Pittsfield Councilor Files Petition To Restrict Mayoral Employment
 Councilor at Large Barry Clairmont has filed a petition to ensure a mayor is available while City Hall is open. |
Councilor at Large Barry Clairmont has filed a petition that will bar the mayor from working for another employer while City Hall is open.
"I'm not going to say the mayor can't work another job, just that they can't work it during City Hall hours," Clairmont said on Thursday.
"If someone wants to go work at night, that's fine, as long as it doesn't affect the running of the city."
The discussion first began during the City Council's debate over pay raises for the mayoral position.
Clairmont suggested a clause that would completely prevent the mayor from working another job.
However, after about a month, Clairmont backed off from the complete ban. He says as long as the outside work isn't interfering with the administrative duties of running city, he doesn't have a problem with it.
However, a mayor should be available and running the city during businesses hours and right now, there is nothing to ensure that, he said. With a four-year mayor to be elected in the next cycle, Clairmont thought it was important to place some expectations on the job.
"There should be some expectations and parameters to the job," Clairmont said. "The same rules that apply to the other municipal employees should apply to the mayor."
Being an elected official, the mayor doesn't have to answer to the City Council on such a matter so that is why the petition calls for a change in the charter.
One argument is that the charter intentionally left off any restrictions to help encourage business and other leaders to run for office.
"The way I wrote this, I don't think it would prevent someone with outside employment from running," Clairmont said.
Triggering the conversation wasn't just the lack of parameters to the position. Current Mayor Daniel Bianchi has been highly criticized by Clairmont and others for working a second job.
"I don't believe the public is being short changed," Bianchi said in a recent interview.
The mayor says he reviews contracts "from time to time" for Global Montello. But, he is available 24/7 as mayor and works more than 50 hours each week, he said.
Bianchi said nobody counts the number of hours the mayor volunteers with community or church groups and characterized the debate as more of a political one.
"Many mayors are engaged in many things. Talking to other mayors, they own businesses on the side," Bianchi said.
"But you have to remember, we work in an atmosphere that is politically charged. As soon as I became mayor there were a few city councilors working furiously so that I wouldn't be re-elected."
He called the first debate "bad politics" and "vicious." Clairmont says it isn't a political maneuver.
"It's not personal. I think it is sad that the mayor seems to think this is personal because it is not," Clairmont said.
Bianchi that many municipal employees — from cops to firefighters to teachers — have outside employment.
"We live at a point in time when you can't dictate that to people. A lot of our municipal employees work other jobs," Bianchi said.
Clairmont agrees — citing a mayor who ran a restaurant. But, those employees are required to be available during their working hours, he said.
The petition will go before the City Council next week. Likely, the petition will be passed onto a subcommittee for further review.
Tags: city charter, mayor, second jobs,
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