PORTSMOUTH
The city's economic development director was reassigned Thursday to a new position that will oversee federal stimulus funds.
Steven Lynch will become director of economic recovery, City Manager Kenneth Chandler announced. Portsmouth's manager of business development, Mallory Kahler, will serve as the interim economic development director.
Councilman Steve Heretick said Chandler has wanted to revamp economic development and create a position to capitalize on the stimulus money. Now, several department heads are working on stimulus funds, and there's little coordination, Heretick said. Lynch's background as a banker and investment banker make him the most qualified person for the position, he said.
Lynch became economic development director in 2003.
Vice Mayor Bill Moody Jr. said he didn't think the city needed the new position. The city already receives about $8 million in federal money, and a finance department that already manages a city budget of more than half a billion dollars could also manage the stimulus money, Moody said.
Heretick credited Lynch with his work on bringing Florida-based developer The Sembler Co. to redevelop the former I.C. Norcom High School site and Lincoln Property Co. to the former Holiday Inn site.
Lynch will continue to make $112,497, according to city spokeswoman Dana Woodson.
Jen McCaffery, (757) 446-2627, jen.mccaffery@pilotonline.com
Delicious
Digg
Reddit
Facebook
Google
Yahoo
money
Creators can potentially earn more than competitors. Try never to think of there as being a shortage of money, only a shortage of people willing to use their minds to create a form of income.
THIS WILL BE FIRST
Tell me it is not so, We have "coordination" in the Portsmouth City Government, that will be a first. Create a position to handout Obama's welfare checks and give it to a bureaucrat and pay him a nice healhty salary. Sounds like the "Good Old Buddy" system to me. Vice Mayor Bill Moody Jr. has the right idea, follow his advice.
Unbelievable!!!
Here we go with another position created in the city government to waste money. What we have in Portsmouth government is wide-spread buffoonery on the loose. Why not ask the citizens to suggest projects to spend the money on instead of paying a bureaucrat to line the pockets of the Portsmouth Partnership. Remember Chandler was a member who resigned when he got the present job. It will be interesting to see who gets the money.
couple of points here
if i'm not mistaken, they say he will keep his same salary of 112k and change. so any new money will come in hiring a new economic development director. quite frankly, there isn't much economic development going on. i would think both duties could be handled by the current director w.out a new position. perhaps give him some added clerical or support person to balance the needs........or an underling. cause stimulus money is short term. will he be out of a job in 2010 when it runs dry, unless d.c. keeps it pumping out.
as for hiring though, they have a right to fill the position internally. there is no law that requires them to list the job to the public. often that is done, so that is legit, legal, and can't be challenged
How about hiring a retired
How about hiring a retired school teacher for the job? Classroom teachers know how to do more with less better than anyone.
another new job
Is the new position one of OBAMA'S stimulous new created jobs.
Summer job?
How about my nephew he is in his sophmore year at tallwood.
New Position
How can you find the money for a new position? What kind of salary will this new position be getting? Don't you think that the City of Portsmouth has enough qualified staff to handle the stimulus package and let Mr. Lynch stay in his current position. You are going to keep on with this type of thing and once again the general wage employees will have to pay for your mistakes. Think about what you are doing before you mess up once again.
newly created position in Portsmouth
I agree with Kodak Ken. Why wasn't this "newly created position" advertised to the general public? After all, isn't the city of Portsmouth using tax dollars to pay the salary and benefits for this new position? At the very least, the city should have given the "appearance" this newly created position was filled "by the book." Human Resources could have posted it, wasted time interviewing for it, THEN filled it with the city manager's own hand-picked minion. I'm surprised the city didn't use a little common sense (i.e. CYA) in this case.
time out!
"moving to a newly created position overseeing federal stimulus funds for the city." Why is a new position being created for a one time stimulus program? What is the salary? Why wasn't the position advertised? Portsmouth City Hall has a long history of "creating" high paying positions for a chosen few while giving the rank and file workers crumbs and scraps. Demand answers Portsmouth citizens!