Whirlwind year leaves Medford administrator working OT

It’s been a whirlwind of a year for Medford’s city-clerk-turned-city-administrator, Beth Jackson.

The city is dealing with two major road projects; a three-phase apartment complex under construction; a restructuring of the municipal liquor store; the legalization of cannabis; new water meter installations; and at long last, a path forward for its aging wastewater treatment facility, thanks to a hard-fought bonding bill at the state legislature.

In the thick of it all, the former administrative director of operations took a job in another city.

Jackson was hired in June for a hybrid role combining city administrator and city clerk duties.

It came as a surprise to no one, then, when she informed members of the city council that she had unused paid time off – lots of it.

The city’s handbook allows employees to carry over 80 hours – typically two weeks – of PTO each year. The employee forfeits any time over that.

At last week’s city council meeting, Jackson asked for a one-time exception to the forfeiture rule.

“I just would like to know what Council would like me to do,” she said. “I can roll over 80. I currently have 173; 93 hours of PTO is probably not going to get used between now and the end of the year.”

That shakes out to about 2½ weeks. City hall would have to be closed during that time because Jackson is a one-woman show.

A payout of the 93 hours would be about $3,900, she said.

“We need to hire a part-time person,” said council member Chad Merritt. “I knew this was going to be a problem.”

“If I was caught up right now, it wouldn’t be a problem,” Jackson said. “I didn’t realize public works had been left in the disaster it was left in, nor did I plan for a bunch of public hearings for code changes – and all the other things we’ve accomplished in the last three months.”

“I’m not saying that,” Merritt said. “I’m just saying, you need help.”

“I disagree completely,” Jackson replied. “If I was caught up where I should be, this wouldn’t be an issue.”

Merritt is worried about burnout.

“You’ve got to take a vacation,” he said. “Money’s money; we can pay you all the overtime you want, but you are going to get burned out.”

“I absolutely love my job right now, I do. I wouldn’t trade it for anything,” Jackson said. “What I would like is for Council to give me until the first of the year. Let me get my stuff caught up to where it needs to be, so that I can focus and get everything done for the audit.”

“You’ll never get caught up,” said Mayor Danny Thomas. “Never.”

“I disagree,” Jackson replied. “I like to think that between public works and myself, we have accomplished more in the last three months than we have in the last three years. I just want to be able to take the time to hire the right person and train them the right way, and trying to do that this close to year-end is going to be more stressful than helpful to me.”

The topic was tabled, with the understanding that a part-time employee would be hired, and Jackson would attempt to use some of her PTO, then present the unused total for payout at the December meeting.