Mayor Bill Baker, of Piedmont shared this heartfelt commentary yesterday on Social Media.I just want to take a minute to give some tribute to one of our city employees who passed away recently. Jeff Sims was a retired city employee who came back to work for the city again after retirement. Jeff was the person who drove the sanitation truck with the automated arm. He worked solo, knew his routes well, and did a good job picking up the trash each week. I spoke with Jeff in my office about 3 weeks ago and he told me about his leukemia and how he was going to take needed treatments, win the battle and return to work.

Unfortunately, this was not the case. I liked Jeff a lot. I felt like he was dedicated to his job and did a good job serving the city. We had our “moments” on occasion, but they were far and few between. He was a friend and I respected him for the good job that he did in serving the city. Jeff is free of pain now and we all can find comfort knowing that he is enjoying eternity with God, loved ones, family, and friends. Rest in peace, Jeff and know that we all appreciate everything that you did for the city. We will keep his family in our prayers and hoping that they find peace and comfort.