Meet A City of Dalton Employee: City Arborist Jerome Key

Thursday, May 16th, 2024

The City of Dalton is special because of the people who work hard every day to make it the best place to live, work, and play in Georgia. The City is proud of the men and women working to serve our residents. This article continues a series of profiles we'll be running from time to time to spotlight the special people who are making a difference in our city. 

Jerome Key is the foreman of the Landscape Division within the Dalton Public Works Department and also serves as the City Arborist. A lifelong resident of Whitifeld County, Key has worked for Dalton Public Works since his graduation from Northwest Whitfield High School in 2001. 

Here's a Q&A with Key about his work with the City and why Dalton's commitment to maintaining a healthy canopy of trees makes it a better community. 

So tell us how you got started with the Public Works Department, how long have you worked here? 

I’ve been with the City for 22 years. I started my career here right out of high school. I started part time, I was hired on and then I went full time in February of the following year. I just worked my way through different departments and different ranks. All within the Public Works Department.

What's the best part of the job?

Really, the best part I would say is never knowing what you’re going to be doing day to day. Every day brings something different. You’ve got your regular maintenance schedules, but there’s always going to be a storm or something that comes up through the day that is going to take you in a different direction.

I'm guessing that the major storms that passed through last week (on May 8th) definitely pulled your team in a lot of different directions. 

Yeah, I was awoken with a phone call at 2 o’clock in the morning and I called some of my guys in and we came in and helped to cut some trees while the other guys were dealing with the high water. Everybody around here at Public Works know that when some event comes in, it’s all hands on deck and everyone is really responsive. You don’t get any pushback. It’s a good place to work, everybody huddles up and backs everybody up when it’s time to go to work.

Nobody likes being pulled out of bed in the middle of the night, but is there any part of that kind of work that is fun?

Sure, it is and it’s satisfying to me to know that I’m helping everybody get to work safely, and I'm making sure that everybody is doing it the safe way. I guess just knowing that you’re being counted on, you know, and it's up to you to get everything straightened out is a good feeling. 

Did you play sports in school, and do you see any similarities with that kind of team work and your job today? 

I played football and wrestled in high school. Working here at Public Works, it’s very similar to playing on a team. I can call on any of the other departments to help with a job, and they’ll stop what they’re doing if they can to come help. We all have our separate divisions, but we all work as one. It’s very nice to be able to rely on other individuals that you work with, knowing that they’ve got your back and will help you accomplish the task.

You said that you have held a lot of different jobs within the Public Works Department. Tell us about how some of your different roles. 

I started off part time doing leaf removal in the winter time. We collect all of the leaves and then haul those off. And then I got hired on the back of a garbage truck and did that for a year. Then I moved to the landscaping crew and I’ve been on that crew since then, with the exception of being part-time cemetery sexton in between. I was still part of the landscaping crew, but another job that I did was being the assistant cemetery sexton, working with Terrell Stallings. Now, I’m the landscape foreman and city arborist. The cemetery still falls under me, so I also still do a little bit with the cemetery.

What's a typical day like with your job? 

We’ll start our day off, I get with the guys and figure out what direction we’re going in that day. And right now, we’re getting into the phase where we’re trying to keep everything mowed on top of some light pruning. We just finished installing flowers downtown, we did the hanging baskets, trimming shrubs, so all of the spring time maintenance stuff is going on. Most of what we mow will be the little strips between the sidewalk and the curb, so along Waugh Street and the major roadways. We mow along Walnut Avenue, and in the medians, and we mow both the Rocky Face and Walnut Avenue exits. Basically, just all of the right of way mowing. For the bigger areas, we have tractors with the flail mowers, the boom tractors. 

I always get the sense that the people who work here take a great deal of pride in making sure the City looks its best. 

It does give you a good sense of pride. I went to an event down at Burr Park, for example, and I heard people talking about how good it looks downtown and I saw people standing under the trees, really enjoying the shade under the trees because it was a hot event. You’re dealing with the public on a daily basis so it’s nice when you get that positive feedback from the public.

So speaking of the trees, I think a lot of people might not even realize that the City has an arborist. What does that part of your job entail? 

I maintain all of the trees on City rights of way. So that’s anything within the right of way. If a property owner isn't familiar with where the right of way ends, that’s something where we can tell you whether a tree is on the right of way or if it’s on private property. I get a lot of calls to come and inspect trees. If a tree is on private property, I can come and look but I don’t give a recommendation... but I can lead you in the right direction. I’ve got a list of other certified arborists people can call to come and resolve whatever issue they may have.

Dalton has been designated as a Tree City USA community for 34 years running. Why is your job working with the City's trees important? 

(Dalton's tree canopy) makes it a better place to live – there’s research out there that shows that having more trees makes for a happier, more enjoyable community. It helps with the heat, and now we’ve got all of these different construction projects going up, the new apartments being built and that’s another aspect of my job, making sure new commercial projects put in the landscaping to help deal with the heat.