Retiring Public Works Director Reflects on Career

Perhaps what has made the biggest positive impact on his working life during the past seven years are the people. 

And for Powder Springs  Director Rodger Swaim, they're going to be hard to say goodbye to. 

“The thing that has really touched my heart about this place is the personnel that I work with,” said Swaim, whose last day is June 30. “We’re a small community.”

His departure was made public during .

Swaim’s wife, Judy, influenced his decision to retire so the couple can travel and spend time with their daughter, who lives in Germany. Altogether, the couple has four children and two grandchildren.

As Public Works director, Swaim is responsible for street maintenance, water and sewer systems, door-to-door sanitation, and garbage collection.

Mayor Pat Vaughn, who started her mayoral tenure about the same time Swaim began with the city, said he will be missed.

“Rodger has done an outstanding job with the city,” she said. “He’s always put the city first and was always willing to jump in there and do anything that was needed.”

Vaughn said the city will advertise the position and go through an interview process to hire the next director before Swaim’s departure.

Swaim, 65, said one of his biggest accomplishments was overseeing the city’s streetscaping and resurfacing projects.

“We’ve made a lot of improvements with the infrastructure that has helped us,” he said. “We’ve enhanced the quality of life in the city that I was proud to be a part of.”

A Powder Springs resident since 1972, Swaim has worked in the public works sector for nearly 30 years. For 11 years, he worked as public works director for Douglas County before serving another 11 years as director for Floyd County, which houses Rome, Ga. Swaim started working for Powder Springs in 2004.

“I’ve always wanted to work with city government, and I wanted to experience that whenever the opportunity came up,” he said. “I was elated that I had the opportunity to do it here.”

After spending four years in the Navy during the Vietnam War, Swaim attended Southern Polytechnic Institute under the GI Bill of Rights. He has associate’s and bachelor’s degrees in civil engineering and an associate’s degree in architecture.

As his career draws to a close, Swaim sees his professional tenure as one that has been devoted to the betterment of citizens. 

“The greatest accomplishment is to be able to serve the public and to help make life a little more pleasant for people,” he said. “I’ve gotten a lot of gratitude for accomplishing those things and making it easier for people.”

Read more on Powder Springs Public Works: