Half a century: Columbia sanitation worker marks 50 years with the city
The world has changed in seemingly countless ways since 1970. So has Columbia.
But across the past five decades, at least one thing has remained constant: Through all that time, Oscar Davis has worked for the City of Columbia’s sanitation division.
On Dec. 1, Davis, 67, marked his 50th anniversary with the city. An operator of various machinery in the sanitation division, he initially came to work with the municipality in 1970.
An Orangeburg native who has long lived in Columbia’s Greenview community, Davis was honored on Monday morning as Mayor Steve Benjamin formally proclaimed it Oscar Davis Day in Columbia, and gave the longtime employee the key to the city in a small ceremony at the public works facility just off Harden Street.
“It’s nothing short of amazing to find this level of consistency and dedication and loyalty in one of the toughest jobs we have, serving the people,” Benjamin told The State of Davis. “He is representative of a truly great generation of women and men. I couldn’t miss this opportunity to say ‘thank you.’ You can hear and feel the humility in this man. There is strength in humility and power in humility, and Mr. Davis represents that.”
Benjamin is the sixth mayor Davis has worked with through the years. Lester Bates was mayor when Davis was hired.
Davis was just 17 when he came to work in sanitation with the city. His uncle, who worked with the city at the time, helped get him the job. Initially he worked as a laborer, one of the men who, back in those days, used pitchforks to scoop up debris and other waste from the street and toss it over into the trucks. About five years into the job, he became a truck driver, eventually getting his commercial driver’s license. He later made the rank of operator, and mastered a number of different machines, from claw lifts to street sweepers to leaf loaders.
Known as the consummate wheel man, Davis can seemingly “drive anything,” City Manager Teresa Wilson said in a recent meeting.
“I never thought I’d be here this long,” Davis told The State on Monday. “But after I started doing it, I started liking what I was doing. You can train to do most anything if you are interested in it. That made me fall in love with it.”
Davis’ wife, Mary, is a teacher’s assistant in Richland School District One, and they have long attended Brookland Baptist Church. They have one son, who graduated from the University of South Carolina.
“I haven’t thought about retiring yet, I’ve got to pay off those student loans,” Davis said, with a chuckle.
Davis has never shied away from work. He’s had a number of side gigs through the years, including moonlighting as a janitor and working at a Coca-Cola bottling facility. He says that, when he finally hangs up his truck keys at the city, he might go back to doing more janitorial work.
According to the city’s Interim Public Works Superintendent Samantha Yager, Davis’ versatility and dedication make him a particularly valuable part of the city’s workforce.
“For us to provide a service everyday for our residents, we need dependable people like Oscar to be here on time and react to whatever the day brings us, and be willing to learn our equipment, our different routes,” Yager said. “I would love to have 100 Oscars working here everyday. He is a role model.”
Davis’ presence goes beyond simply operating machinery, according to Assistant City Manager Clint Shealy.
He is a quiet leader for the city, Shealy notes.
“Leadership manifests itself in a variety of different ways,” Shealy said. “Leadership isn’t about position or title. It’s about how we conduct ourselves everyday. (Davis) is truly an example for younger generations about loyalty, about dedication, about work ethic and about attitude. We appreciate that so much, what (Davis) does for us every single day.”
For his part, Davis said he simply remains enamored with his job.
“I fell in love with it after I started with the city,” Davis said. “I just like what I do. I take pride in my work. You have to like what you do to make you do it a long time, as I have. “
This story was originally published December 14, 2020 at 2:51 PM.
