AMESBURY — As municipal councilors questioned the proposed salary increase for his chief of staff, Mayor Thatcher Kezer said the pay raise reflects greater responsibilities and another step up on the pay scale for his assistant.
In his budget for the next fiscal year, currently being reviewed by the council, Kezer boosted the base salary for Chief of Staff Kendra Amaral to $63,200 — more than his own salary of $60,000.
Amaral's base salary in the current year is listed at $51,991, meaning she would have a 21 percent raise.
Kezer said the increase is for three reasons — a return to the salary cut by the prior Municipal Council, combined with the 2.5 percent raise for all town employees included in the budget proposal and a step on the pay scale that reflects the roles and responsibilities of the position.
"I drop one more notch down on the (salary) list," Kezer told councilors, alluding to the annual list that shows the salary for each town employee.
Kezer said he switched the job description for the position when taking office — the role used to be an "aide," he said, who was "a tagalong" to the mayor and handled policy matters.
Amaral is the director of AmesStat, the mayor's data tracking system, handles major policy initiatives — she is currently working on negotiating the new trash contract — and handles human resource functions and coordinates the issues for the Health and Human Services Department, Kezer said.
With a "broad range" of duties, the mayor said he felt it necessary to move the salary up to the next level.
District 5 Councilor Jonathan Sherwood asked the mayor to give the council a written copy of the job description as the budget talks continue.
At-large Councilor Roger Benson said the same thing happened several years ago when the mayor's aide's salary was bumped up to more than the chief executive at the time.
"It's bound to happen when the mayor's salary stays the same and the chief of staff position is entitled to cost-of-living adjustments and steps on the pay scale," Benson said.
Kezer told councilors the pay change reflects a move made by the Municipal Council two years ago when they cut the salary when the position was vacant. The next year he asked councilors to return it to the full amount, but the council kept it lowered to $46,000.
His office requested a transfer to meet the proposed salary, he said.
Police and Fire departments
The police and fire chiefs presented the Finance Committee with a description of what the combined public safety dispatch center will mean — the town hopes to make the change with the start of the fiscal year.
The dispatch was an area targeted in an efficiency study of the Fire Department several years ago, fire Chief Jon Brickett said. One way to correct that inefficiency and make it better, he said, is to combine the two centers.
"This wasn't a haphazard decision that was made," Brickett said, adding that numerous discussions were held with the union that represents the dispatchers. "This really is the best way to go at this point."
The police station has a new 911 dispatch center with two work stations, police Chief Michael Cronin said.
There are currently nine full-time dispatchers between the police and fire stations. Under the switch, eight dispatchers will work full time and one will move to part time. There will be no layoffs, Cronin said.
Personnel and equipment issues have been addressed as well, the chiefs said.
The need for the merger was seen most clearly last summer when calls flooded the 911 line as a Seabrook Station alarm sounded — it was a false alarm — but panicked citizens called to find out what was happening. The calls flooded Amesbury, Merrimac and Salisbury police while Amesbury's fire dispatcher couldn't help manage the call load from her separate location, Cronin said.
"If she was in the same room, she could've answered (calls) on the second console," Cronin said.
The dispatchers will work 12-hour shifts with two dispatchers on a shift. They will remain as a police and fire dispatcher but will be cross-trained in order to fill in for the other person if they need to, the chiefs said.
Currently, fire dispatchers work 24-hour shifts and police dispatchers work eight-hour shifts.
The council will continue to discuss the proposed FY09 budget on Thursday with the school budget and the Whitter budget. They will vote on the budget on June 18.
