Did you know?
The City maintains a Talent Bank.
If you have any special talents and wish to share your ability with the City, you can apply for an unpaid position.
The City website states;
We are always searching for talented individuals interested in serving on Methuen’s Boards and Commissions. Please fill out the Talent Bank Application below and return it to the Mayor’s Office, Room 306 at The Searles Building.
The application is not interactive, though I do not understand why.
The application changes with each new administration, who feel obligated to include the Mayors name. I feel the application should state the City of Methuen and that should suffice, but that would not be a good political strategy. We must brand all we touch with our name in order to allow for brand recognition at the next election.
You have to download it and fill it out and then return it to the City. They do not tell you how long applications are kept on file, but it appears to be no longer than 1-2 years. (or tenure of current elected official)
You can read about this for yourself here.
CITY OF METHUEN DIRECTORY OF SERVICES
Here is the listing; (Just recently began to be called Public Service Application)
SERVICES________DEPARTMENT _____ LOCATION _____ ROOM# _____ TELEPHONE
Public Service _____ Mayor’s Office _____ Searles Building _____ 306 _____ 978-983-8505
Application (Talent Bank)
I read in the Municipal Code of the City of Methuen;
Section 3-70. Public Advertisement for Boards and Commissions
No appointment or approval of appointment to any Board, Commission or Committee shall be made unless and until the Mayor shall have previously published a notice of vacancy for said position. Such publication shall be placed in a newspaper of general circulation within the community, notifying all citizens of their right to apply for a specific vacancy on a Board, Commission or Committee and notifying them of the closing date for their application. This shall be an unpaid advertisement. All appointments to Boards, Commissions and Committees shall be made from the list of established applicants responding to this newspaper advertisement and the Mayor is hereinafter directed on all appointments to the above Boards, Commissions and Committees to certify, at time of appointment, compliance with the provisions of this ordinance.
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(Ord. 230, Approved May 7th, 1986, Eff. June 6th, 1986)
The truth is that though an oath to uphold the Charter and Municipal Code of the City of Methuen is taken, it is not always followed. If you complain about it, they just change the code to suit their whims.
Though the Administration often knows of a vacancy coming up, it does not advertise and usually just reappoints the same individual until they either get too old to sit up in a chair or they die.
The argument I have been given is that we cannot find people to apply for these jobs.
I have some ideas on how to correct that issue also, but will save for a future article.