‘Lights out’ for longtime city employee

GONZALES — At the Dec. 1 city council meeting, City Manager Allen Barnes addressed council from the podium to recognize two city employees on what he called “a very special night.”

He explained that the city would be losing a combined 77 years worth of experience come year’s end.

“I was in junior high in 1970, which for the first time today made me feel young,” Barnes said while referring to the hire date of outgoing electrical superintendent Robert Miller.

“These are two very valuable employees,” Barnes said, adding that they will be hard to replace.

“I just hope he meant it,” laughed Miller, who stopped by the office Thursday to chat about his impending retirement. 

Soft-spoken and passionate about the career he is leaving behind, the jokes he cracks are light-hearted and poke fun at his 45 years on the job.

Such as, when asked what kept him around so long, his simple reply was, “I’ve gotta eat.”

“We got a decent retirement plan,” he continued. “And I always enjoy what I do.

Miller attended lineman’s school at Texas A&M in 1968 for six months before looking for a job here in Gonzales. Since he had a family member employed at GVEC, company rules prevented him from working there. So he looked to the city.

“This job came open so I grabbed it,” he said. “And have been fairly well happy ever since.”

He started out as the low man on the totem pole when they gave him a shovel on the first day — which was about as far down as one could get, he said. From there he has worked his way up to the top as the city’s electrical director, which seems to keep him busy.

“I used to get out and work with the guys but now it’s so much paperwork involved I probably spend 75 percent of my time doing paperwork and 25 percent looking at jobs,” he said. “Also we’ve got that small hydro plant down there and I hate to say it but I’m about the only one that knows anything about it. I still gotta train somebody to do that.”

He recalls the flood of 1998 and how it swamped the hydroelectric equipment and the generators and gearboxes had to be removed and repaired. Another time, the city lost power and he was on the job from Friday morning until Sunday at 3 p.m. 

“And that’s about as long as I ever want to work again,” Miller said.

It’s not a stretch to say that his expertise and knowledge will be greatly missed among the city staff. For a man that has been around the department for as long as he has, he knows where every underground line, every pole, and probably every nail in them are driven. He knows where everything is, because he worked on it.

“And some of where the bodies are buried, too,” he said.

His replacement has been on duty for a while now and Miller is teaching him what he knows. The new guy was the former electric superintendent in Luling and thus should work out well for Gonzales.

“Plus I told him even though I’m gone, I have a phone so just give me a holler,” Miller said. “So it’ll all go all right. Ain’t no one monkey stopped the show yet.”

So with that, Dec. 31 will be his final day, and 2016 is wide open.

“You know I’m going to miss a lot of people and I’ll miss the job,” he said. “Like I say, it’s just time. I’ve got plenty to do. I’ll come back and see them every once in a while.”

So what will Miller be doing in his retirement days?

“I’ve got land out in the country and I’ve got fence to fix.” When asked if that was maybe a harder job than what he has now, he replied, “At least I can quit when I want to.”