NEWBERG, Ore. — The City of Newberg has a new face leading its Public Works Department, and he hit the ground running before his first week was even out when a water main broke on Sheridan Street in mid-March.
“For us, emergencies don’t stop,” said Newberg’s new Public Works Director Ahmad Qayoumi. “We have to respond and provide that service, even if it’s the first week on the job.”
Ahmad Qayoumi, a civil engineer with more than 35 years of public sector experience, was recently named Newberg’s new Public Works Director after Russ Thomas’s retirement on Monday, March 2. City Manager Will Worthey said the hire was the product of the city’s competitive, structured hiring process and that Qayoumi stood out immediately.
“He has a deep expertise in running transportation and streets projects,” Worthey said. “If we have a transportation guy who’s worked at the county level and he’s run a road construction crew, that’s expertise we can use.”
Qayoumi’s path to Newberg took a winding trip around the country and world. He earned his bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from the University of Cincinnati in 1992 and later completed a Master of Science in Civil Engineering from Portland State University. His early career took him through municipal engineering roles in Mason and Montgomery, Ohio, before his former city manager recruited him west to Sherwood, Oregon, in 1997 — the connection that first brought him to the Pacific Northwest.
From there, he spent over a decade as Transportation Division Manager for the City of Vancouver, Washington, before serving as Public Works Director for the City of Pasco, Washington — a community he watched grow from roughly 18,000 residents to more than 70,000 during his tenure. He later led a division managing $13.5 billion in rail-related projects for the City of San Jose and served as Public Works Director and County Engineer for Clark County, Washington, overseeing a staff of 350 to 400 and an annual budget of $250 million.
Most recently, he served as Director of Engineering for the Port of Portland before joining the City of Newberg.
From Vancouver to Kabul — and Back
Among the most formative chapters of Qayoumi’s career came between 2004 and 2007, when he traveled to Kabul, Afghanistan as part of a USAID and International City Manager Association program to help establish public works standards for the city. The work was done while he maintained his full-time position in Vancouver, commuting back and forth on 24-hour travel trips.
He said he was mostly working with local governments to help establish public works standards and systems so cities could manage their own infrastructure over the long term. But, one project in Kabul stands out in his memory.
“There were girls walking through muddy streets, holding the bottoms of their clothes up through dirty water to go to school,” he recalled. “My boss said, ‘Ahmad, we’ve got to fix this.’”
Working with limited resources — hand-drawn plans and a surveyor’s level — Qayoumi coordinated with local Public Works staff to rebuild the road with sidewalks, a playground strip, and proper drainage to address grey water and sewage running through the corridor. He stayed in contact while stateside and checked in during return visits until the project was complete.
The international work extended to Sri Lanka as well, where Qayoumi helped advise the city of Colombo on managing large public gatherings during a fragile period of civil peace, drawing on experience running major events in Vancouver like Fourth of July celebrations.
First Week, First Emergency
Qayoumi’s first test provided no buffer time when a water main line broke in north Newberg on a rainy, cold Friday afternoon.
“It was right after 5 p.m. on a Friday,” Qayoumi said. “It’s always when things like this happen. It’s never convenient.”
Worthey said that the exact scenario was posed to candidates as an interview question as a way to see how the candidate would react to a stressful situation that’s frequent in the role.
“I believe the question was ‘what would you do if a water main breaks and you’re brand new, it’s your first week, and you don’t know who has what skills?’” Worthey said. “It turned out to be a pretty good interview question.”
Worthey said Qayoumi responded immediately and on his own initiative — taking photos, directing crews, and helping repair the main within a few hours.
“He didn’t micromanage the experienced crew chief who was there,” Worthey said. “That mattered.”
What’s Next for Newberg Public Works
Qayoumi’s near-term priorities are focused on building internal capacity rather than chasing capital projects. He wants to develop standard operating procedures, strengthen the city’s fleet management program, and establish an in-house pavement maintenance program to address Newberg’s road conditions without relying entirely on outside contractors.
“This is one of the only jurisdictions I’ve seen where the pavement condition is like this,” he said. “One of our goals is to figure out what we can do in-house so we’re not always outsourcing.”
Worthey echoed that ambition, describing a longer-term vision of a county-wide grind and inlay team that could provide affordable road resurfacing services to multiple Yamhill County cities, with Newberg potentially leading the effort.
For Qayoumi, the work is personal. He’s taught public works leadership courses through APWA Northwest for nearly a decade and believes the profession suffers from a visibility problem.
“Ask a kid what a firefighter does — they know immediately,” he said. “Ask them about public works, and they have no idea, even though they use our services every day. Get up in the morning and turn on the water to brush your teeth; that water is clean and functional. Flush the toilet, which goes somewhere and is treated. Get in your car to go to work, and you know the roads are reliable and the traffic signals work. Your kids walk on the sidewalks. Public Works has an important role in any community, and it’s very satisfying work.”
His message to Newberg residents is simple: be patient, stay engaged, and don’t hesitate to report issues.
“This is their city,” he said. “We want to provide a service. As we develop our programs, we want them to continue to support us.”
