Highway Superintendent John Mase and the Town of Union

Lori Lovely – PROFILE CORRESPONDENT - July 2026

Although he acquired his position as highway superintendent of the town of Union in Broome County through his own initiative and vast experience, John Mase credits his father, John C. Mase, for his achievement.

"Without him, I may have never chosen highway maintenance as a career path," he said.

Both father and son worked for the New York State Department of Transportation — the elder Mase for 37 years, the younger for 25. They even worked together one winter before the younger man became a DOT supervisor.

The town of Union superintendent learned much from his father, a bridge repair assistant, that he applies to his current position.

"[He] taught me carpentry and concrete work, as he worked in bridge maintenance for NYSDOT [and] gave me pointers on effectively plowing and salting roads," said John.

Roadwork

As highway superintendent, John is responsible for maintaining 250 lane mi., all of which are paved, and five bridges. In the winter, his crews cover 15 plow routes, each of which takes three to four hours to complete. The town has under cover salt storage capacity of 4,500 tons in their salt barn — enough to treat the roads of a town that averages more than 49 in. of snowfall annually.

"My father taught me that no two snowstorms are alike," John said, adding, "Expect the unexpected."

John applies his father's guidance on concrete to the town's comprehensive paving program. His focus is maintaining street and road stability and longevity through preventive maintenance. During his brief tenure, he and his crew have completed "many paving projects."

That is made easier because they do all their own paving, he said with pride. They unofficially divide the town into four or five sections, then assess the roads in each section to determine if they need to be paved or micro-paved, which will give them another seven or eight years of life.

"We contract out for that," he said, "but do all our own paving."

Curb and gutter damage are addressed before they pave. One contractor wins a bid for the work each year. Once that is completed, crews mill out 5 in. before laying new binder and top.

During the winter, they do a lot of patching. The town recently took delivery on a hot box trailer that keeps cold patch warm. This helps ensure pliability with warm cold patch.

"We can keep up to 3 tons of hot mix hot all day," said John. "We aren't paving every day. When we're not paving, we do sign work, repair guide rail, do ditch work and perform catch basin repairs. We also do roadside vegetation management, using a tractor mower with a side arm, and we're gearing up to do ditch work."

The department plans to reshape and clean out ditches with a ditch machine to improve water flow. It also just purchased a camera inspection unit to use in the storm sewers. This saves unnecessary digging.

Managerial Skills

Technical skills weren't the only things he learned from his father, whose sage advice influences how the superintendent manages his crew and the work they all do: "Hard work pays off in the end. Treat others as you want to be treated. Always take pride in the work you do."

Thirty-five years' experience as a volunteer firefighter with the Pine City Volunteer Fire Department (including as a chief) and his part-time work as an EMT for a local ambulance company for 17 years contributed to his leadership style.

"I have experience in dealing with people," John said. "I learned you have to treat them with respect and dignity if you're going to get anything done."

That's exactly what he's done. As the "new guy," appointed by the town board in 2024, he had to earn respect quickly.

"I've been where they're at, so I let them know I'm not coming to change everything," he said. "There will be some changes, but nothing drastic. That gained their respect. The crew was worried I'd bring DOT regulations, which are a lot stricter."

Changes

In 2017, John was working for NYSDOT. One day, he and a coworker were picking up rubber chunks from tractor trailers along the side of the road when a woman rear-ended their vehicle at a speed of 65 mph. It "messed up my back," he said. "The doctor advised leaving labor-intensive jobs and finding something in management, so I started looking for a job."

He didn't decide to leave the DOT until 2020.

"It was time for a change, for a new challenge," he said.

He worked as a safety specialist for a logistics company for two years and did a brief stint as an emergency services specialist at Cornell University, but it was too physical, so he put out applications for other jobs.

One day, a job showed up on Indeed. On a whim, he applied.

"I got a call within a day," he said.

After a meet-and-greet with the town supervisor and the head of public works, he had an interview on a Wednesday and received a job offer on Friday.

"I didn't know anybody here," he said. "I lived 50 minutes away."

John was living in Pine City, where he grew up and where his father still resides. One of the requirements of the job was relocating to Union — which took a while.

"My first winter on the job, I depended on my management team [to handle snowplowing] because I didn't move until February 2025."

Once he and his wife, Mary, relocated to Union, it was time to make changes to his department.

"One change was that I bumped up the number of people on the afternoon/evening shift during the winter," John said. "We had only six on the evening shift. That didn't cut it. I evened out the numbers on both shifts."

Having filled six vacancies this past summer, he considered following the old rule that the new people go to the night shift, but he was concerned about putting all the new guys on nights, so he put three on each shift.

When hiring employees, he looks for experience, first and foremost.

"Some [of the new employees] came from other municipalities and had snow and ice experience," he said.

But perhaps the most important quality he looks for in job candidates is attitude.

"I try not to bring negativity to the crew."

He added that 95 percent of the time, morale on the crew is high. So is dedication.

"My guys don't ask questions when I ask them to do things," he said.

The Fleet

Among the things their boss asks the crew to do is equipment maintenance. Three mechanics and a parts manager perform routine maintenance and "all the day-to-day things like lube, oil and filter, brakes and small equipment failures." Bigger, more serious issues like engine problems are sent out.

The fleet maintenance shop takes care of all maintenance, operating out of one of the facilities on the property. They do a good job, John said. The department's loaders, skid steer, backhoe and excavator are on a buy-back program with Caterpillar, so they're fully warrantied all the time.

