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January 16, 2010
A Denton Publication
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Who has better deals supermarkets or supercenters?
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The days of taking a free walk in the park may be numbered.
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Workers needed to undertake census By Matt Bosley matt@denpubs.com
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North Country National Guardsmen helping give bobsledders a brake By Jeremiah S. Papineau
GLENS FALLS — Unemployment rates remain high across the North Country and the nation as a whole, but a valuable government program may provide some temporary opportunities for those in need of a job. The 2010 United States Census is currently undertaking a nationwide recruiting effort for people to help with collecting population statistics. Mary Miller is assistant manager for recruiting at the local census office in Glens Falls, which is in charge of census-taking efforts in ClinLocal sites for Census ton, Essex, field employee tests Hamilton, (Call 1-866-861-2010 for Warren, specific dates and times) Washington, Lake Placid Public Library and Fulton Jay Community Center counties. Olympic Center “We are ofHall of Fame Room fering $13 an hour plus mileage,” said Miller, “and in these hard economic times, that is good money.” And that’s just where it starts, said George Demas, local census office manager in Glens Falls. There are positions available along a series of higher levels, each offering a higher rate of pay. Altogether, said Demas, the 2010 census will need to hire about 1,200 census-takers, also called enumerators, to seek out homes needed for the agency’s population count. “In order to work for the census, you have to take a test,” said Demas. The field test, which consists of 28 multiple choice questions dealing with basic language and math skills, will qualify prospective workers for the vast majority of available positions. A separate supervisors’ test is also available to qualify for some of the managerial positions. However, Demas encouraged all supervisor applicants to take the field test as well, since the Census office often looks to hire managers from in-house. There is no need to pre-register for any of the tests, said Demas, and there’s no need for applicants to worry if they don’t perform well. “They can take the test again,” said Demas; “they can take it as many times as they want and the highest score counts.” Applicants who take either of the tests are added to a database that acts as a hiring pool for local census offices. Demas said hiring people from within the communities they canvas is a high priority. “We need local people to do that,” said Demas. “They’re more effective at that than the people who are not from that area because they know the streets and they know the neighborhood.” Another important skill is foreign language, he said, since some of the homes census-takers visit may not be English-speaking. “Bilingual applicants are highly sought after,” he said. ‘We would go out of our way to hire a bilingual enumerator for that area.” Most census workers put in between 20 and 40 hours per week with very flexible schedules, said Demas, many choosing to work evenings and weekends when the houses they visit are more likely to be occupied. “They don’t go to every house,” said Demas. “They go to the houses that didn’t respond to the mail campaign.”
See CENSUS, page 9
jeremiah@denpubs.com LAKE PLACID — When the men and women of the New York Army National Guard are in the field, they’ll stop at nothing until their mission is complete. However, when they’re on the bobsled track, their mission isn’t complete unless they’ve stopped everything. For the fourth year in a row, members of the New York Army National Guard served as brakemen and crew members for the 5th Annual Geoff Bodine Bobsled Challenge at the Mt. Van Hoevenberg Olympic Center. The challenge, which took place Jan. 9 and 10, annually assigns National Guardsmen to help stop high-speed sleds coming down the three-quarter-mile track operated by NASCAR and National Hot Rod Association drag race drivers. The National Guard has participated in the bobsled challenge since 2007, when NASCAR driver and event
Twenty members of the New York Army National Guard served as brakemen for NASCAR and drag race drivers from the National Hot Rod Association last weekend at the Mt. Van Hoevenberg Olympic Center in Lake Placid during the 5th Annual Geoff Bodine Bobsled Challenge. Some of the soldiers from Company B, 2nd Battalion, 108th Infantry, headquartered in Morrisonville, included, from left, Spc. John Pagan, Sgt. Michael Benjamin, Pfc. David Mitchell, Pvt. Steven Spence, Pvt. Joshua Euber and Spc. Andrew Konstantinidis. Photo by Jeremiah S. Papineau
See SLEDS, page 9
Citizens ask for disclosure in Essex Co. government hiring By Jon Alexander denpubs@denpubs.com ELIZABETHTOWN — Inquiring minds want to know whether a last name helps or hinders a person’s chance of getting a job in Essex County government. Following intense scrutiny from a handful of residents, Essex County supervisors are considering the creation of an ethics committee, and they may begin requiring more disclosure of personal and family relationships between county leadership and candidates for county employment. Over the last few months, the hiring of several close relatives of County Manager Dan Palmer and his wife, Board of Supervisors Clerk Deborah Doyle-Palmer, have some residents wondering if nepotism is running rampant in Essex County. But county supervisors and department heads refuted the rumors and allegations of unfair hiring practices, calling the claims unfounded. At an organizational meeting of the county Board of Supervisors Jan. 4, Essex resident Sandy Lewis addressed the group and urged greater disclosure of the county's hiring process, particularly when family members of current employees are involved. Essex County Board of Supervisors Chairman Randy Douglas said he doesn’t believe any bias now taints hiring decisions, but said it may be time to list the many close relationships among county leadership and staff.
“At this point we will do some study of it, but I don’t think it is running wild like everybody thinks it is,” Douglas said. Before taking the helm of the county, Douglas had chaired the Personnel Committee for five years. He noted that it may be time for the formation of a county Board of Supervisors ethics committee, which could oversee potential conflicts of interest and
“A lot of these jobs have
those restrictions, but you can’t say that the person who scored the highest doesn’t deserve the job regardless if their brother or father works for the county or not.”
— Joyce Morency St. Armand Supervisor
provide greater protection to the taxpayer. Supervisors typically only oversee the hiring of department heads, who in turn hire staff as long as the position already exists. County officials said department heads sometimes consult with the county manager and the personnel office before making a final decision. At least four members of the DoylePalmer family have been hired into various county departments. Most recently, Deborah Palmer ’s sister-in-
law, Patti Doyle, was hired by newly-elected District Attorney Kristy Sprague, and Deborah Palmer's brother, Patrick Doyle, was hired as a Department of Public Works mechanic only a few months prior. Patti Doyle’s daughter-in-law, Erica Fuller Doyle was hired in the Personnel Department and Palmer ’s sister-in-law, Shona, was hired to replace Patti Doyle as Deputy Republican Commissioner at the County Board of Elections. Deborah Palmer ’s daughter, Brianne Weber, is employed in the County Clerk’s office under Joe Provancha, who is Dan Palmer ’s cousin. When all the salaries are included, the Doyle-Palmer family grosses more than $250,000 a year of taxpayer money. But according to St. Armand Supervisor Joyce Morency, the lion’s share of this amount falls under the salaries of the county manager and the clerk of the board, both of whom have earned it, she said. Deborah Palmer earns more than $63,000 annually with a longevity stipend of $1,680 while Dan Palmer draws a salary of about $95,000 as county manager plus another $18,000 for his position as Information Systems director. Morency noted that many county jobs require a civil service exam, and that the test scores can’t be affected by favoritism. “A lot of these jobs have those restrictions, but you can’t say that the person who scored the highest doesn’t deserve the job
See COUNTY, page 9