Jennifer Perry Middleton/Jefferson Jimplecute
The Jefferson City Council voted Tuesday to create a new position of an administrative assistant to City Secretary Melissa Boyd. The position, which will be posted immediately, will assist Boyd in all her duties, including those involving human resources.
“We have the need in the office to assist the city staff. This basically makes a city secretary junior, as far as I am concerned, and allows this person to do a lot of the things Melissa is doing now, assisting in that so Melissa can direct her efforts elsewhere,” Mayor Rob Baker said.
Boyd said that there were many things she would like to be doing in her job, but that there was just too much assigned to her position and that creating a new one to assist her would help streamline many processes for the city.
Alderman Richard Turner opposed the hiring, stating that creating the position didn’t align with the city’s personnel organization system, which is still being determined.
“We have talked about several different positions so far,” he said. “Based on that, I don’t feel that we should hire any new permanent staff until we come up with a proper organizational and how this organization is going to be built. My feeling is rather than hiring someone permanent that we hire a temporary person to do the help in the office until we get those figured out in how we’re going to structure our entire organization and not just one section of that organization.
Alderwoman April Taylor Johnson said she didn’t think the city should “kick the can down the road” any more on hiring someone and that they didn’t need to hire anyone part-time because they would end up working more hours.
“Possibly title it Administrative Assistant, because that falls under so many categories,” she said. “I make the motion to hire someone immediately. Don’t wait because if we keep waiting, it’s just going to be like this other stuff. It’s going to be months and months and months before there is a resolution and we don’t want to lose the good person that we have because we keep piling all of this stuff on top of her shoulders…if we don’t hire anybody, we are going to lose the good person that we have.”
The position was approved with an annual salary of $32,000 to $36,000, depending on experience.
Council also removed Boyd’s probationary status following a review by current and former Council members.
In other business, Council voted Jim Finstrom to serve as mayor pro tem, and JEDCO appointments as follows:
• Alderman Shadden—Reappoint Doug Thompson
• Alderman Thomas—Reappoint Mack Jordan
• Alderman Taylor-Johnson—Portia Johnson
• Mayor Baker—Reappoint Raymond Sanders
Tourism Board appointments are as follows:
• Alderman Shadden—Continuation for B.W. Brooks
• Alderman Thomas—Continuation for Colleen Taylor
• Alderman Taylor-Johnson—New appointment of Missy Baldwin
• Mayor Baker—Continuation of Anna Bode
Jefferson Chief of Police Florentino Perez also gave a mid-year report to Council, and stated that last year there were 685 traffic stops as compared to 491 this year and 29 arrests last year, as compared to 28 this year. He said this was due to their having a full six-officer staff until October, and that the department had not been fully staffed until recently.
One thing he said he was particularly proud of was the 10,500 security checks the officers had performed this year, as compared to 3,792 last year.
“It is important that we were seen out there while we were short handed so individuals wouldn’t take advantage of the fact that we were lacking in force,” Perez said. “We did not pick up any additional heavy crime as far as being short handed.”
Other city entities also gave mid-year presentations, including JEDCO, Tourism, Friends of Jefferson Animals and the Linebarger Law Firm, which works with the Marion County Tax Office.
Bubba Haggard gave the details on JEDCO’s finances, and stated that from January through May, the balance was $1,129,853.25 and that as of May 31, the balance was $1,413,132.33. He added that $1,000,000 was put into an investment account at Vera Bank and that $500,000 is being transferred to TexPool as soon as the paperwork goes through.
Colleen Taylor gave a report on Jefferson Tourism, and said that the HOT tax has steadily increased, and that the city currently has 47 lodging establishments, with two to three set to open in the next few months. New promotional materials have been printed and placed around the city, and several commercials have been created in Shreveport, Oklahoma and the Houston areas to bring in more tourists. She added that they had contacted the Longview Lighting Company about the damaged electrical box on the bridge, and that hopefully it would be in place by July 4. Taylor added that a security camera had been placed at the location to thwart any additional vandalism to the equipment.
New 3’x5’ maps will be placed around the city, as well, she said, for tourists to locate all the available attractions.
“We’ve worked hard to get information out there about our quaint city to stay, shop, eat and enjoy everything we have to offer” Taylor told the Council.
Sharon Goolsby gave the mid-year update on Friends of Jefferson Animals, and said that they appreciate the $3,250 they receive each quarter from the city, and the majority of their funding comes from individual donations. She added that FOJA joined with Paws 4 Life in Bossier City in October 2020, and has transported 11 animals through March 31, 2022. They estimate that since joining with Paws 4 Life, 400 puppies have been transported through the organization, which has a strict medical and spay/neuter policy. Cost is between $70 and $120 per animal, and the organization does not take larger breed dogs.
Goolsby also reported that they had received $5,000 from Rachel Ray’s foundation, and that spay/neuter vouchers had been distributed and a free vaccine clinic is pending an indoor location being identified.
Stacey Killingsworth with Linbarger Law Firm also gave an update on tax sales in Marion County. The city, county and school tax collections are consolidated through the firm, she said, with all property bills considered late by February 1, and officially delinquent on July 1. She also told the council that their fees are paid through a statutory add on fee paid by the delinquent taxpayer and that the county, city and school district receives their full amounts owed.
Mailings are their main source of revenue, she told Council, and are performed in September, February, May and July. Sales, in a regular year, are held on the first Tuesday of the month in March, July, September and December on the steps of the Marion County Courthouse. This year, since the July 4 holiday is on a Monday, she said that sale will be held in August. An additional sale was also held in April of this year, she added.
Council also approved minutes of the May 3 special meeting, the May 17 regular meeting, monthly financial reports, a resolution for individuals to sign checks on behalf of the city, a resolution amending the authorized representatives for the TexPool Account, the Jefferson Salutes America event application for July 4, the Charter Gulf Coast application for a building permit at Elizabeth and North Walcott, and the Will and Lucy Thomas application for a building permit at 150 Gray Street.
In other action, members also approved a .72% contribution rate to the city’s Texas Municipal Retirement System. Baker said that it was lower than recommended by the state, but that it had been overfunded in the past, and this rate “will balance that.”