BROOKINGS – You would expect that moving from California to South Dakota for a new job would be something of a culture shock – but that’s simply not the case for John Thompson, the new public works director for Brookings. After all, he hails from Hendricks, Minnesota.

“We all enjoy the outdoors, we enjoy outdoor activities, recreational activities, we enjoy camping, things like that,” Thompson said of himself and his wife, Stephanie, and their two children, daughter Tatum, 16, and son Tanner, 18. His wife is also familiar with South Dakota, being a native of Astoria.

“Although I’m coming from (Clovis in) California, I grew up in the Midwest,” Thompson said. “I’m just an average guy, very hard worker. I got the Midwest core values. I understand where I’m at here … my primary focus is to improve the quality of life for this community and serve it. That’s really it.”

So what attracted Thompson to the Golden State in the first place?

“I was drawn to California – expressly, Fresno – because a good friend of mine from Hendricks, his family had moved out there,” Thompson said. “So once I graduated, I said, ‘OK, I’m going to go out and see the Burnses,’” and did that. I was like, ‘I love it.’ It’s all ag. It was nice and clean. It was an ag community, and pulled a couple of other buddies who moved out to California.”

Thompson went to the West Coast in 1988 after graduating from Southwest Minnesota State in Marshall, Minnesota. There he would remain for decades, prospering as his life and career grew and changed. He has spent the last 15 years working with Fresno County, home to slightly more than 1 million people, most recently as the assistant county administrative officer and formerly as the assistant public works director.

Still, he never lost touch with his Brookings-area roots.

“We’ve been wanting to come back to our core, to our home communities and core area, really, for the past four or five years,” Thompson said. “Steph’s father is still alive, still working on the farm in Astoria and all the rest of our families are around here. My parents are both passed away. Coming back, it was kind of a win-win to see this job opportunity for the public works director and to be able to come back to my family.”

Still, Thompson and his wife and two children had a grand time while in California, especially when they were able to enjoy the outdoors. He said they own a 35-foot fifth wheel and a Razor UTV. When the family would go out to the dunes on the beach in Oceano and camp, they’d fish in the Pacific Ocean and drive around in the Razor UTV across the dunes.

New job in Brookings

Outdoor opportunities abound in South Dakota as well for Thompson and his family, but so does something else: settling in and familiarizing himself as the public works director in Brookings, a position he started on Sept. 6.

“I love this community. I love the smaller communities like this. It’s more personalized, people are friendly, they’ll wave at you,” Thompson said, laughing. “It’s just nice to come back to the smaller community … and I’m anxious to get engaged with the community here. I just need to get a handle on how things operate around here versus how they operated in California.”

He expects that his outlook on life will be of immense help in that regard.

“I’m going to listen for the first couple months and learn about how they do things here,” Thompson said. “Then we’ll expand on my experiences in the past and maybe there’s some opportunity to make some changes here. But I’m really one that likes to come in and listen because things are done much differently in South Dakota than they are in the highly regulated state of California.

“I don’t want to bring in all of those solid, really rigid, regulations and mandates and ‘We have to do it like this,’” he continued. “No. I’m more community-based … what works for this community the best while still complying with state and federal laws.”

Thompson isn’t much for pencil-pushing, so the employees he oversees will quickly find out that he’s a very hands-on fellow and, as such, probably shouldn’t be too surprised to see him at work sites, getting involved in project plans and so on.

“I’m very organic. I will go out and work with them. That’s my plan,” Thompson said. “I’m just getting my head around everything right now, then I plan to be in the field with the roads guys, I plan to be in the field with the landfill, and with engineering.”

He briefly paused, then added, “I’m the type of guy – I’ll go out there, I’ll sweep, I’ll dump trash, whatever it takes, just so I understand what my team is going through on a daily basis. That’s the best way to earn their respect, too. Every job here is very important, no matter what you’re doing.”

That same outlook also holds true when it comes to dealing with bureaucracies.

“I don’t believe in a lot of hierarchy. There is hierarchy, there is chain of command, it has to be there,” Thompson said. “If I’m going to tell you to go paint that wall, I wouldn’t have a problem going to paint that wall if I had to. Just so you understand who’s working for you, and who your teammates are, and that they need to have that trust in you that you’re going to support them and not put them in a hazardous situation or anything with health and safety. I’m kind of a ground-up guy.”

Speaking of health and safety, that’s a No. 1 priority for Thompson. His No. 2 priority? Customer service, of course.

“Always our No. 1 priority is safety of the teams, safety of the employees and the teams that make up Public Works,” Thompson said. “No. 2, serving the constituents, serving the residents, to the best we can serve them. Those are really the priorities. After that, then. it’s making sure you’re fiscally sound, making good judgment calls, using the best-known technology moving forward.”

Regarding his constituents, well, they’re all over the place. After all, the Public Works Department and its director are involved in a lot of functions within Brookings.

“All the roads that you drive on, the solid waste that gets picked up and disposed of, the airport and any capital improvement plan projects, any improvements within the infrastructure of the city,” Thompson said, adding that “It’s pretty broad.”

At home in Brookings

The decision to accept the public works director job and move to Brookings wasn’t just one made by Thompson and his wife. Their children were involved, too, and the family’s faith also had a role.

“Tatum is probably the most solid daughter I think you can have,” John Thompson said. “We brought her back the first part of August. She’d already had a church group set up back here. They took her out (and) she made a ton of friends even before school started.

“She enjoys it quite a bit, even though she lost a ton of friends in California,” he continued. “I asked her at the very last minute, ‘If you don’t want to go, we won’t go,’ because it’s about family, that’s the reason I want to keep our family together. She said, ‘No, I’m ready to make the change.’”

His son Tanner had a similar outlook as well.

He just finished high school in May. ‘OK, if you want to stay, you tell me,’ and he said, ‘Nope. I’m ready for a change. I want to go back to be by family,’” Thompson said. “The job opportunities around Brookings are incredible right now. He did two interviews and he was offered positions at both. He took the second one and is working at Daktronics – he likes the computer side, the electronics side.”

Tatum is attending Brookings High School, and her father had nothing but praise for the experience thus far.

“It’s a great public school,” Thompson said. “It’s small enough where you get to know people one on one.”

His praise extended to the entire community as well.

“There are great opportunities for the city of Brookings … it’s already very proactive, it’s got a great team, got a great mission vison, values and core traits,” Thompson said. “The foundation’s already there. I see this, with or without me, this organization is going to continue to move forward and probably be at the front of the pack. When you look at (comparing jurisdictions for) best known practices and how well they’re fiscally managing the taxpayers’ monies, that’s another thing that drew me here.

“(City Manager) Paul (Briseno) and his team here already have a good foundation … and a good direction,” Thompson concluded. “That’s really it.”

And what of Thompson? What should folks consider when thinking about him?

“The biggest thing that I want everybody to know is, I’m a down-to-earth guy,” Thompson said. “I’m blessed to be here. I’m ready and willing to help serve you guys.”

– Contact Mondell Keck at mkeck@brookingsregister.com