Photo: Dusty and his wife, Cari, and their daughter, McKenzie, enjoy an afternoon on the lake.
Yuba Water Agency's heavy equipment mechanic, Dusty Smith, characterizes his position as fixing things that leak, squeak and creak. This includes keeping the agency's fleet compliant with the California Air Resources Board and running smoothly, safely and efficiently so the crews can continue supporting Yuba Water's mission areas. Scroll to learn more about Dusty, his background and some of the activities he enjoys when he's not turning wrenches.
What is your background/formal education that led to where you are in your career today?
My job is one of those cool jobs where the people who are best at it just had to start turning wrenches at a young age and have their own set of screws loose to want to keep doing it.
How did you get involved in your current career path?
I’ve been turning wrenches since I was 11, working with my pops at his shop, building muscle cars and trucks for people. That turned into working for a local fab shop for eight or so years, where we focused on fabricating anything from science exhibits to repairing equipment and building offroad vehicles and hot rods.
Photo: Dusty poses for a photo in front of his work truck.
What does your average day look like? Or what are some of your essential duties?
My average day is never so average. Some days start easy with meetings, compliance work, fixing flat tires and swapping dead batteries. Others may start with inspecting a vehicle that encountered jaywalking wildlife, crane inspections or boat maintenance on New Bullards Bar Reservoir. Every day here is truly a different adventure.
What do you enjoy most about working for Yuba Water?
Yuba Water is a crazy melting pot of people. One of my favorite parts of walking into almost any room is that odds are fair you’re going to find someone interesting to talk to and there’s always fun to be had. Where else can you work in hydropower, but have a five-star chef scheduling projects for the crew? So, I’d say the camaraderie is probably one of the best reasons I enjoy it here.
Before working here, what was the most interesting job you had?
Many moons ago, I worked for a tree company that specialized in fire cleanup and bark beetle infestation tree work. I was the foreman and ran a crew of four people. We did a lot of work on native land that required special permitting and finesse.
Tell us something about yourself that most of us don't know.
Some people know, but most don’t know that I enjoy long walks on the beach… just kidding, I don’t like walking anywhere. All jokes aside, I am the president of our local little league, which has 626 kids signed up this season. It’s nonstop volunteer hours, running the snack bar, repairing fields after mother nature throws a fit, late nights and chalk covered boots. I live in chaos, but I love it.
What do you like to do in your free time?
Between work and baseball, we definitely try to squeeze in some trips to the beach (I do actually enjoy sand on my toes). I also enjoy building cars and working on my old station wagon, fishing, occasionally hanging out with celebrities and just cruising through life like a feather on the breeze. Oh, and I never miss a field trip with the kids.