Sees a lot of city buildings <\/b><\/p>\n
Steve Pinto corrected an interviewer\u2019s comment that he sees a lot of the city on his job.<\/p>\n
\u201cI see a lot of buildings,\u201d Pinto said.<\/p>\n
As a maintenance worker for Kent\u2019s facilities division, Pinto\u2019s job takes him to City Hall, fire stations, the senior activity center, the jail and any of the other three dozen city buildings where work needs to be done.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s something different every day,\u201d Pinto said.<\/p>\n
Pinto, 63, and in his 10th year with the city, picks up a Palm Pilot each day in the facilities office at the city\u2019s Centennial Center to receive his work assignment. The facilities division is part of the Kent Parks and Community Services Department.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019re asked to be a plumber, a carpenter, a dry waller or to troubleshoot electrical problems,\u201d said Alex Ackley, city facilities maintenance supervisor, who runs a crew of eight maintenance workers that includes Pinto. \u201cYou have to be well-versed in everything.\u201d<\/p>\n
Pinto has become the dry-wall expert for the city. He first worked putting up walls under his father, a plastering contractor, and then spent four years after high school as a plastering apprentice.<\/p>\n
Earlier this year, Pinto helped expand the fitness room at the Kent Senior Activity Center on Smith Street. The maintenance crew installed an 8-foot archway to connect the old fitness room to the room next door. Pinto also worked a couple of years ago on the remodeling of the mayor\u2019s office at City Hall.<\/p>\n
\u201cSteve\u2019s dedication is awesome,\u201d Ackley said. \u201cI wish there were more like him. He\u2019s willing to do whatever it takes to get things done and to make sure people are happy.\u201d<\/p>\n
That includes working evenings if maintenance work during the day will disturb too many employees. Pinto also checks out the city\u2019s Kent Commons recreational facility each day before he gets his assignments to see if everything works properly.<\/p>\n
One of the challenges of the job can be getting certain assignments done quickly. Pinto discovered it would take eight weeks to get a part for a stove that needed to be fixed at a fire station.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd it took eight weeks,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Outside of work, Pinto enjoys watching sports. He has umpired Little League games in the past, and prefers watching kids playing baseball rather than major league baseball players.<\/p>\n
\u201cKids don\u2019t get paid and have more fun than in the majors,\u201d Pinto said.<\/p>\n
Pinto and his wife, Kris, will celebrate their 34th wedding anniversary in November. The couple lives in SeaTac. They have a 21-year-old son, Brandon, who works at Costco, but who might go back to college.<\/p>\n
Pinto grew up in Boulevard Park, an unincorporated area between Seattle and SeaTac. He graduated from the old Glacier High School in 1964 and attended Highline Community College for a year or so before he became a plastering apprentice.<\/p>\n
Pinto worked in building maintenance for more than 10 years with the former King County Fire District 37 before the district became part of the city of Kent in the 1990s through annexation. That\u2019s when he became a city employee.<\/p>\n
\u201cI never thought I\u2019d be here this long,\u201d Pinto said of working for the city. \u201cBut even in this big of an organization, I have harmony with the people I work with and the people I work for.\u201d<\/p>\n
It\u2019s a job Pinto plans to keep doing.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ll go for four or five more years,\u201d Pinto said. \u201cMaybe even longer. I have to get my kid through school.\u201d<\/p>\n
That means Pinto will continue to see a lot of buildings.<\/p>\n
Contact Steve Hunter at 253-872-6600, ext. 5052 or shunter@reporternewspapers.com.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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