During a closed session of a City of Salem Board of Aldermen meeting on March 19, mayor Greg Parker appointed Steve Paine as public works director with the board of aldermen unanimously approving. At the beginning of the aldermen meeting held March 26, Paine was officially sworn in by assistant city clerk Wanda Suhr and is now acting public works director.
Paine agreed to an interview with The Salem News to help citizens get to know him, where he’s been, and where he’s going.
Paine grew up in Salem and graduated in 1988 before leaving for the U.S. Air Force in 1989 – for twenty years, he found himself in different countries and locations, like Spain, Guam, Germany, Montana, and then Palmer, Alaska, where he settled and retired at 54-years-old. He spent 23 winters in Alaska before returning to Salem where his sister and family still lived.
Multiple friends of his had passed away from pancreatic cancer – something that opened Paine’s eyes to life’s fragility.
During his time in Alaska, Paine was promoted to Assistant Director of Safety and Security for the Matanuska-Susitna Borough School District consisting of 19,500 kids – 48 schools over a 22,000 square mile area. He held the position for six years with many nerve-wracking incidents. The district had around 40 shooting threats a year, recalled Paine, causing immense stress and heart issues worrying about the students and staff he was responsible for.
Following his move back to Salem last year, he began forging a plan to open a small auto-detail business within a warehouse he was remodeling to help supplement his income and other projects. He was looking for opportunities to help around Salem, such as forming a volunteer group to help the community, when a few community members approached him with the idea that he apply for public works director.
Paine had known of the retirement of Mark Nash, the previous public works director, but the position hadn’t quite interested him until he heard the city was looking for someone outside the status quo – a different set of eyes and skillset that he could bring to the table. And they hadn’t yet found what they were looking for; he took that as a sign to step up to the plate.
Paine states he’s throwing maximum effort at the position – putting in 12-hour days and thinking about it after the work day is through. His biggest priority is rebuilding public trust and prioritizing transparency, sympathetic to the distrust folks feel toward the government these days. As for staff, he’s seeking to rebuild the falling morale due to recent shake-ups and changes.
“We have some great professionals that really know their business and take pride in it,” shared Paine.
A challenge he expects to face is finances when it comes to maintaining and repairing the old infrastructure in and around Salem – and how to build them back sustainably, while keeping in mind shifting EPA standards that might affect costs later. He expects a steep challenge when it comes to the aging sewer lines.
“We have to think about the changes we’re making,” said Paine, “and how it’s going to affect us 10, 20, 30 years down the road and beyond.”
