Editor's Note: City of Springfield Public Works Director Phil Broyles died March 29 after losing a brief battle with cancer. He was 65. Phil Broyles embodied a “can-do” spirit.
Center city, the city of Springfield and the State of Missouri were all blessed by his four decades of service, most recently in his role as the city’s director of Public Works.
As an ex-officio member of the Urban Districts Alliance board, we saw him support private redevelopment projects with public improvements in the IDEA Commons and on C-Street, link historic business districts with new streetscapes on Walnut and Boonville, and streamline processes that made the right-of-way much more of an asset for everyone’s use through less restrictions on sidewalk cafes and public gathering spaces.
Phil had a twinkle in his eye and was quick to look for an opportunity to make others laugh. He regularly defied the conventional stereotypes of his engineering profession. When many bureaucrats might be quick to point out all the reasons why an idea wouldn’t meet the current regulations, he would promptly respond with options of how it could be done. He was a joy to be around, whether at a council meeting, a neighborhood input session or on a community leadership visit.
Award-winning Public Works projects under his watch included the construction of the nation’s first diverging diamond intersections and the implementation of The Link north-south bicycle boulevard connection through the heart of Springfield. Capital improvements sales tax renewals passed by wide margins as Public Works listened to the needs of citizens, completed the work as promised and then provided the framework for the next round of potential enhancements.
Thankfully, Phil assembled a good team around him who shared his openness to new concepts and working with (rather than against) the business community. Gail Fangrow, Jonathan Gano, Martin Gugel, Jason Haynes, Kirk Juranas, Barbara Lucks and Steve Meyer are the directors Phil appointed to lead the 220 people across Public Works who daily go above and beyond the call of duty to make Springfield a better place in a thousand small ways that often go unnoticed.
Because of selfless public servants like Phil, I will cast my “no” vote on April 8. The police-fire pension sales tax should not be repealed.
City government should be expected to professionally deliver its core services. But as Phil so effectively demonstrated, it can be a creative and collaborative partner in economic development and grassroots neighborhood programs.
Rather than hiring freezes and rolling fire station closures, we need to be recruiting and training the next generation of Phils to help tackle the unforeseen challenges that lie ahead.
My hope is that Broyles’ ultimate legacy will be the adoption of his infectious can-do attitude in others who desire to improve our community. Most of us won’t have the academic credentials to be an engineer, but we can follow his example of cheerfully offering our own talents, looking for the best in one another and endeavoring to find ways to work with others to make Springfield a better place for our children and grandchildren.
Rusty Worley, executive director of Urban Districts Alliance, can be reached at rusty@itsalldowntown.com.[[In-content Ad]]
