Page 13 - March-April2020 Vol37 No7

KINGSPORT By Matthew Lane

Ronnie Hammonds Retires

When Ronnie Hammonds started
working for the City of Kingsport, Richard
Bevington was the mayor, the population
of the town was about 31,000 and the city
limits were generally contained within
John B. Dennis and Stone Drive.

And now after 41 years with the city,
Hammonds, a longtime employee of the
Public Works Department, has announced
his retirement. His last day on the job was
be Dec. 20.

“(My wife and I) started thinking
about it. I was turning 62, we have a
granddaughter (Grace) that’s three years
old, and I want to spend more time with
my mom and dad,” Hammonds said. “Just
a lot of things came together at the perfect
time to really think about it.”

Time with the City to automated ones. Manual recycling also He plans to continue being active with
went automated, and trash collection the Tennessee Public Works Association,
Hammonds’ first day with the city trucks went from three-man crews to the will still volunteer around town (as he
was Nov. 22, 1978, starting off in the grabber trucks. does with Meals on Wheels) and will
Engineering Division at City Hall, where remain a member of the Kingsport
he met Rose — his wife of almost 39 years. Over the years, Hammonds has won Kiwanis Club. And of course, he will help
After spending six years with engineering, various accolades from the American out with his granddaughter as much as he
Hammonds transitioned to Asphalt Public Works Association including can.
Foreman, then Public Works Specialist the Roger Clark Award in 2007, the
and finally was promoted to the Manager Larry Eddins Award in 2009 and finally During his tenure at the Model City,
of the Streets and Sanitation Division, a the Public Works Man of the Year for Ronnie Hammonds worked with nine
position he’s held for more than 15 years. Tennessee in 2014. mayors, eight city managers and hundreds
of other city employees. He made certain
Under his leadership, the city has made “It’s difficult to think about our Public to stay out of politics as much as he could
progress in many areas that enhanced Works Department without Ronnie and just do his job no matter who was in
service, while maintaining or lowering Hammonds,” said Ryan McReynolds, office or leading the city.
costs and improving employee safety. Kingsport Deputy City Manager. “He’s
When Hammonds first came to the city, dedicated his time, talents and knowledge Hammonds said he just wanted to make
the engineering division didn’t have to Kingsport over the past four decades.” sure the work got done and tried to keep
computers. The work was done with everything on an even keel.
calculators and maybe a word processor, His Future Plans
he said. “I’m going to miss the job and I’ll miss
Hammonds said he and his wife plan to the people I worked with,” Hammonds
Hammonds predates the city’s stay in Kingsport. His only son, daughter- said. “I was very fortunate to work with
recycling program, the annual cleanup in-law and grandbaby are only a couple of a lot of people throughout the city. I
event and all of the automation that’s hours down the road and, as previously made a lot of good friends and memories
essentially common practice in the Public mentioned, his parents are still living in and hopefully made a little bit of a
Works industry across the country. the area. difference.”
Computerization and automation are two
of the biggest changes to take place in
Public Works during his tenure with the
city, he said.

Switching to Automation

One noteworthy job Hammonds
completed earlier in his career involved
a study on the efficiency of side-loading
garbage trucks versus rear-loading ones.
Eventually, all of the trucks were switched

View online at tnpublicworks.com 13