Longest-serving Addison employee retires

Addison said goodbye to its longest-serving staff member, public works Director Greg Brunst, who completed 42 years of service with the village.

But adjusting to his successor shouldn’t be too tough for the staff.

Mitchell Patterson stepped into the lead role this month. He has worked for Addison almost as long as Brunst, starting in 1971 as an operator in the wastewater treatment facility.

Officials said Patterson has been a responder in every major storm Addison has seen since then. He worked his way up to become a foreman, assistant superintendent, and superintendent of environmental services, the latter which was previously its own department until 2005.

Village Manager Joseph Block joked that hiring Patterson “was my easiest sell to the village board.”

“Everyone who knows and works with Mitch thinks very highly of him and his abilities and we thought he was the absolute best person to fill that very important role,” Block said. “He’s got the experience and has worked so long with our employees. He’s familiar with every facet of public works and knows what the priorities are, especially emergency preparedness like floods and the blizzard that happened earlier this year.”

Patterson is a state-certified class one wastewater operator and was previously named Operator of the Year by the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency. He also earned two awards from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for excellence in operation and maintenance, and for outstanding industrial pre-treatment program implementation.

But watching Brunst retire was bittersweet for Addison staff, Block said.

“We kidded him that we raised him since he was a pup,” he said. “He’s done a spectacular job and leaves big shoes to fill.”

Brunst was still in high school when he joined Addison part-time in 1965. Four years later, he was hired by the Environmental Services Department as a wastewater treatment facility operator. He worked his way up the ranks and, in 2005, the public works and environmental services departments were combined, with Brunst as the new head.