Date: Fri 16-Jan-1998

Publication: Bee

Author: STEVEB

Quick Words:

selectmen-budget-Stocker

Full Text:

Stocker Will Take On More Planning Duties

BY STEVE BIGHAM

Where exactly does Liz Stocker work, and what exactly does she do?

The town's community development director wears many hats, according to First

Selectman Herb Rosenthal, so her duties may not always be clear. Her office is

located at Edmond Town Hall, but she's going to be spending a lot more time at

the land-use department, the first selectman said.

Therefore, half of her $58,568 annual salary ($29,284) will be funded under

the selectmen's budget, and the other half, under the land use account, Mr

Rosenthal announced this week.

"That will make it clear where she's spending most of her time," he explained.

"She is a licensed planner, so we'll be using more of her services for the

P&Z."

Of course, Mrs Stocker already has been working with the land-use department,

helping to revise its zoning regulations. Under Mr Rosenthal's watch, however,

she will be working with the department even more.

"All the Legislative Council members said they would support more money going

to land use this year," Mr Rosenthal said.

Mrs Stocker was hired by the town back in 1991 by then first selectman Zita

McMahon.

Department Budgets

It is budget time once again, and the Board of Selectmen sat down with some

department heads Wednesday night to discuss their funding requests, which they

recently submitted to the town's finance department. It is now the job of the

selectmen to check each line item to see what stays in and what gets cut. Once

it passes through the hands of Selectmen Rosenthal, Bojnowski and Brimmer, the

town budget, as well as the school's proposal, move on to the Legislative

Council. From there, the entire package goes to the taxpayers.

This week, the selectmen were only studying those fund requests at the top of

the long list.

Under the selectmen's agency request, the secretary/administrative assistant

account jumped from 46,500 to $86,500. There is an explanation for this,

though. Mr Rosenthal has plans to hire a third person in the office to help

out Jan Andras and Carole Ross, who have been extra busy since the departure

of Human Resource Director Nancy Markey. Her job is not being re-filled,

according to the first selectman, saving $40,000.

Will Jan and Carole be able to maintain the higher salaries they were given

just before Bob Cascella left office?

"We haven't discussed salaries, yet," said Mr Rosenthal, who only recently

announced he was going to keep the two employees on. Both formerly worked

under Mr Cascella, but are invaluable to the effectiveness of the office, Mr

Rosenthal said.

Mr Rosenthal believes both Mrs Andras and Mrs Ross were "dramatically"

underpaid under the former administration. He claims his father, Jack, paid

his employees better back 10-plus years ago.

Managers Want More

The Edmond Town Hall Board of Managers can not hold the line any longer,

according to chairman Edgar Beers. Therefore, town hall managers this year are

asking for $100,000 to be set aside for the building, an increase of $75,000

over a year ago.

"What we're trying to do is get some help," said Mr Beers. "The only

guaranteed income we have is the $35,000 coming from the Mary Hawley Trust.

The rest we have to raise ourselves." The Hawley Trust currently stands at

$1.2 million.

The Board of Managers also receives money from gate receipts for the movie

theater and the renting out of the town hall gymnasium.

Mr Beers pointed to increased costs for lights, oil, gas and water. The board

recently spent $243,400 re-roofing the Edmond Town hall roof, all but

diminishing the board's reserve fund, which it built up when "times were good"

Mr Beers said.

"The only thing left that we haven't done to raise money is have a bake sale,"

Mr Beers said.

Other capital projects will also need to be done in the coming years,

including a re-paving of the building's back lot and sidewalks improvements.

Because he's only been in office less than two months, Mr Rosenthal said he

was only hearing of the department requests for the first time this week.

Assessor Denise Hames has requested $152,917 in funding, an increase from last

year's $120,756. As Mrs Hames explained Wednesday, she is hoping to increase

her part-time employee to a full-timer. The assessor is also requesting a new

car.

Head dispatcher Jim Crouch is asking for $317,195 this year, a significant

increase over last year's $240,369 request. The increased cost, he said, is

due to a state requirement to upgrade the town's 911 system.