While perusing the city’s personnel policy files Monday to determine if the new grant funded Energy Officer position will be eligible for city health and pension benefits, and it is, I noticed hanging on the wall of the Human Resources office a help-wanted ad for a Director of Central Services dated January 22, 2007. After inquiring I was told the old director resigned the position after less than a year of employment, in order to return to the private sector. No other explanation was offered.
Though it’s no longer Sunshine Week, this sheds new information on the Energy Officer Mayor Higgins has proposed, per city code. Evidently the Central Services Director position took on the responsibility for energy related issues in the past and with his premature resignation I presume Mayor Higgins is rethinking the city’s current arrangement. Under the new scenario Northampton will now have two employees performing the job function one previously conducted.
Listed under Essential Functions on the current CS Director job description being circulated “consolidates accounts for city-wide utility purchases and energy conservation programming” and “Initiates and supervises grant applications for School Building Authority, energy conservation, asbestos abatement, and other similar grant monies.” It seems Northampton is advertising for a position whose job requirements might well overlap with those of a new Energy Officer.
Conducting a search of Gazettenet resulted in the following: In a May 2006 article Dan Crowley reported Steven J. Carignan of Ludlow was hired for the $73,500-a-year position out of the Longmeadow School system. This was a rate $6,815 more per year than his predecessor Brett Jacobus was earning when he left in January 2006, after 11 years of city service. Among the responsibilities Dan Crowley listed for the CS Director was energy and service contracts. Ward 1 City Councilor Maureen T. Carney who served on the screening committee was quoted as saying that “Carignan has knowledge and experience with energy conservation, increasingly a concern among city residents.”
From another Dan Crowley report of April 2006 energy again is mentioned. “Some city employees picking up the workload in Central Services say it’s very important for the next director to be knowledgeable in energy procurement. Energy costs, predicted Joe M. Cook, the city’s chief procurement officer, are expected to be among “the biggest budget-busting increases this year.” “It’s a huge expense for us,” Cook said.”
Ryan Davis mentioned energy and the CS Director in a November 2005 article regarding costs at city schools. “Central Services Director Brett Jacobus is working on an energy-conservation plan for the schools, including turning down thermostats and monitoring energy usage. Wright said Jacobus believes that program could save as much as $40,000.”
Ryan Davis quoted Mr. Jacobus in an October 2005 article as well. “After ‘beating the bushes to get the best price,’ Jacobus said, the district has locked in fuel costs for the year, protecting it from any spikes in the coming weeks. In the case of electricity, Jacobus has locked in the current price for the next five years based on projections the electricity costs will remain high for some time. ‘It’s a calculated risk, I admit,’ he said, but the contract can be renegotiated if cost does go down.”
Thus there is more to the city hiring an Energy Officer than has been publicized so far, and still we don’t have an Energy Commission as required by City Code. From my view outside of city government it seems logical to me that city officials should have a clear job description established for each of these positions prior to conducting a search, with an Energy Commission in place in order to assist with these hiring efforts.
