A Hume council worker has clocked 50 years on the job, and was acknowledged with a celebration by his employers at the recent council meeting.
Roads team member Howard Mitchell started at Hume in 1973, when Pascoe Vale Road was one lane in either direction, a fitting and telling acknowledgement of Howard’s service.
Starting out in the rates department, he then moved into customer service upon the 1994 amalgamation into Hume council, before becoming a building asset inspector and finally a team leader of works delivery.
As a depot worker for the past 15 years, Howard oversees a team that inspects local roads and footpaths, many of which didn’t even exist back in the 1970s.
“I like getting things done and sometimes there’s hurdles…I’m a doer,” Mr Mitchell said. “I like getting things finished, seeing the end result, seeing the before, seeing the after.
“Whether it’s regarding line marking or getting the road patches repaired, footpaths getting repaired….signs… the community, they always have good feedback when they visually see what’s changed for the better.”
While helping the community keeps Howard driven, he admits the secret to staying at a company for so long is the culture.
“I’ve always had bosses that took an interest, not only workwise but socially and vice versa.
“If I had a really bad boss, I don’t think I’d last, I probably wouldn’t have made the 50. But I’ve been lucky. Really good bosses and really good work colleagues.”
Outside of his work, Mr Mitchell keeps active and makes regular contributions to men’s health initiatives.
He said he is also looking forward to doing one of his most important jobs as a dad when his daughter gets married next year.
