The New Year brought some job changes to borough hall. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
The Red Bank council made some administrative personnel changes last week.
At its lightning-fast regular meeting January 8, the council approved the appointment of Jaclyn Charmello as a full-time confidential executive assistant to Business Administrator Ziad Shehady.
Charmello, a new hire, replaces Doreen Hoffman, who was reassigned to the code enforcement/fire marshal’s office after two assistant positions became vacant, one as a result of retirement, Shehady told redbankgreen.
Hoffman “used to work in that office, so it was helpful to have her there to shorten the transition period of getting someone new with no knowledge of those operations,” Shehady said.
Charmello’s salary was set at $58,000 per year, according to the hiring resolution. Hoffman’s total compensation for 2019 was $60,869, Shehady said.
In the process, Hoffman’s old job was retitled from “administrative secretary.” The job description posted in August says the confidential executive assistant will be “assisting in the execution of department functions through implementation of policy and development, management, and control of plans, programs, and operations; serves as a human resources specialist and coordinates personnel programs, policies, and practices for the employees; does other related duties as required.”
The council also approved the appointment of Jennifer Diodato-Hernandez as part-time secretary to the special events committee, at $400 per meeting. The committee meets monthly.
Diodato-Hernandez, replaces Dina Anastasio in the post. Anastasio had been paid $5,000 per year for the special events duties, but had to give up the post as a result of increased work when she moved recently to the finance department from planning and zoning.
Shehady said the result is that the borough will be paying “slightly less” for the work, and if there’s no agenda requiring a meeting, no payment to be made.
At the meeting, Mayor Pasquale Menna floated an idea to have applicants for special events pay the secretary’s salary. But Councilwoman Kate Triggiano countered that non-profit organizations would be adversely impacted.
Though Menna clarified his suggestion to limit the payment requirement to for-profit events, the idea failed to take hold among council members, and Menna withdrew the suggestion.