RUMFORD – Selectmen want to know how the job of a part-time parking monitor became full time with benefits. And they are considering eliminating the position completely.
At issue is the 40-hour-per-week position held by Mary Ann Richard. She monitors the two-hour parking limits in the downtown area from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday through Friday.
Selectmen aren’t unhappy with her work. In fact, she has brought in more than $18,000 in parking ticket fees since she came on board in July 2004.
But what they are concerned about is whether the job should be a full-time position complete with municipal benefits.
Selectman Jim Rinaldo said the position wasn’t advertised as full time.
Advertisements that appeared in local newspapers on June 23 and June 30, 2004, did not specify whether the job would be full- or part-time, with or without benefits. The intent, according to selectmen, was to hire a part-time contractor to do the job.
According to town officials, Richard began her work that July on a part-time basis. That job eventually grew to 40 hours per week. Then in February, once newly hired town manager Steve Eldridge began work, the job included regular municipal benefits.
Board Chairman Jim Thibodeau said Thursday that the board has referred the matter to the town’s lawyer, Jennifer Kreckel, to learn what steps selectmen could take to change the position.
He said selectmen want to eliminate the full-time position, then readvertise it as a full-time contractual position without benefits, if Kreckel’s opinion on labor laws allows such action.
Eldridge argued Tuesday night that the full-time position is necessary, particularly with several changes planned downtown that would require a close watch on parking. He also said that he feared the town could be walking a thin line with labor laws if the job is made contractual.
He said money is in the budget for the $20,000 salary and benefits.
“The easy solution would be to leave the position alone,” he told selectmen Tuesday night.
Thibodeau said Thursday that the board will make a final decision on the status of the position at the Oct. 20 meeting.
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