Mrs. Yak’s Road Crew

Mrs. Yak is familiar to almost every City or County department head responsible for roads and streets. She knows them. They know her, and greet her warmly when she calls. When she calls they listen. How this came to pass is a long and tortured tale. Here is the short version.

When you live on unimproved county roads as long as we have you learn who to call to get things done. Snow removal, grading and dust abatement are important items in their season and we stay on top of them. Every spring when the dust gets intolerable we expect the county road crews to come deliver us. When the snow falls we expect the crews to plow our hills before the roads turn to ice. Sometimes they need reminding.

One spring the county was a little short of funds. They put off their road maintenance schedule. We waited. We choked on the dust. We waited some more. Mrs. Yak called County Public Works. She was told that the farm roads had priority. Mrs. Yak made a call to the commissioner’s office to get on the docket for their next meeting.

At the appointed time Mrs. Yak was there to testify. She invited the Director of the Yakima County Clean Air Authority to testify as well. He did. Together they explained to the commissioners that the clean air regulations were explicit as to the county’s responsibilities. Ever since that day, many years ago now, the county has made gravel roads in residential neighborhoods the first priority. Every spring without fail “Mrs. Yak’s Road Crew” has been on the job, on schedule and on time. The name came from an annual conversation between Mrs. Yak and her boss who just couldn't seem to get any cooperation on the roads in his neck of the woods.

So what’s the reason for this post? This morning Mrs. Yak’s (City) Road Crew was out in front of the neighbor's house addressing a concern Mrs. Yak had called about last week. You see we are now annexed into the city. At the annexation hearings last summer we were there to testify before the City Council. For my part, I told them that we had been waiting 20 years to get our roads paved and by the way, “let me introduce you to my wife.”

The road crew is busy at work prepping the road for paving and Mrs. Yak, triumphant, is readying herself for work where she will have yet another annual conversation with her boss.