When Scott Hamby began his tenure with the City of Scotts Valley Public Works Department, Scotts Valley Drive was in bumpy condition and utilities were strung overhead on telephone poles.
Now, 32 years later, Hamby, the current public works director, will retire on Friday.
“I was fortunate to have people open the door for me,” said Hamby, 57, who began as an entry-level maintenance worker with the department in 1986. “I worked my way up.”
Hamby has served as public works director for the past four years, and before that led the wastewater treatment team.
Hamby said the first order of business of him and wife Lynette is to remodel their home in Soquel, where he is active coaching the Soquel High School baseball team, serving on the board of the Capitola/Soquel Chamber of Commerce, and helping with the Salvation Army.
“It’s all about the people, Scotts Valley has been a great place to work,” said Hamby, who has three grown children Kathy, Clark and Nat. “It will be a big change not coming to Scotts Valley every day.”
In addition to staying active locally, Hamby and his wife plan to build a home on property in Durango, CO, which they purchased two decades ago on a whim.
“It’s like we just stumbled up on it,” said Hamby, referring to discovering the area while on vacation. Ideally, he said, they will live 50 percent of the year in the Rockies.
Looking back over the years, Hamby said the most-rewarding aspect of the job (besides the people) is the residents’ agile adoption of curbside recycling.
“I was impressed to see how fast residents took to it,” said Hamby, adding recycling was a novel idea not that long ago. “I really enjoyed that.”
The city will begin the recruitment process after the first of the year. In the meantime, Steve Hammack, retired deputy director with the City of San Jose, will serve as interim public works director.
