There’s nothing that’s impossible to learn, according to Sharon Spires.
Spires is the Industrial Pretreatment Coordinator for the City of Plant City’s Water Resource Management Division and has spent her life as a student of the world.
“My dad would always tell me that I had to learn to do things for myself,” Spires said. “If you see it and you can fix it, why pay someone else to do it? I learned how be self sufficient. I figured out how to fix things, whether it’s my car or pumps. That’s something I think everyone should do. They should learn to be able to not have to rely on someone else.”
Spires said growing up she always was more of a “tomboy” and enjoyed fishing and hunting with her father. That curiosity for life and love of the outdoors and nature led her to a career she said she never expected.
She learned how to do maintenance on water pumps and developed a niche skillset with the items. Eventually, she got a full-time job at Smithfield Packing as a wastewater operator.
During that time, she came in contact with the city via her lead operator position. Eventually she was asked to come and work for the city as a technician. She took the opportunity, but approximately two years later, Smithfield asked for her to return. A year later, they won Plant of the Year within their company.
Then the economy crashed. Soon the entire plant closed. Tearing up, Shires recounted the 600 to 800 people that lost their jobs overnight.
“Some of those people had been there 30, 40 years,” Spires said. “They grew up there, their kids grew up there, their grandkids grew up there. It was just, it was hard to see.”
Spires was the last person out the door. The keys to the plant still sit in the console of her truck.
She opened a consulting company and traveled the country. When a friend at the city called and said she was the only one they knew that had knowledge of the program there was an opening for, she agreed to return. She’s been with the city since April 2014.
It’s a job filled with joy, Spires said. She gets to see what the city has planned for its future, working as the liaison between companies and regulators.
She said she’s learned that assigning violations isn’t the way to progress. In all her time with the city, she only remembers writing two because “We’re all trying to get to the same place, we might as well work together.”
At her office, while she’s known as a powerhouse, she also has a nurturing side. Her “guys,” as she calls the men that fill her office, are constantly spoiled with food and she decorates their space to add a cozy feel to the workplace.
In her nonexistent free time, she also throws herself into environmental education. Education is her passion and she’s constantly looking for new ways to spread the word on the realties of our environment. You’ll find her at every food truck rally with a table where she has crafts and experiments for local children to enjoy. You’ll also often see her at Earth Day celebrations and the Great American Teach-In helping youth learn all about the world they live in.
When she became aware of the hazards and damage dumping oil down the drain does for the waterways, she was able to help kickstart a used cooking oil recycling program. Tanks are set up around the city and anyone can come and dump their used cooking oil in, helping save their pipes while also benefitting the environment.
Spires also spends her free time volunteering with the Plant City Commons Community Garden. Thanks to the hours she spent clearing an area at the garden to reveal a stream, the city discovered the trickle was actually one of the many headwaters that contribute to the Tampa Bay Watershed.
She remembers when the Gardens first moved to its new home across from HCC. Her passion for the project led to a meeting with other city employees and a team gave up their coffee money for a week and presented the group with $100 to purchase their first bed for the garden.
She also acts as the city’s official FWC-permitted rescuer. If city crews are working and stumble across an animal that is hurt or needs to be relocated, Spires is the only one on staff they can call. Dropping everything, she’ll rush to the scene, scooping up a fallen baby squirrel or helping trap an aggressive raccoon.
When reflecting on why Plant City means so much to her, she merely shrugged and said it’s her home and everyone should get involved and work to better their community.
“I think you just need to care, you know?” Spires said. “Always make that connection, show people you care. It doesn’t matter how busy you are, you can always find 15 minutes to care about someone else. When people do that, there’s real change. It’s the simplest thing, but it can do so much.”
Get to know
Sharon
What’s the best advice you’ve
gotten?
“Know who you are.” If you know who you are, you can be yourself. Once you’re good with that, once you accept that, others are going to accept it, too.
What’s your favorite book?
I don’t think I can pick a favorite. The one I’m reading now is
Vermiculture, which is a total sustainable living situation.
Who is a woman that’s inspired you?
My grandmother. She’s very strong and has a presence about her when she walks in the room. But she’s so loving and gentle.
What do you hope to see change in Plant City in the next 10 years?
I’d like to see a better avenue of communication. There’s so many areas of the city that relate to each other, but that are disconnected for one reason or another. Communication could do so much, could really change so much. I just think that’s an area there’s room to grow.
Which three words would you use to describe yourself?
If I’m honest, I’d have to say sometimes I’m naïve, but I’m also caring and bold. Those may not sound like they go together, but that’s me.
What’s the hardest life lesson you’ve learned?
It took me 40 years to learn that things that we have can go away in a moment. Houses, cars, things don’t really mean anything. They come and go so quickly. Your self-respect and the way you respect others is what matters, what lasts.