Tim Ryan, tryan@wolfrivermedia.com
The city of Shawano is still looking for a few good men, or women, or, well, anybody who wants a job.
There apparently have been no applicants for the finance director position that the city began advertising several months ago. few people seem interested in being a zoning code enforcement officer in the building inspection department, judging at least by the lack of applicants.
“We’ve been surprised,” City Administrator Brian Knapp said. “These are usually well-sought-after jobs.”
Knapp offered a few possible explanations, including the fact that people qualified to be finance director are already employed and settled in where they are.
“It takes a lot to uproot your children and family and move them,” he said.
It’s also possible, he said, that the public sector is facing increased workforce competition from a rebounding private sector economy.
“I’m not sure if it’s because the rest of the commercial economy is so much stronger,” he said.
Park and Recreation Director Matt Hendricks said filling summer jobs was also becoming more difficult.
“It’s been a challenge even finding the summer kids,” he said. “I guess there are more options out there.”
Park and Rec did recently manage to fill one post it has been advertising: a limited-term maintenance position at $13.50 per hour.
The Common Council in February approved advertising for a newly created finance director post to be shared by Shawano Municipal Utilities and City Hall.
The post was described by city officials then as a supporting role, primarily assigned to SMU but also assisting in city finances.
Knapp, who splits his time between being city administrator and SMU’s general manager, said it was always envisioned that an additional finance post would be needed to offset some of the financial responsibilities being handled by his office and the city clerk/treasurer.
City finance is handled by one accountant, with assistance from other city staff, but there is no backup for that post and no financial manager.
The zoning code enforcement position, meanwhile, replaces what had been one of two community service officer positions at the Police Department.
That person will be out and about in the city looking for zoning code violations, including long grass and weeds that haven’t been addressed by property owners, debris or junk vehicles in yards, and other code violations.
Such things used to be acted upon when a complaint came in; this marks a more aggressive policy of looking for violations.
Knapp said it is the result of concerns that council members have heard from residents about code violations.
“They’d like to have their neighborhoods not look like a garbage heap,” he said.
The city had also been advertising for someone to operate the scale at the landfill. That position has been filled.