Public Works keeps Globe moving forward and provides support for flood mitigation

Public Works crews provide services to Globe residents from park maintenance to water delivery and sewer services.

Courtesy PHoto

Public Works Director John Angulo has worked for the City of Globe for 30 years and has devoted his professional life to providing vital services to residents of the city.

Courtesy Photo

Globe Public Works crews at work building sidewalks along Jesse Hayes Road. The project has been in the works for years and thanks in large part to the efforts of the Department—much of the work done behind the scenes—the long-awaited infrastructure is coming to fruition.

Courtesy Photo

Jesse Hayes sidewalk project_4222, Jesse Hayes sidewalk project_4220: Globe Public Works crews at work building sidewalks along Jesse Hayes Road. The project has been in the works for years and thanks in large part to the efforts of the Department—much of the work done behind the scenes—the long-awaited infrastructure is coming to fruition.

Courtesy Photo

Posted Wednesday, August 12, 2026 2:16 pm

“Our job is to keep Globe moving. It’s hundreds of decisions and thousands of hours of work, all with the goal of making our community safer and more resilient for the future.””

Travis Ashbaugh,Public Works Assistant Planning Director

By David Abbott

Cleaning up after last year's floods, and mitigating potential future disasters, has led to Herculean efforts on the part of the City of Globe and contractors brought in to do the work.

Even as flood recovery continues, Public Works maintains the City's vital infrastructure—from street maintenance to servicing Globe's vehicle fleet—but also helps provide essential services for residents within the incorporated boundaries of Globe.

The relatively small department takes on the huge task of maintaining and monitoring City parks—including Round Mountain, Besh Ba Gowah, numerous athletic fields and the pool—as well as 95 miles of water lines, 83.43 miles of city streets, as well as 43 City-owned facilities.

Additionally, the Department does the engineering and construction of projects such as the Jesse Hayes Sidewalk Project and also supports public events like First Friday and the many festivals and various tours that take place in Globe.

“We take care of water and sewer facilities, streets and parks, and coordinate with outside agencies like ADOT and Gila County,” says Public Works Director John Angulo. “We also service our library, police and fire departments, and special events. And that's just the stuff people see.”

Angulo, a Tucson native who's lived in Globe since the mid-'90s, has been with the Department for 30 years and leads a department of fewer than 30 employees.

While much of the work is done outdoors, the job is far more than manual labor. As a municipal entity, Public Works must work within regulatory guidelines of a wide range of government agencies, and coordinate with multiple layers of bureaucracy and private industry. There is a lot of training involved with certifications for water and sewer health as well as workplace safety to comply with OSHA regulations.

“There's a lot of things that people don't realize we do,” Angulo says. “We have active staff, and there's additional training we must do. Even working with inmates, you got to get certified. That helps because not only are our workers being safe, they know what to look for when they're in the community around City facilities to be safer. Not just for us, but for the public.”

On top of the daily work, Public Works has the task of coordinating with CivilTech and Tiffany Construction, two contractors brought on to help Globe recover from the floods of 2025.

In addition to weekly meetings to coordinate activities, Public Works is also hard at work cleaning up creeks that feed into the main waterways and helping to move about 50,000 square yards of sediment. The sediment removal must be completed by a September 11 deadline imposed by a funding agreement with the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), which is paying about 75% of the cost of the project.

According to Public Works Assistant Planning Director Travis Ashbaugh, who has been with the Department for about two and a half years, the additional projects can make his job interesting, as no two days look the same. It’s a constant balance between recovery efforts and ongoing, everyday, work that keep Globe operating.

“There's been a lot of impromptu meetings that can throw your whole schedule off, and add delays in timing to get things done, or create a time frame where you gotta squeeze everything in and you just gotta keep working the nights and the weekends to make it happen,” Ashbaugh says.

Ashbaugh has devoted his professional life to public service in rural Arizona, and understands that citizens can get frustrated when projects feel like they are taking longer than they should, or if changes affect their daily lives.

He says that one of the biggest challenges is that much of the effort from Public Works happens long before residents ever see equipment arrive on a site.

“A lot of work happens behind the scenes,” he says. “Planning, engineering, permits, coordination with state and federal agencies, environmental requirements… Those things aren’t always visible, but they are what make projects possible.”

“Our job is to keep Globe moving,” Ashbaugh says. “Recovery isn’t just one project. It’s hundreds of decisions and thousands of hours of work, all with the goal of making our community safer and more resilient for the future.”