News

Mayor chooses city woman as new aide

Newburyport City Notebook
Katie Farrell
Published: January 5, 2009

With the approval by the City Council to make Cheryl Robertson the city's new treasurer, Mayor John Moak has already lined up a new assistant.

Julia Godtfredsen, of Bromfield Street, will return to Moak's office in the coming weeks as his chief administrative officer. She filled the same role temporarily in 2006 after Moak's assistant at the time departed for a new job.

Moak offered Godtfredsen the job Tuesday.

"She's a tremendous asset," the mayor said last week. "She's a real pleasant person. I'm looking forward to having her back."

Along with working on the budget, Godtfredsen will be the mayor's representative at City Council meetings and will work closely with department heads on certain issues and projects. Moak said he also accepts her to take more of a role in doing grant applications for the city and interacting with state agencies.

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After some discussion Monday, city councilors agreed to act on all the measures they've referred to their subcommittees for review over the last 12 months.

Councilors made a choice to either deny the measure in order to kill it or to bring it along into the new year for action at some point.

Councilors voted 9-2 to reject a request from Moak to fund a supplemental budget request to hire a new payroll clerk, saying it wasn't the right time financially to do so. The mayor made the request in September and it was sent to the Budget and Finance Committee for review. The committee members kept it there in an attempt to kill it.

Councilors also denied a request by Seacoast Taxi to raise the fare increase in the city for cab rides, noting that the company has closed and has new ownership, which has not asked for an increase.

Other measures, including A-frame sign requests, a demolition delay amendment, proposed changes to their own subcommittees and parking and sign requests, all were brought into 2009 by the councilors to take a vote on at some point.

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Opportunity Works will hold their 25th annual live, cable TV auction on Saturday, Feb. 21 from noon to 9 p.m.

It will air on local cable TV in the communities of Newburyport, Amesbury, Newbury, West Newbury, Byfield, Salisbury, Merrimac and Ipswich. More than 700 items/certificates will be auctioned. The public is welcome to view and pre-bid on all auction items on Thursday, Feb. 19, at the Rupert A. Nock Middle School, 70 Low St., from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m.

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The following meetings have been scheduled for this week and are open to the public:

Monday

School Committee, 6:30 p.m., Room 118 Newburyport High School

Tuesday

Diversity and Tolerance Commission, 3 p.m., Library

Conservation Commission, 7 p.m., City Hall Council Chambers

Wednesday

Board of Library Directors, 5:15 p.m., Library

Planning Board, 7 p.m., City Hall auditorium

License Commission, 7 p.m., police department conference room

Thursday

Budget and Finance Committee, 6:30 p.m., City Hall Council Chambers

City Council — General Government, 7 p.m., City Hall Council Chambers

Tree Committee, 7 p.m., City Hall basement

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Katie Farrell covers Newburyport for The Daily News. She can be reached at 978-462-6666, ext. 3232, or by e-mail at kfarrell@newburyportnews.com.