Much Has Changed in 50 Years; County Employee’s Job Hasn’t

The year Gary Hartpence started working at the County, lava lamps and touch tone telephones were hot inventions. A gallon of gas cost 30 cents. Dr. Martin Luther King delivered his iconic “I Have a Dream” speech and the nation was devastated by the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.

On July 18, 1963, Hartpence reported to work as an Engineering Technician I at a Quonset hut on Rosecrans Street, home to part of the County Department of Public Works’ operations. When he arrived that summer day, Hartpence faced a choice. Did he want to work in the department’s surveying or engineering materials lab operations? He chose the latter.

Five decades later, Hartpence, now 75 and an Engineering Technician III, still works in DPW’s Engineering Materials lab, which is now in Kearny Mesa. He is the only employee in the County’s records to have put in 50 years of service, according to the County Department of Human Resources. The Board of Supervisors recognized his staggering achievement at their meeting Tuesday.

Not surprisingly, Hartpence is often asked whether he plans to retire. He brushes the questions off with his dry sense of humor.

“I’m going to make you all carry me out of here in a pine box,” is how he said he jokingly responds.
Besides, the older he gets the more fun he has, Hartpence said. He can’t imagine enjoying retirement as much.

“I’ve seen a lot of people come and go,” he said. “I noticed a funny thing happens to people who retire.” They aren’t around much longer, he joked.

As an Engineering Technician III, Hartpence has traveled around the county testing the soil at construction sites to ensure it is safe and ready to withstand development, public and private. He also checked asphalt being used to build public roads to make sure it was up to standard. He has worked on hundreds if not thousands of infrastructure projects—water and sewer lines, projects at airports, parks and recreation-related--over the years. He worked on such major thoroughfares as Encinitas Boulevard, Poway Road, Scripps Poway Parkway and Winter Gardens Boulevard in Lakeside. Hartpence has particularly loved his work surveying land, describing it as the most fun he ever had.

One of his favorite projects came in the 1970s when Hartpence was tasked with surveying a piece of donated land that was to become Oakoasis Preserve in Lakeside. The land wasn’t accessible by road. So Hartpence and a colleague had to get creative. They borrowed a boat from the city of San Diego and rode across nearby San Vicente Reservoir to reach the property. At another time, they even got a ride in a helicopter then carried the surveying equipment in on their backs.

Some of the terrain he’s surveyed was so rugged or remote that hadn’t been visited by anyone in years. He’s seen mountain lions, rattlesnakes, and was even attacked by a swarm of bees once doing this work. He and his co-worker just covered themselves up with some equipment  and they turned out OK.

Hartpence’s supervisor, Senior Civil Engineer Larry Horsman, said he often relies on the longtime employee’s extensive knowledge and institutional memory. Consulting records is one thing, but being able to talk directly with someone who was there has come in handy.

“Having that history available is a rare and valuable commodity for the County and for me,” Horsman said. 

Horsman said Hartpence recalls not only the details but he also has a broad perspective based on his years of work history.

“You can train a lot of things, but you can’t train experience,” Horsman said.

Hartpence was born in 1937 in Orange County. His family moved briefly to Ohio, then returned to California, this time San Diego, when his father got a job at Miramar Naval Air Station. Hartpence and his family moved to El Cajon in 1952 when he was 15 years old. He has never left East County, graduating from Grossmont High School, and then taking classes at San Diego State University in the 1950s. His entry into Public Works came when he took a job working on sewer systems at the City of San Diego in 1959. He worked in the Department of Public Works there for four years before shifting to the County’s DPW.

Hartpence’s coworkers have even relied on expertise built through one of his hobbies: flying at Gillespie Field. He learned to fly 40 years ago at the County’s airport in El Cajon and flies with friends. That knowledge of the airport and surrounding area has helped the department, Horsman said.
Hartpence also builds model airplanes, ships and cars. And he’s a big reader, particularly enjoying history books about the origins of World War II.

Where does he find the energy to work so hard for so many years? Hartpence said he’s never smoked, and he’s always gotten a lot of exercise on the job. Admittedly, he moves a little slower than he used to, but Hartpence said he’s still is agile.

Hartpence also said he’s had a chance to work with some great people over the years. That has been a factor in staying as long as he has. 

Walking around the engineering materials lab on a recent day, it was obvious how much respect and affection his co-workers had for him. Hartpence jokingly introduced one of his colleagues as his son, though it was clear from their different ethnic backgrounds that they weren’t related. Everyone laughed.

“These guys are like my family,” Hartpence said.

Gary Hartpence received a standing ovation as the Board of Supervisors presented him with a proclamation.