"It saves the town a lot of money because we get high-dollar trade-in value since the maintenance guys keep them in pristine condition," John said.

John added they'll be getting a new backhoe soon, and that while they need two dump trucks, they aren't lacking any equipment. "We buy a new dump truck every year," he said.

The Crew

The highway department maintains a full-time staff of 32 who work 6 a.m.-2:30 p.m., Monday-Friday. Key people include:

• Greg Teeples, deputy superintendent

• Jerry Darrow, foreman

• Anthony Abbadessa, crew leader

• Tina Atkinson, administrative assistant

In addition, a retired DOT signals worker performs yearly inspections and repairs as necessary on a contract basis because the department owns a few of the traffic lights in town.

John is particularly close to his deputy, whom he's preparing to take over after he retires.

"My goal is to present him to the board as the best fit," he said, explaining that he's four years away from retirement … maybe. "It depends on how things are going; I may stick around longer."

However long he remains in office, he plans to stay at this job until he retires. In fact, he calls it "my retirement gig."

John is eager to pass on his knowledge and experience to an up-and-coming generation.

"We won't be here forever," he said. With that mindset, he gives his deputy creative freedom. "It's one way to learn." That freedom comes with support and encouragement. "He's doing a great job and willingly takes on projects."

Another of the changes John hopes to achieve will directly impact the crew. He wants to implement safety training.

"We do annual OSHA and sexual harassment training; it wouldn't hurt to add safety training," he said.

When he worked for the state, they did weekly tailgate safety talks. He set up the same procedure when he worked for the logistics company — making a list of 52 topics for weekly discussion. He believes this crew could benefit from a similar program. "I'd also like to introduce CPR training."

The Work

The town's budget of $6,579,672 is supplemented by CHIPS money in the amount of $493,793.93 and income from renting equipment to other municipalities. This helps maintain the facilities, which include a main garage built in 1953, a storage garage and two stock yards.

With plans that include continuing to rebuild and repair the 5,600 catch basins in the town, John is eyeing future projects such as an at-grade railroad crossing at Hayes Ave. in conjunction with Norfolk Southern Rail.

As for all the work, John said, "I like this job because I work outside; I'm not cooped up in the office. I can't get a feel for what's going on in the town if I'm behind a computer. My truck is my office."

That said, there are downsides to the job. One of his least favorite duties is issuing parking tickets when residents park on the street during snowy weather.

"There used to be a law that there was no parking on the streets if we got 2 inches of snow, but now, it's no parking with any snowfall," John said.

Using the same system the police use, he issues a warning on the first offense. Second notice is a fine of $40. Third time, it's a tow.

"I heard from a lot of angry people who said they didn't know, but we put up 55 signs around town to notify everyone."

That's not the only issue he hears about. His crew uses six leaf machines to pick up leaves in the fall.

"We go around the town three or four times. They get shredded and taken to the village of Endicott to make mulch."

But when an early winter shut down the leaf pickup (because the leaf pickups also are their plow trucks) last year, many people didn't understand.

Using the people skills he acquired from his father, John tries to turn the negative aspects of the job into positives. "We get complaints all the time, but if I can communicate with people and make them understand what's going on, that's a good day," he said.

About the Town of Union

Originally settled by Americans/Europeans circa 1782, the town of Union is located near the Pennsylvania border along the Susquehanna River and is a western suburb of Binghamton.

Its name came from being the rendezvous point for the Sullivan Expedition — a military campaign ordered by George Washington in response to the Iroquois and loyalist destruction of American settlements in the area. Under the command of General John Sullivan during the American Revolutionary War, troops attacked the four British-allied nations of the Iroquois. General Clinton's forces united with those of General Poor at the Choconut/Chugnut village near Union during the American Revolution to attack Natives friendly to the British in 1779, destroying more than 40 Iroquois villages, their crops and food store in a scorched-earth campaign.

The town was officially established in 1791 and was known as a "mother town" of the county, although its size was later reduced as other towns were formed.

With a current population of 56,346, Union is a tranquil suburb with beautiful parks, athletic fields and four carousels throughout the town. Other nearby attractions include museums, mansions, the Cutler Botanic Garden and the Ross Park Zoo.

Having lived in Union for a year and a half, John enjoys visiting with friends and walking his Siberian Husky when he's not at work.

"I had four Huskies at one time — enough for a sled team," he said.

These days, he walks Ace five to six miles a day. "It keeps me healthy and is good for my back."

His son, John Jr., lives near Albany and his daughter, Hannah, lives in Florida, so most of the time it's just him and Mary, whom he met at a fire department bingo fundraiser 35 years ago.

"He is one of the hardest working men you'd likely ever meet," said Mary. "He is the poster boy for civil servants if there ever was one. As a leader, he is the kind of guy who would never ask someone to do a task that he wouldn't willingly do himself. He meets people at their level. He's mentored many people, both in his supervisory roles in public works and in the fire service. On a personal note, he is an amazing father to our two adult children, and a caring and considerate partner to me as we come up on our 34th anniversary. We're incredibly proud of him."

Not only does John have a proud wife, but he said his father also is proud of him and tells his friends about the job his son does. That means everything to John, who visits his father in Pine City every weekend.

As he continues to settle into a new job and a new town, John, a member of the Broome County Highway Association, is making a positive impact on the Union highway department through changes, efficiency and a personal approach. Unsure of how much longer he'll hold on to his title, he hopes others will remember him as a fair and honest leader after he finally retires — a sort of dedication to the father who set such a good example.