Council Rejects Town Clerk's Request to Hire Deputy -- Again

The Portsmouth Town Council voted 4-3 this week to once again reject a request from Town Clerk Janet Mower to hire a deputy town clerk.

Mower, who fired former Deputy Town Clerk Patricia Cofield in January, has recommended the hiring of Katherine Inch, who has worked as a temp in the Town Clerk’s office for more than two-and-a-half years and has been a loyal and helpful member of the office, according to a memo to Town Council members.

But the majority of the Town Council shot down the request at Monday night’s Town Council meeting. They said they wanted to wait until the completion of a forensic audit of the operations of the clerk’s office in an effort to resolve any issues that might have led to the friction that led to Cofield’s firing.

“I don’t understand why a deputy clerk as opposed to a class B or class C clerk at a lower cost might not be in the town’s interest,” said Councilman James Seveney.

Seveney said that Mower should continue to use temp workers to fill in gaps until the review of the office operations are completed.

But Mower, whose job is an elected office in Portsmouth, said that she feels like the council has been stalling ever since the council first mentioned a desire to have the audit more than seven weeks ago. She said she was surprised that the matter had not appeared on Monday night’s agenda. Meanwhile she said she’s having a “major problem with staffing” and could lose a temp in the short term. The office is entering a busy time of year, at least 700 dogs will need to be registered in the next two weeks and she is dismayed by the lack of support.

“We need to get going with my office and the staff,” Mower said. “I’m asking again, very politley. Please, may I please have Ms. Inch approbated.”

Seveney said he appreciated Mower’s concerns about the short term, but in the long term, the town needs a broader perspective on the office’s operations.

Finance Director James Lathrop told the council that two companies replied to the town’s request for proposals and a meeting was planned for Wednesday to have discussions. He said the town is “pretty close to moving foward.”

The council stopped short of voting to approve the advertising of a permanent class C position to join the Town Clerk’s office following Town Solicitor Kevin Gavin’s advice that such a specific action would need to be posted on an agenda ahead of time.

Town Council President Keith Hamilton said he would like to see the class C position advertised as soon as possible.

Councilman David Gleason said that he voted to hire a deputy clerk last time and would vote again. He said losing Ms. Inch would be a big loss to the town of Portsmouth.

Council members became aware of Cofield’s firing the night of their Feb. 9 Town Council meeting when they saw that the deputy town clerk seat was empty.

Though the deputy clerk is a position that can be appointed by the town clerk, Seveney said, council members were caught off guard.

In his request to have the operational audit item placed on the council agenda, Seveney wrote that a desire for the audit reflects a “need to analyze and perhaps modify our human resources/personnel regulations and processes, assess staffing needs, and explore opportunities for consolidation and/or organizational restructuring to improve employee relations, provide better service for our citizens, and create business efficiencies in Town Hall administrative functions.”

Meanwhile Cofield has filed a lawsuit against the town. She seeks damages and her job back.