Yellowknife (Apr 21/06) - If you're heading over to city hall, he's the first person you're likely to see. Or call. Or ask a question of.

In fact, city switchboard operator Matthew Dawe has his finger on the pulse of city hall, especially when it starts beating furiously.

"Describe my day? Hectic!" said Dawe.

Willing to do this interview only if he could answer calls in between questions, Dawe said he can get anywhere from 200-300 people either calling or coming in to the Yellowknife city hall building a day.

Dawe is involved in everything from directing people to the right department to transferring calls from the switchboard to taking payments for things like building permits and parking tickets.

The busiest time for him comes at the end of the month when payments or bills are due, he said.

But no matter how tough his day gets, Dawe said he hasn't encountered anyone out to make his day worse.

"I once had a call from someone who was really ticked off about something, and the guy called me back five minutes later to apologize," said Dawe. "I'm pretty impressed with people from around Yellowknife."

Dawe has been working at the switchboard for about three months, but has worked in several jobs at the city over the last seven months, he said.

Dawe is working to pay off some student loans so he can go back to school and finish his undergraduate degree in psychology.

Because he's the only one at the front desk, Dawe said he's thankful to co-workers in the finance department who cover his lunches and breaks.

Overall, Dawe said he is having a lot of fun at his new post as a switchboard operator and plans to stay for a while.