JAY – Bob Sanders of Livermore Falls is Jay’s new recycling and solid waste coordinator. The former Jay emergency police dispatcher and mechanic expects the job to be a continuing learning experience.
Selectmen confirmed Sanders’ appointment in a 4-0 vote Monday. Selectman Barry McDonald was absent.
Sanders was chosen from among 19 applicants to fill the position that Rhonda Irish had held for more than a decade. Irish plans to further her education and pursue other fields in municipal government.
Sanders’ annual salary is $38,500.
Town Manager Ruth Marden and Irish reviewed the applications.
“We had some very strong candidates,” Marden said, “and Rhonda and I both really felt that Bob was the person for the job.”
He was self-employed in the past, he managed people and he knows how to do billing, she said.
“He has a really strong background in hydraulics and mechanics,” Marden said Tuesday, “and it’s always nice to be able to promote from within, if they are qualified and obviously from the vote last night, selectmen affirmed my decision.”
Sanders sat at his desk at the recycling and solid waste center Tuesday, checking paperwork and answering phone calls.
Sanders worked as a mechanic, repairing cars and trucks, for 22 years. Most recently he was a Jay police dispatcher for 4 years before he decided to change careers.
“It looked like a new challenge and straight days didn’t hurt,” Sanders said. “It gets me off shift work and gives me more time with family.”
Sanders is married to Sylvia Sanders.
“I left the Police Department with very mixed emotions,” he said. “I enjoyed the department, the atmosphere and the work itself.”
Irish is teaching Sanders the job and spent last week showing him how the center works.
Irish plans to be around some days during the next few weeks to help Sanders, Marden said.
Sanders oversees a crew of seven and a budget of more than $1 million in the center that serves several area towns.
“The crew is phenomenal,” he said. “They know their jobs. They do their jobs well; so far there has been very little supervision to them.”
There is a lot of business to the job, including brokering recyclables for the best prices and billing towns for services, he said.
“Much of this is on-the-job learning,” Sanders said as he pressed the buttons to operate the compactor. “Rhonda has shared a lot of knowledge with me and the crew here is an excellent resource. This is going to be an ongoing learning process. … It’s an ongoing thing to get people to recycling more, especially in today’s climate of wanting lower property taxes, because the more we can sell, the lower we can keep the budget. Just like every other town, we have to pay a landfill to get rid of solid waste.”
Comments are no longer available on this story