Sees a lot of city buildings
Steve Pinto corrected an interviewer’s comment that he sees a lot of the city on his job.
“I see a lot of buildings,” Pinto said.
As a maintenance worker for Kent’s facilities division, Pinto’s 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.
“There’s something different every day,” Pinto said.
Pinto, 63, and in his 10th year with the city, picks up a Palm Pilot each day in the facilities office at the city’s Centennial Center to receive his work assignment. The facilities division is part of the Kent Parks and Community Services Department.
“You’re asked to be a plumber, a carpenter, a dry waller or to troubleshoot electrical problems,” said Alex Ackley, city facilities maintenance supervisor, who runs a crew of eight maintenance workers that includes Pinto. “You have to be well-versed in everything.”
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.
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’s office at City Hall.
“Steve’s dedication is awesome,” Ackley said. “I wish there were more like him. He’s willing to do whatever it takes to get things done and to make sure people are happy.”
That includes working evenings if maintenance work during the day will disturb too many employees. Pinto also checks out the city’s Kent Commons recreational facility each day before he gets his assignments to see if everything works properly.
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.
“And it took eight weeks,” he said.
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.
“Kids don’t get paid and have more fun than in the majors,” Pinto said.
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.
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.
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’s when he became a city employee.
“I never thought I’d be here this long,” Pinto said of working for the city. “But even in this big of an organization, I have harmony with the people I work with and the people I work for.”
It’s a job Pinto plans to keep doing.
“I’ll go for four or five more years,” Pinto said. “Maybe even longer. I have to get my kid through school.”
That means Pinto will continue to see a lot of buildings.
Contact Steve Hunter at 253-872-6600, ext. 5052 or shunter@reporternewspapers.com.
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