The big freeze is underway
Published on November 19th, 2003
STONEHAM, MA - Allowing Stoneham Police Chief Gregory O'Keefe to hire two police officers, the town's Board of Selectmen voted unanimously last night to institute a hiring freeze effective immediately.
Arguing that the town needed to stop hiring new clerks and part-time officials in the face of a projected $4 million deficit for FY05, Selectman Cosmo Ciccarello offered a formal motion to introduce the hiring freeze and suggested that the board would shoot down any attempt to hire additional employees.
"How can we afford to hire more people when we're $4 million in the hole? We're going to lay them off in July and then give them unemployment and cobra benefits...I would like to make a recommendation that we direct the town administrator not to hire any more people besides the two police officers effective today. Now that's just a recommendation Dave, but just remember that we can overturn any appointment with three votes,"" an agitated Ciccarello said.
While O'Keefe had interviewed nine persons for three advertised police positions in recent weeks, the Selectmen only authorized the hiring of two new officers. Prior to the board's approval, O'Keefe argued that after already losing two positions this past year, his department couldn't afford to assume any additional loses.
"I'm down two positions from last year and if you cut more now it's going to be devastating. I'm going to have to take the D.A.R.E officer out of the schools. With all due respect to Larry [Rotondi], I'm going to have to put him back out on patrol. He wouldn't be able to do site plans either because he needs to be out there filing that third patrol post," said O'Keefe, who received no guarantee from the Selectmen that his department wouldn't be cut in FY05.
Claiming that the 2004 budget included funding for the new hires and that departments such as the Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBA) and Planning Board had a dire need for the clerks, Town Administrator David Berry asked how the town would manage without the part-time hires.
In response, Selectmen Bob Sweeney suggested that Berry find ways to streamline the town's departments by combining the job responsibilities of current municipal employees.
"If we have a personnel department, I would think she should have a directive to take a look at what people are doing. That's what a personnel department does, and I don't know what she's doing. We could just consolidate a little," remarked Sweeney, whose comments were supported by several board members.
Sweeney and Ciccarello then fired off a list of several employees who could assume additional hours to fill the Department of Public Work's part-time cemetery position and the town's ZBA and Planning Board clerk.
"I've been saying this every week now and it's starting to get to me. We have a person working for the Finance Board (Lorraine Wells) collecting unemployment and comp time. Why can't you say, 'you're back working for the ZBA and Planning Board,'" said Ciccarello.
"We have another one, the rink manager [June Scarpa]. What does she do in the summer? Why can't she do something else? It's perfectly acceptable for her to come in here to do more work. That way she's not sitting around watching TV," Ciccarello added.
Claiming that he didn't think that Unicorn Golf Course employee Sue Hito needed to be working 35-hours a week at her position, Sweeney expressed his belief that she also could be used to combine positions.
"I really don't see that her position requires 35-hours a week just to fill the golf ledger...I don't follow her around and I'm sure she does good work, but she could work for the ZBA 10-hours a week," said Sweeney.
However, Berry and Selectman Tony Kennedy challenged the idea of combining positions. While Berry voiced his concern with potential conflicts with municipal union laws, Kennedy proposed that the ZBA provided a necessary service to citizens and should have a separate clerk.
"I have to look at staff. I have to look at unions. And if we do have an increase in a person's hours, you could get over 20 hours of work and that means benefits," argued Berry.
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