The entire City Council will have input on the job description a special subcommittee has drafted for hiring a new clerk to the council.
Earlier this spring, Paul Casino, who has served as the council clerk for more than a quarter of a century, announced that he is retiring at the end of the year.
Upon receipt of Casino’s retirement announcement, Council President Roy Avellaneda established a special search subcommittee composed of himself alongside councilors Judith Garcia and Calvin Brown.
Councilor-At-Large Leo Robinson has protested the establishment of the subcommittee, stating that the city charter stipulates the entire council must be involved in the selection of the clerk.
At Monday night’s council meeting, Robinson requested that the City Solicitor provide a legal opinion on the relevant section, Section 2.6 of the City Charter.
During the meeting, Avellaneda also updated the council on the subcommittee’s two meetings in May and introduced the draft language for the job description.
“The subcommittee and participants discussed the desired education, work experience, job requirements and salary range to attract a suitable applicant to fill the position soon to be vacated by our current City Council Clerk Paul Casino,” stated Avellaneda.
Attached with the update from the subcommittee was the proposed job posting with a request for approval from the City Council.
“If accepted, the Human Resources Director would then be instructed to post the position so that potential candidates can then apply,” stated Avellaneda.
Garcia moved to have the job posting considered during a subcommittee on conference by all council members.
The draft job posting calls for an hourly salary range of $29.24 to $36.52 for the 20-hour per week, part-time position. Qualifications include an Associates degree or higher with a minimum of five years of related experience in public sector and municipal environments and working knowledge of parliamentary procedure and Robert’s Rules of Order.
The posting states that Chelsea residency and being bilingual in English and Spanish is preferred.
“Once applicants respond, the Subcommittee will then schedule candidate interviews,” Avellaneda stated. “All members of the City Council are welcomed to attend and participate in those interview sessions. The Subcommittee will forward any possible potential candidates to the City Council for a vote to appoint.”