Even though Dorothy Washington, a deputy clerk with the City of Winona, will retire on December 23, she’s not retiring – she just won’t be working.
“I’m not going to tell you my age. I’m too young to retire,” she said, laughing.
Washington has worked as a deputy clerk and has served under four mayors and three city clerks for 29 and a quarter years. Washington said she began her career under former mayor Sonny Simmons, currently working under Mayor Jerry Flowers.
She said it’s the environment that has kept her as a constant figure at City Hall. Washington said even though there have been people who have come and gone in the last 29 and a quarter years, they’ve been like a family.
“We’re a family here. It’s one for all, and all for one here,” she said. “Teamwork makes the dream work,” Washington said over the years, she’s learned that you have to have a lot of patience when dealing with the public.
“Especially in dealing with older people. They just want someone to be patient with them. It’s the little things,” she said. “I remind myself that I’m going to be that age someday, and I want the next generation to have patience with me as I have with them.”
Washington said working in the public isn’t always easy, but she’s learned how to keep calm and continue to help people.
“Be nice, be courteous, and keep on smiling. You have to keep smiling at the window. They’ll curse you out, and you just have to keep on smiling,” she said, laughing.
Washington said the first thing she is looking forward to is having a cup of coffee with her dad, Walter George Johnson, and spending time with him and her aunt, Juanita Johnson.
“That’s what I’m looking forward to,” she said. “Doing all the things I didn’t get to do while I was working. My dad is 90, and he still gets around. But, I’m looking forward to having coffee with my daddy.”
She said she’s also active with the Heroines of Jericho, her sorority Zeta Phi Beta, Inc., and she’s involved with voter registration.
“I had calmed down a little with my sorority, but now I’m going to get back active,” she said.
Washington said she’s going to miss her coworkers and working in the public. But, she’s not going to be too far away, as she’s been appointed to a few committees in the city.
“They told me I can still come and have coffee with them,” she said.
Washington said over the years, she has seen how technology has changed how work is done. She said while training those younger than her, she’s noticed the language is different. They’re both saying the same thing, but they do it two different ways.
“I’m old school, and I learned how to do it the old school way. But, the language is just different. Like, I might say, ‘Put it in the folder,’ and they’ll say, ‘You mean the document?’ or I might say, ‘The computer is thinking,’ and they say, ‘The computer is loading.’ It’s the same thing, but it’s so different,” Washington said. “And I write everything down by hand. I’ve never had a bad audit because they know I’m going to write everything down. I remember when we had to do meter readings by hand and calculate everything. Now, they just drive and read the meters, and the computer puts it all in the system. It’s totally different. And, they know I’m old school, and I’m going to need help on the computer. And they’re going to come to the rescue. I’m going to miss that.” Washington and her husband Antonio have two daughters, Brytnea Lott and Bryana Johnson.
