city employees

MILLEDGEVILLE, Ga. — When people work with each other for a long period of time, they get to know each other on a personal level, too.

Such is the case with six men who have worked together in the same department for 30 or more years with the city of Milledgeville.

They include Charles Gregory Stewart, 32 years; Arnold Lee Washington, nearly 31 years; Melvin Denham, 32 years; Troy Ramage, 33 years; Charles Bundrage, 33 years; and Eulice Stevenson, 32 years.

The men perform a variety of jobs within the public works department.

Some of them are tasked with repairing and maintaining more than 100 miles of city streets, public rights-of-ways, easements, and public cemeteries and recreation parks.

Others, meanwhile, provide stormwater control to more than 27 miles of storm drains within the city.

“It’s kind of like we’re family,” said Stewart. “When we’ve got problems, we talk about our problems together.”

Stewart openly admitted in front of his co-workers that one or more of them offer helpful advice in certain situations.

“We get along well as a group because we’ve all known each other for so many years,” said Stewart.

Denham agreed.

“I’ve never had any trouble with any of them,” said Denham. “It’s all about the people that you work with. It’s a real good group of people to work with. Everybody here has each other’s backs.” 

The men all say they are proud to have worked together in the city’s public works department for as long as they have.

“There’s a sense of pride about having worked with each other for this many years,” said Washington, who has worked as a supervisor in the public works department since 1996. “We’ve gotten to know each other pretty well over the years.”

Stewart said the working relationships, as well as their friendship, has grown through the years.

“We’ve seen a lot of changes over the years,” said Stewart. 

He and the other five men said one of the big reasons they have stayed on with the city all of these years is the way they are treated as employees and because they work for good, honorable people.

“I’ve seen him (City Manager Barry Jarrett) do more for us than anybody I’ve seen do for us since I’ve been here,” said Stewart. “He really looks after his employees — that’s the biggest thing I can say about Mr. Jarrett.”

Co-workers agreed.

“That’s very true,” added Washington. “He’s fair.”

Denham, meanwhile, said it simply boils down to Jarrett’s respect “for the little man.”

Washington contends that it takes a team to do the work they have to do in the city.

“We all work well together; we all, again, get along good together; and we get the job done,” said Ramage. “And that’s what matters at the end of the day.”

For several years, the group worked under Frank Baugh, who served as the city’s public works director.

The group said they thought a lot of Baugh also.

Earlier this year, Baugh left the city for a job with Georgia College.

The city’s new public works director is Otis Thomas.

On the job for only a short time thus far, Thomas has quickly earned the respect of his employees.