CHARLEMONT — After Town Administrator Peg Dean resigned in January, the Selectboard is debating whether to discontinue the job.
The administrator job was created in 2015, Executive Secretary to the Selectboard Kathy Reynolds said, the same year Dean began working as Charlemont’s administrator, according to her LinkedIn profile.
The Selectboard will determine whether it will hire a new administrator in April, when member Jay Healy is present.
The town has two secretaries who provide support to various town boards – Carlene Hayden, who works as Executive Secretary to the Town Boards full-time, and Reynolds, who works four days a week. A town administrator differs from a secretary as that post’s duties are more expansive, including writing grants and preparing the budget.
“Do we need an administrator, or do we need more secretarial help?” Selectboard member Marguerite Willis said Monday. “I don’t want to pay for an administrator doing secretarial work. There’s got to be a distinction, in my mind.”
While it decides how to proceed, the board supported temporarily increasing the hours of Executive Secretary Kathy Reynolds, who supports the Selectboard, on Monday, as she says she has taken on additional duties after Dean’s departure. The board approved four additional hours per week – one additional hour Monday to Thursday – bringing the secretary’s total weekly hours up to 36.
“I only have 32 hours a week to do both jobs,” Reynolds said Monday. “I’m trying to help as much as possible, but there are times when I don’t know which way is up, I don’t know which to attend to first.”
While the board is unsure whether it will rehire an administrator, members recognize that town officials are overworked.
“Every single board is overwhelmed,” Willis said. “The amount of stuff rolling down onto the small towns is simply out of control.”
Reach Grace Bird at gbird@recorder.com or 413-772-0261, ext. 280.