Peter McKenna is an honest man. His employees say he’s got
integrity and compassion. He’s down to earth; a people person.
”
I’d never make anyone do something I won’t do,
”
said McKenna, from his small office in a bungalow behind Britton
Middle School.
”
Unless I don’t know how to do it.
”
Peter McKenna is an honest man. His employees say he’s got integrity and compassion. He’s down to earth; a people person.
“I’d never make anyone do something I won’t do,” said McKenna, from his small office in a bungalow behind Britton Middle School. “Unless I don’t know how to do it.”
That’s unlikely. McKenna has been working for Morgan Hill Unified School District since 1980, when he was 19. In one month, McKenna will retire at age 49 from his current gig as maintenance and operations supervisor, a job he’s held for 10 years.
McKenna’s three decades of relentless dedication won’t be taken out with the final load of trash.
“I don’t think there are many people who work harder than Peter,” said Jesse Estrada, who has been a custodian at Live Oak High School since 1977.
McKenna’s answer to “why now?” is about as authentic of an answer as they come.
“I don’t want to be a burden to the district and to the taxpayers. There’s a time in life when we know we climbed (and) reached the plateau, and that you’ve done the best you can,” McKenna said.
Estrada describes McKenna as an Energizer Bunny – the two have been friends for more than 20 years – who will jump around from school to school to check on his employees progress and lend an extra hand. McKenna’s done it all.
“I think he will be missed by many. He has a presence about him,” Estrada said. “He’s out in the field almost all day at different sites making sure things are operating well.”
In his last months as maintenance supervisor, McKenna is confident that he put in the time and passion to leave his job with his head held high.
“I don’t have to walk out backwards, I can walk out forward,” he said, “And that’s a nice feeling.”
Starting at the bottom
The year was 1977 and McKenna was 17 years old. He was attending Live Oak High School, but said it was an after-school program run by a custodian that kept him in school.
Jack Cotta made his living at Live Oak and during his time there he watched over a couple students to “help poorer kids” learn a skill, McKenna said. It was from that experience McKenna found his niche.
McKenna had always loved working, but the program kept him focused. He said while some teenage boys liked to play sports, he liked to work.
“That may sound weird, but I liked the responsibility,” he said. McKenna was taught that work ethic by his mother, who also instilled in him the value of honesty.
It’s doubtful anyone has ever used “Peter McKenna” and “lazy” in the same breath. He gets to work before the sun comes up – leaving his Los Banos home at 3 a.m. – and leaves many days well-past supper time.
“He gets his hands dirty,” said Steve Stout while working outside Live Oak. Stout’s been with MHUSD for five years and ran out of adjectives to describe McKenna: “He has integrity, honesty, hard worker … he loves to work, fair. Peter’s the best supervisor I’ve ever had.”
Deputy Superintendent Bonnie Tognazzini nominated McKenna for the county’s Classified Employee of the Year for 2010, an award he recently won; she also is the one who promoted him to maintenance and operations supervisor.
“He’s irreplaceable. He does the work of two people,” Tognazzini said.
McKenna’s known for being gregarious and even-handed.
“When you treat people with respect and dignity, you’ll get a lot more out of them,” McKenna said. “It’s important to recognize people and say ‘thank you.'”
The local economy’s ally
The companies he’s worked with over the span of his career respond only with genuine testimonies, too. For work that McKenna must hire out, such as major painting jobs or construction, he always uses South County businesses.
“(Peter’s) an active and hard-working individual with an eye for perfection. He runs a maintenance crew and many subcontractors very efficiently and economically,” owner and president of Sycamore Concrete Construction Robert Muirhead wrote in a letter.
South Valley Garbage, Davey Painting and Sycamore Concrete are just a few of the local companies McKenna has utilized during his tenure. He said he can “go on and on” about how much each company has helped the school district and donated so much time and help, besides their reputable craftmanship on the schools.
“I will tell you that’s what’s really made me successful in this district,” McKenna said about hiring locals subcontractors.
Tim Davey, owner of Davey Painting, has worked with MHUSD most recently on painting Britton Middle School and Paradise Valley Elementary. Davey said it always seemed as if his company was doing the work for McKenna himself – he truly cared about the end result.
“He’s been a pleasure to work with,” Davey said. “He’s a model-type employee. If I had a bunch of employees like that, I’d be doing a lot better.”
A hard man to replace
“How I govern … I look at everyone as an individual. And everybody works differently. And as long as you’re doing the best to your ability, I am happy,” McKenna said. “I don’t like to see anyone fail. Because I know the feelings that I went through … when I got this opportunity I knew I wouldn’t treat people like that.”
“I’m sad to see him go,” Stout said. “They have some really big shoes to fill. I don’t know if they’ll ever be able to get another guy like Peter in his position.”
McKenna, who is unmarried, isn’t entirely sure what he will do once June 4 rolls around. He does know he will spend time with his parents and take care of them.
“But, I’ll still be working. I’m going to miss it. I’ve been working my entire life,” McKenna said, just not in the same day-in, day-out routine he does now. He enjoys working on his yard at his home in Los Banos and camping every now and then in Yosemite. He said he plans to volunteer with the district, too.
Estrada said it won’t be the same without McKenna around.
“We’ve had a lot of fun, it’s been a long haul, but he’s kept it exciting and interesting,” Estrada said. “I’ll miss seeing him every day at work.”
