Public Works Director Takes Care of Basics : Simi Valley: Ronald C. Coons oversees road and utility services. But sometimes he and the City Council disagree over use of funds.

A smooth stretch of road, a tall glass of tap water, a forcefully flushing toilet--daily facts of life that most people take for granted.

Not Ronald C. Coons.

As Simi Valley’s director of public works, Coons spends his days planning road improvements, testing water and monitoring the sanitation plant to ensure safe, efficient delivery of the city’s basic services.

In a city of 102,000, providing those services is a big job. Coons, 47, oversees nine divisions, managing nearly half of the city’s 530 employees and more than two-thirds of its $85.7-million annual budget.

“Cities were formed to provide basic services,” Coons said. “It’s our job to provide those services as economically and efficiently as possible for the health and safety of the people.”

The biggest ongoing challenge for the public works director, according to Mayor Greg Stratton, is to make sure that the city’s money is well spent.

“The last thing we want is to see three guys standing around a hole while another guy digs,” Stratton said. “I think Ron’s done a pretty good job in making sure that doesn’t happen.”

Every so often, however, Coons and the City Council disagree about appropriate use of funds.

One year, Stratton recalled, Coons asked the city to buy a van to shuttle public works employees to meetings at City Hall. The council rejected the request.

The next year, the request for the van was back. “He called it something else, like utility-touring vehicle,” Stratton said. “But . . . we asked him all these questions and he finally admitted that it was the same old van.”

The council had a good laugh and nixed the request. “He never did get that van, but we still tease him about it,” Stratton said. “Every year when we look at his budget, we say, ‘So Ron, where’s the van?’ It’s become sort of a tradition.”

A soft-spoken, methodical man, Coons takes the ribbing in stride, spending long hours plotting the city’s public works future.

His next big task is a whopping $1.2-million road-paving project, to repair roads throughout the city that were damaged in the heavy rains of recent years. The city usually spends about $1 million a year maintaining its roads.

“It’s a major effort,” Coons said of the project. “We’re gearing up now.”

When not at work, Coons volunteers with the city’s Rotary Club and spends time with his seven children, who range in age from 23 months to 24 years old.

Before work each day, he slips out for an early morning walk through the streets of Simi Valley with his wife, Sally.

“It gives us a little time alone,” he said. It also gives Coons a chance to monitor streets and sidewalks for cracks and bumps that might need tending.

Strolling along the streets, Coons could point to dozens of projects that bear his touch: a housing tract here, a widened road there.

Over the years, Coons has shepherded projects that have profoundly changed the face of Simi Valley: development of the Indian Hills housing tract, extension of Tapo Canyon Road from Cochran Street to Royal Avenue, and construction of the interchange at Madera Road and the Simi Valley Freeway.

“These are great projects that really improved the city,” Coons said. “They are a real asset to the area.”

There are many other, less visible projects in Coons’ charge. Among them are the city’s new sewage treatment plant and its 37 water tanks and 400 miles of underground pipeline that carry water to more than two-thirds of the city’s residents.

Some of those lines ruptured during the Jan. 17 earthquake, throwing Coons into the biggest public works crisis of his 17-year career with the city.

Coons and his staff worked around the clock to repair broken lines and restore service. He dispatched his building inspectors to examine toppled chimneys and collapsed walls. To date, more than 9,000 structures have been scrutinized for earthquake damage.

“It was a huge challenge,” Coons said. “But I think we were prepared and really pulled through.”

City Manager Lin Koester agreed.

“Those were tough times for the city, and I think Ron and all the staff did an excellent job,” Koester said. “Ron really knows how to get people to work together. He’s a superior manager.”

Members of Coons’ staff describe him as an exacting but sympathetic boss.

“He wants your best performance, and he’s also very open to suggestions for improvement,” traffic engineer Bill Golubics said.

“What makes my job so satisfying,” Coons said, “is having sought out the best people I could find to fill the department--from top to bottom.”

Profile of Ronald C. Coons

Age: 47

Education: B. S., civil engineering, Long Beach State

Career: Construction engineer and administrator for city of Inglewood, 1974-75; design engineer for city of Ventura, 1975-76; from 1976-84 served as Simi Valley housing subdivisions engineer, traffic engineer and city engineer; 1984-86, director of Simi Valley utilities department; Simi Valley director of public works since 1986.

Salary: $112,940, including benefits

Family: Seven children, ranging in age from 24 years to 23 months; wife, Sally.

Quote: “Cities were formed to provide basic systems--sanitation, water and roads. It’s our job to provide these services as economically and efficiently as possible for the health and safety of the people.”