LIVERMORE — The majority of voters at a special town meeting Tuesday night supported two changes put forth by selectpersons in an effort to hire and retain employees.
The vote to join the Maine Public Employees Retirement System was passed, 22-2.
The warrant article also included the following:
• The effective date of joining is Feb. 1 and will be available for full-time employees, appointed officials and the elected town clerk, who work at least 36 hours per week, 52 weeks per year.
• Eligible Livermore employees and officials electing to join Maine Public Employees Retirement System may purchase prior service at their own expense.
• The Savings Incentive Match Plan for Employees IRA that had been offered employees ceased Dec. 31, 2022.
Resident Jim Manter asked what the cost would be and where the additional expense would come from in the budget.
The cost would triple, Select Board Chairman Mark Chretien said. The highway department hasn’t had a full crew all summer, he noted.
“There is enough left in that line; we will be all set this year,” Selectperson Scott Richmond said. “Next year we will have to increase it.”
It became apparent to selectpersons over the past two years during hiring interviews that not offering the Maine Public Employees Retirement System was affecting the town’s ability to hire qualified employees, Richmond said. Candidates who are in the system are not leaving to join the town’s 401(k) plan, he noted.
Bringing the state retirement system question to voters was originally going to be done at the annual Town Meeting in April, but was changed because of the town clerk opening, Richmond said.
In September Town Clerk Renda Guild and Deputy Clerk Jean Tardif informed selectpersons they would be retiring at the beginning of 2023. At a special meeting Dec. 26 selectpersons approved retaining them on a part-time basis and increasing their pay to $25 per hour until a new town clerk is hired. They indicated it was for only a short time.
Two candidates with five or six years of experience between them were interested in the clerk position but they were vested in Maine Public Employees Retirement System, Richmond said.
“That was one of their reasons for not coming,” he said. “That is one of the reasons why we brought this article before you tonight, because we need a town clerk.
“Jean and Renda have been nice enough to stay on and help Michelle (Bernier, the new deputy clerk) out. I appreciate that. We would be in a big pickle right now if they didn’t stay.”
The other benefit of joining the state retirement system is that it encourages employees to stay, instead of them gaining experience and moving on, Richmond added. A 30-year-old man recently hired for the highway department was told of the possibility of joining the state retirement system. “If we don’t join, we are probably going to lose him,” he said.
“I think it is the right thing to do,” Manter, the resident, said.
Another resident, Andrew Sylvester, who serves on the Regional School Unit 73 board of directors, supported the selectpersons.
“I think it is a good idea; we use Maine PERS with the school system,” Sylvester said. “It works very well.”
Asked about the number of people that would be using the state system, Chretien said seven employees.
Changing the town clerk position from elected to appointed by municipal officers at the end of the current elected term passed 19-2, with some people not voting, Tardif said.
Guild was the last town clerk to be elected to a two-year term in April 2022.
The last two candidates interviewed for the position said they wouldn’t leave their current jobs for one that is only assured for one year and four months, Richmond said.
“If we don’t do this, I don’t feel like we are going to get anybody,” he said.
To be a state licensing agent, the town must have someone with at least six months experience, Richmond said.
“If we don’t get a town clerk or somebody with experience before June 1, we are going to lose our state agency (license), won’t be able to register vehicles, give fishing licenses, snowmobile, ATVs,” he said. “All they would be doing at the town office is taking taxes. For excise taxes you would have to go someplace else. I don’t like that option.”
Not changing the position doesn’t help because there is no one in the office with experience, he added.
“It is another opportunity being taken away from us,” resident Jack Driscoll said. “It is a shame. How do we know what that person will be like? We are slowly losing our freedoms. Our forefathers buried in (Livermore) cemeteries fought for those freedoms.”
Resident Brenda Merrill, a former town clerk, tax collector, deputy clerk and registrar, said in the past the uncertainty of the town clerk having to be elected was not ideal.
“From experience I can tell you that when (a former clerk) left and I filled in until the person who came to work, it was on the condition that she would run for town clerk in the next election,” Merrill said. “I wanted no part of running for any office; didn’t want to have to worry year to year. We have been fortunate to have Renda and Jean for so many years. That doesn’t mean that is going to happen again. We have had experience with the treasurer the last few years that wasn’t so good. … For consistency and fiscal responsibility you should hire people who are qualified.”
Sylvester echoed Driscoll’s sentiment about ceding control, but said several years ago a treasurer was elected who wasn’t qualified and unable to do the job.
“I feel that through our representation on the board the voters have control over it because (selectpersons) can do the job of screening and getting the proper people in place to do the job,” Sylvester said.
Sylvester questioned whether town bylaws or a charter would need updating in order to make a change.
“We don’t have a town charter; this has been vetted through our attorney,” Richmond said. “The position has been elected for as long as I have been alive.”
The town clerk would remain in the position until they decide to leave, Chretien noted in response to a question about how long the appointed term would be. The clerk would start under six months probation, so if they weren’t doing their job, changes could be made.
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