash cans at parks, fixing fences and much more. Aleesa joined the Grounds team in 2018 and has been with the City since 2016.
Through her work, she visits many of the same City properties over time and gets to know neighbors around the parks she maintains. She’s built meaningful relationships with neighbors that she’s seen once a week over her career. Getting to wave and say hello to neighbors makes her day!
“I get to help make sure that public spaces are clean, safe, accessible and enjoyable for people from all walks of life, and I love that.”
Aleesa Stoolfire
Sydney Wigle, Senior Engineering Technician
A normal day for Sydney starts with logging inspections, responding to questions from property and business owners, and preparing for site visits.
Sydney has been with the City for about two and a half years. Sydney conducts private stormwater facility inspections and source control inspections at private businesses. For private facilities, she compares their current condition to approved plans to ensure they function correctly. For source control, she works directly with businesses to ensure hazardous materials are stored safely and spill risks are minimized.
Sydney has been with the City for about two and a half years. Sydney’s role helps the community by addressing issues before they lead to failures, like flooding. Protecting groundwater is critical since our drinking water comes from underground aquifers.