MARLBOROUGH – Come Sept. 1, several municipal employees will be getting a raise.
During its meeting on Monday, July 22, the Marlborough City Council overrode a veto from Mayor J. Christian Dumais and approved changes to several job classifications, including new salary ordinances.
In his veto message to the council, Dumais cited the need for the mayor to help attract, recruit and retain qualified personnel.
“As the labor market evolves both in the public and private sector, Marlborough must find ways to remain competitive in relation to its neighboring communities,” he said. “This ordinance will severely restrict the city’s hiring authority (the mayor) from attracting, recruiting and retaining qualified personnel.”
He said, “It is the belief of both myself and the human resources director (who submitted a memo to the Personnel Committee on the detrimental effects of this ordinance change if passed) that if a candidate be required to go in front of the City Council prior to hiring in order to bargain for a higher step and/or vacation, that that candidate will retract their application or not apply in the first place. Due to the public nature of that process, it would make it impossible to retain the confidentiality that is much needed through the hiring process.”
Council President Michael Ossing criticized Dumais for providing “misleading information” both within his letter and a follow-up email.
“This is one of the biggest pieces of fiction, in my opinion, to come from the mayor’s office I’ve seen in my 25 years on the council,” he said.
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Ossing said the ordinance has been around since 1993, and “there’s been no impact or evidence” that the ordinance has affected the city’s ability to hire and retain personnel.
“Also, the ordinance has nothing to do with retaining personnel,” he said.
He added that Dumais has used the ordinance to increase the salaries and vacation time for “his friends,” including the chief of staff, administrative aide and personnel director.
The council voted 8-3 to approve the override. Councilors Kate Robey, Mark Oram and David Doucette voted against the override.
About the ordinances
Members of the Marlborough City Council’s Finance Committee discussed the proposed changes at the committee meeting on Monday, July 8.
The discussions underscored a point brought up at City Council meetings – that the city has been underpaying its employees, compared to other communities.
“It’s so under everything near our community,” said Marlborough Public Library Director Sara Belisle, who brought forth a request to increase the assistant director’s salary.
Belisle said that Morgan Manzella, the current assistant director, has been in that position for eight years.
Under the proposed new salary schedule, Manzella would get a bump of $10,000, or 15% above her current salary. Effective Sept. 1, she would receive $80,621.
The library also wants to add a part-time reference librarian. According to Belisle, she did a salary study, and she found the current wage scale “a couple of dollars per hour” behind similar positions at other libraries.
With approval by the City Council, the position would range from $25.90 per hour (Step 1) to $29.75 per hour (Step 7, after five years of service).
Changes to DPW
The Department of Public Works is in the process of reorganizing.
According to interim Commissioner Theodore Scott, the position of assistant director of facilities – which is currently unfilled – would be replaced with the new position of capital projects manager.
The manager would be responsible for the planning, development and oversight of all DPW capital projects, focusing on roadway and infrastructure improvements, as well as necessary upgrades to public facilities within the city.
This would include the Marlborough Public Library, the future fire station and other facilities, said Scott.
With the approval, the manager would be paid a starting annual salary of $131,000, plus benefits.
Salaries would also be adjusted for the following positions:
DPW Commissioner – $159,000 (Step 1) to $180,000 (Step 7)
Assistant DPW Commissioner – $131,000 (Step 1) to $149,000 (Step 7)
City Engineer – $131,000 (Step 1) to $149,000 (Step 7)
All positions under the new salary schedule would begin at Step 1.
In addition, the DPW is seeking salary increases for the junior civil engineer and a dropoff facility attendant.
The annual salary for the junior civil engineer, a 40-hour-per-week position, would range from $74,106.66 (Step 0), to $86,272.78 (Step 3).
For the attendant, also a 40-hour-week-week position, the salary would range from $46,102.16 (Step 0) to $51,227.70 (Step 3).
“The attendant position interacts with more city residents on a daily basis than any other position in the city,” said Scott. “We currently only have one attendant out of three on staff, and coverage for the open positions is provided by higher-salaried DPW clerks and equipment operators at both regular and overtime rates.”
He added that the salary increases for these two positions were already included in the 2024 fiscal year budget.
Ossing reminded committee members of the study on municipal salaries being conducted. He also cautioned that increases in salary would also include increases in benefits, retirement and more.
The committee approved all the ordinances.
