The Courthouse Keeper

DAYTON - - Dave Finney is the new courthouse maintenance supervisor for Columbia County. But he was the previous one too.

Actually, Dave Phinney maintained the courthouse for more than 30 years and retired about two years ago. The position had been filled in the interim by a couple of different people. But, at the beginning of 2012, the county opened the position fulltime and a new Dave Finney applied and was selected.

Finney began his new job at the courthouse earlier this month and he is happy to find the 125-year-old building in such great shape.

"There is so much here that requires a lot of attention to detail," Finney said. "It's a central feature of the community. The community wants it looking nice and it's something to be proud of."

For Finney, this is his second time living in the Dayton community. Now 34, Finney grew up in Seattle and lived in Dayton several years ago when he was the minister at the Blue Mountain Assembly of God Church. He eventually moved on to be the minister of another church in Pierce County. But, he wanted a career that would allow him to spend more time with his wife, Jennifer, and their two young sons, Mason and Isaac.

After some soul searching, Finney said he and his wife decided to come back to Dayton because this was the best place to raise their children.

"We loved living here and we wanted to move back here," Finney said.

So two years ago, the family landed back in Dayton and Finney nabbed a position as a corrections officer at the state prison in Walla Walla.

He loved working at the prison, Finney said. There were a lot of good people. But, the commute was long. Last December, the state budget cuts turned into a layoff notice for Finney from the prison. He was hired back on as a temporary employee, but then fate stepped in.

Finney said County Commissioner Chuck Reeves came across him in the grocery store and told him the position for courthouse maintenance supervisor was opening and they were taking applications.

Now, instead of driving 35 miles to the prison, his commute is four blocks. He said it's nice to have more time with his family - especially weekends.

Finney said his new job keeps him active and it's really interesting. He is handles all janitorial services, building maintenance, lawn care, maintains the generator, changes out light bulbs and fixes sinks.

He is learning all about the history of the building and changes made to it through the years. He has heard about the Lady of Justice and the eagles that were removed from the top of the building as part of the war effort. He has heard the rumor that the jail cells in the basement that holds the county's "residents" may be from the brig of a U.S. Navy ship. He loves the courtroom, which is welldecorated and picturesque.

"It really does look like a very ornate courtroom like you'd see in a court drama on TV," he added.

But, those very decorative elements take more work to maintain than the steel, sterile structures built today that are built for function, not necessarily for beauty.

The wood in the courtroom has to be polished in a special way, unlike steel or plastic.

"It's very, very, very busy," he said with a chuckle.

His job starts before the rest of the county come in for business hours. He comes in early, vacuums and gets the building ready for the day. He raises the flags at 8:26 a.m. and opens the doors at 8:30. Between 8:45 and noon, he works on projects like putting a counterweight on a door, fixing a leak in the roof, replacing the tattered floor mats and scrubs the soda out of the garbage cans. If it snows, like it did last week, he'll spend hours shoveling snow from the sidewalks.

Finney was a great candidate for this position because he worked in construction before and during college and was a janitor at a Seattle church.

When he has a question or doesn't know how to do something, he said he asks around or uses the Internet. Right now, he's trying to find the best cleaner to get the porcelain sinks shiny-white again.

In his new position, Finney is taking a "customerservice approach." He wants to reach out to staff and the public to listen to their ideas and keep them informed as to how the building is doing and its needs.

"I'm a servant to the citizens, the county and the commissioners," he said.

And he doesn't see himself switching careers or leaving Dayton anytime soon.

"I'm here for the long haul," Finney said. "I feel very blessed and fortunate."