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Mark Goldberg is a contract worker in Building Services and his wife Annette works in Solid Waste Management. Lunch gives them a chance to spend time together without their children.

Story and photos by Dave Schafer

Steven Jahnke seemed destined to work for the city of Houston. His father and three uncles joined the Fire Department soon after World War II, and Jahnke grew up in Houston fire stations.

“In my earliest memories, we always had family reunions where we’d sit around and talk about the fire department,” said Jahnke, now a district chief at Station 45.

For many, working for the city is a family affair. There are fathers and daughters, sisters and brothers, aunts and uncles, in-laws and lingering ghosts of departed relatives.

Those employees reinforce Mayor Bill White’s contention that city employees form a family working to serve the community. And the city provides these family members with what every family needs: stability.

“This is a stable position in an organization that’s growing and cares about the employees and tries to build them up,” said Phyllis Walker, who works in Solid Waste Management. Her son-in-law, Darryl Johnson, works in Public Works, and her daughter, Monica, worked in the Houston Emergency Center until last year.

“People are going to continue to dump things and recycle, so my job is secure,” she said. “People will continue to flush water down the toilet and need bridges, so Darryl’s job is secure. That’s important.”

Time together
“The concerns of working with family are the same as working with a close friend,” said Oyeba Akyea, who works in Health & Human Services. Because her father, Fosu Akyea, also works in Health, Oyeba has to watch what she says at the office.

When she tells a co-worker about that silly thing her father did, the story isn’t just about her father. It’s about another co-worker.

Fosu started working as a temp in Health in 1999, and when a job that suited Oyeba’s education opened in the department, he told her about it.

She started as a temp in 2000, in a different division but in the same building.They decided to car pool the hour to and from work. Fosu was determined to use that time to get to know his daughter better and mentor her about work and life.

During Oyeba’s teenage years, he worked long hours and couldn’t devote the time to Oyeba that he would have liked to, Fosu said.

“We talk about everything now,” Fosu said. “We work out our emotions. We laugh, we’re happy, we’re angry, whatever. It’s a chance to unwind together.”

For Oyeba, the rides allow her to see her father differently, to see him as a friend and colleague.

Annette Goldberg and her husband, Mark, also enjoy time together during their rides and during lunch. Annette works in Solid Waste and Mark, a former councilman, is a contract employee with Building Services. They meet in her office for lunch about three days a week.

“We get to spend alone time without the kids,” said Annette, who has a 12-year-old son and a 19-month-old daughter. “We talk about plans and issues.”

Other days, Annette goes to lunch with her sister, Drusilda Solis, who works in Human Resources, and their brother, Emilio Guajardo, who doesn’t work for the city. Because Annette lives in Willowbend, Solis lives in Katy and Guajardo lives in Seabrook, they don’t often get together besides their lunch meetings.”

“It’s a great chance to just talk and catch up with each other,” Annette said.

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