Wakefield continues to seek deputy treasurer

By P.J. GLISSON

[email protected]

Wakefield — City Manager Robert Brown Jr. reported on Tuesday that the city continues to seek a deputy treasurer while he now assumes those added responsibilities.

The last day of former Treasurer Mandy Lake was June 30.

Her closing pay was $23.75 per hour, but Brown said that members of the City Council felt that rate was too high for someone entering the job new.

Hence, the council voted last week to offer a starting pay of $22 per hour for a newly conceived position of deputy treasurer, which would grow to the role of treasurer and to a rate of $24 per hour by the end of the third year of employment.

He said that package was offered to one applicant, but he added, “They declined. They said the pay was too low, so back to the drawing board.”

In related news, Brown said that Artur Budz of Ironwood was hired as a heavy equipment operator for the Public Works Department at a starting salary of roughly $23 per hour. The city manager said that Budz now fills the vacancy created when Mike Sibley resigned last fall.

According to the city manager, the total city full-time staff now includes himself, City Clerk Susan Ahonen, Utility Clerk Patty Sperhake, five DPW workers and four electric/water employees. The hiring of a deputy treasurer will bring the total to 13. Brown added that seasonal help, used only during summer months, includes an additional 14 full-time workers.

According to Brown, council members also addressed the following issues during their July 10 meeting:

—Voted to reappoint Barb Siira to the Wakefield Housing Commission at the recommendation of WHC Executive Director Sheri Graham. The new 5-year term runs until June 30, 2028.

—Learned that David Macomber, the city’s part-time blight officer, has submitted a list of 28 city property owners to whom letters have been sent, requesting to discuss blight issues with him. If no success is met with that approach, Brown said that warning letters and possible citations will follow.

Brown added that, in the July 11 meeting of the Wakefield Planning Commission, members decided to identify policies and procedures for vendors using the city’s park system. Concerns will include reservations and the use of city meters. Planners expect to submit a proposal to the City Council by this fall.

The council’s next regular meeting will be on July 24 at 5:30 p.m. in the council chambers of the municipal building.