Peabody mayor removes city employees

PEABODY ? City officials are in the process of replacing both human resources director Heidi Henson and building inspector Kevin Goggin.

A committee made up of mayoral aide Chris Ryder, former interim school superintendent Herb Levine and School Committee member Beverley Dunne has narrowed 30 applicants for the human resources director position to half a dozen, according to Mayor Ted Bettencourt.

?The mayor will now interview the six finalists,? said Levine.

Bettencourt hopes to have a new head of human resources in place by Nov. 1. The position involves hiring city workers and negotiating with unions. Bettencourt said he is ?exploring the option of combining the city and school personnel departments. On both the city and school side, the position of head of human resources is vacant.

Levine is also at work as a consultant looking to reduce redundancies created by having two separate departments.

?We had a study a couple of years ago,? the mayor added. ?There was a recommendation for consolidating our resources.?

The city employs 1,400 people.

A replacement for the building inspector has not been advertised yet, said the mayor. He said staffers in both departments are currently handling the workload. ?It?s all hands on deck,? he said, adding that in the human resources department, ?there are some very talented ladies down there.?

Veteran plumbing inspector Arthur Pavlo is currently the interim building inspector.

?It?s just a situation where I wanted to bring in my own team,? said the mayor, who took office last January. It?s taken time, he indicated, to get acquainted with the workings of each department.

He said the change did not come as a result of any lapse in the work habits of the former employees.

Both Henson and Goggin ?made contributions to the city,? Bettencourt said. ?It?s nothing personal.?

Both were hired in 2002 by former Mayor Mike Bonfanti. Goggin previously worked as Salem?s building inspector.

Soon after taking office, Bettencourt replaced the city treasurer, who had held the position for 10 years, saying it was nothing personal and he just wanted to bring in his own team.

Bettencourt has not ruled out further personnel changes.

?I have no plans at present,? he said, ?but I?m always evaluating. It?s important to me that we?re doing things properly at City Hall.?

Source: http://www.salemnews.com/local/x1709878381/Peabody-mayor-removes-city-employees

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