Victorville public works leaders outline services, funding strains and new waste center plan

Doug Matthews, the City of Victorville’s public works director, and Assistant Director Juan Robinson outlined the scope of the city’s public works operations and described the department’s budget pressures and near-term projects during an interview on the city-produced TVV program.

Matthews said public works maintains what residents see above ground and the infrastructure below it, including pavement, curbs, sidewalks, street lights, traffic signals and storm and sewer systems. "I'm the director of public works and water," he said, adding the department operates 24/7 to respond to sewer overflows, traffic control needs for police and fire, and storm incidents.

The leaders described staffing and scale: Matthews said the department employs "about a 100" certified professionals; Robinson estimated roughly 100 intersections for signal maintenance, "over 4,000" stop signs and an estimated 20,000 regular signs citywide. Together they described routine maintenance programs—slurry seals, pothole repairs, sewer inspections with camera equipment, sidewalk and ADA ramp work, graffiti abatement, illegal-dump pickups and street sweeping.

Both officials emphasized funding limits. Matthews said only the city’s general fund is unrestricted; roadway work typically relies on gas tax and local Measure I revenues, while water and sewer projects use enterprise funds collected through user rates and constrained by cost-of-service rules. "Construction costs, labor and materials are really just outpacing our revenues," he said, noting storm drain rates have not been increased in more than 25 years.

Matthews provided figures for a recent slurry-seal contract: about $1,400,000 to cover approximately 9 centerline miles (about 1,700,000 square feet), which he said equates to roughly $155,000 per mile or $0.82 per square foot. He attributed much of the expense to prevailing wage requirements, traffic control and materials.

Robinson described resident-facing services and response times. He gave the public reporting phone number as (760) 241-6365 and said the department’s admin staff routes calls to divisions; crews aim to respond to routine calls within 24 hours and standby crews can often make urgent pothole repairs within about an hour. For general email contact Matthews said residents could use the public works address given on the city website.

On community programs, Matthews highlighted recent volunteer events (more than 700 volunteers at 35 cleanup locations), free dump days and a range of neighborhood services. He said the department tracks graffiti removal metrics, and Robinson estimated the graffiti team visits about 250 sites a month, using roughly 50 gallons of paint and removing about 18,000 square feet of graffiti monthly.

Looking ahead, Matthews said staff are completing a conceptual design for a combined household hazardous waste and bulky-item drop-off center to improve public access and reduce illegal dumping; no site has been selected. He also pointed to completed work like the 7th Street medians project, which replaced turf with drought-tolerant landscaping and Route 66–themed elements.

Matthews urged residents to stay informed via the city website, social media posts and council meetings (held the first and third Tuesday of each month), and to consult staff reports and posted agendas for project detail. Robinson reiterated that after-hours and emergency numbers are available on the city's "Report a Problem" web page.

The discussion provided an overview of the department’s daily operations, funding constraints and the near-term design work on the hazardous-waste/drop-off center. The program’s second segment featured additional frontline perspectives from Robinson on crew routines, sweeping schedules and proactive inspections.