Lawrence is understaffed, trustees say

With key positions such as deputy administrator and bookkeeping staff jobs not being filled, Lawrence village trustees are concerned that important work is not getting done and the municipality is not operating properly.

“The village administration is dysfunctional,” said Trustee Edward I. Klar. “There is a lack of timely information — sometimes a lack of any information. There has been a tremendous need for over a year to hire a deputy administrator and other senior staff, as well as office and bookkeeping personnel.”

At their March 1 meeting, trustees repeated their complaints about not having enough time to prepare for village board meetings, saying that they did not receive their information packets until the day before the meeting. Given their lack of preparation, they said, they couldn’t make decisions on contracts or approve invoices.

“The packet arrived only last night, and I don’t believe that 24 hours or less is enough time to prepare for a meeting,” said Trustee Michael Fragin. “Not enough time to ask questions, not enough time to get answers.”

With all that must be done to run a village, Trustee C. Simon Felder said, he thinks the current village staff should be augmented with a strong deputy administrator. “Our administrator, as hard as he’s working, needs a deputy administrator,” Felder said referring to Village Administrator David Smollett.

Deputy Mayor Joel Mael agreed with Felder about the need to add personnel. “We have sent you resumes and there has been no response,” Mael told Mayor Martin Oliner at last week’s meeting.

Oliner said that he shares the board’s frustration with not having enough employees and is reviewing where personnel should be added to best serve the village. “We’re looking at all the spots where the village could be supplemented,” said Oliner, adding that he is reviewing the state’s Civil Service list.

The village has 43 full-time employees and nine part-timers. In the past few months, it has hired Abe Farber, as deputy treasurer, and Danielle Schochet, as a secretary to the Board of Trustees. Both attend village board meetings.

Addressing the issue of manpower, Farber said that preparing invoices “is a painstaking process to ensure accuracy,” and described the current accounts payable program as “unwieldy.”

While acknowledging that the lack of personnel could be the primary reason less work gets done, Farber said that conflicts between board members are another reason. “There is an air of confrontation,” he said. “If we could work in friendly conditions, that would be a civil way to get things done.”

A deputy administrator will not be hired in the near future, Smollett said. However, to ease the burden on the overworked staff, he is looking for a senior bookkeeper to handle a variety of functions, including accounts payable, general ledger and payroll. “I’m trying to find a qualified person,” Smollett said.

There is also a possibility that the eight employees of the Lawrence Yacht and Country Club who were laid off by the village in December could be rehired. The full-time workers were let go to save the village approximately $100,000 in salaries and benefits during the three-month winter season.

“We do have to get operations there back up and running, but there has been no decision by the board to return anyone at this point,” said Smollett, who added that a decision should be made within the next week. “The question is, how we can best provide the most efficient way of maintaining the golf course?”