KENT, Conn.—The Parks and Recreation Commission said an emphatic “no” this week to the Selectmen’s desire to alter its governing ordinance.
The Selectmen, who objected to mid-year raises granted last year to minimum-wage employees, wants to alter the ordinance to limit the department director’s ability to set wages.
“I’m not sure they can do that without our agreeing to it,” said Parks and Rec Chairman Rufus deRham.
Under the current ordinance, the department’s director can recommend hires and terminations to the commission, define workers duties and recommend wages.
“The Selectmen think they are the only ones who can do that,” deRham told his commissioners. “They did not like the increase in employee salaries mid-year, but I think we are within our right to do that.”
He noted that the commission stayed within the amount approved by taxpayers during the budget season.
The commission gave two raises—the first to align employees’ compensation with an increase in minimum wage and the second to recognize the work the staff had done. Staffing has been a chronic problem for the department, which often employs high school students to help run programs. Director Matt Frasher said that he has had candidates turn down job offers because the wages are too low or leave after being hired for more lucrative jobs.
Commission Vice Chairman Kevin Frost was particularly irritated by the Selectmen’s move.
“I have heard several times that mid-year raises are discouraged, but never a reason why other than it seems like they want parity between departments,” he said. “Frankly, I don’t care about that. What really annoys me is that one, and maybe more than one, of the Selectmen are trying to substitute their judgement for ours. They say the commission can set the wages for ‘new’ employees, which implies that if you are not new, we can no longer adjust your pay.”
Frost termed it, “the absolute worst form of governance to say to a commission, ‘You’re a commission and can act independently, but have no authority over your budget. We going to determine how we think your budget should be used.’ That’s what they’re saying when it comes to these employees and their wages. It’s incredibly annoying.”
He argued that, if the department works within its budget, it should be able to make its own decisions. “The single-most valuable asset you have is the people who work for you,” he said. “We are trying to provide services, and the best way to provide services is to hire the best people and encourage them to buy into your vision and not treat them like commodities.”
Members queried what would happen if they rejected the Selectmen’s proposal. deRham said he talked to a director of another Parks and Recreation Department who expressed the opinion that a negative response by the commission would kill the selectmen’s proposal. “But I haven’t talked to a lawyer,” he added.
Frost was not the only commission member piqued by the effort to limit its scope. Heidi Wilson recalled that the Selectmen had cut the employee line item during budget preparation. “We asked if we could manage that $5,000 and were told no, it had to come specifically out of our employees,” she recalled. “Now here they are, six months later, trying another way to devalue our employees.”
“They want to take decision-making from us and basically tie our hands so we can’t run the department in the way we see fit,” agreed Frost.
He suggested that the commission’s response should be, “We have reviewed the proposed changes and strongly reject them because we don’t feel they best serve the commission and the people of Kent.”
The vote was unanimous.
In other business, Frasher reported that Gary Hock surveyed Emery Park and determined that the park encompasses 225 acres, including Leonard and Segar mountains. Frashar is busy developing hiking trails through the undeveloped portions of the park and envisions a lookout tower at Leonard Mountain.
Discussion briefly focused on the development of a master plan for the park and the members approved $4,000 for Phase 2 of Cardinal Engineering’s assessment of the swimming pond.
Wilson argued for using some of the remaining ARPA funds to develop infrastructure and amenities that can later fit into the master plan. ARPA money must be used by Dec. 31 or be returned to the federal government. Other members were more cautious, however, and felt no decisions should be made until the master plan is complete.
