To the Village of Andover Residents,
Village superintendent John Martin resigned at Tuesday’s May
8th board meeting. I attended the board
meeting as a village resident with questions and concerns to ongoing topics
that have been neglected that date back to 2012. John Martin is a disabled veteran that was hired by the
board in October of 2017. He is one of
the best superintendents the Village of Andover has employed. John was met with resistance from the Mayor,
Deputy Mayor since he was hired. John
was hired on a salary with an hourly wage attached. Myself and a former trustee brought up a
discussion on basing John’s salary on a 45-hour week with time and a half on
anything over the 45 hours. The previous superintendent was compensated with
comp time for overtime. To save the village much needed funds John declined
family health insurance (he has VA coverage), with the understanding he could
receive a small stipend to help pay for his wife’s health insurance in the
future. He was told by the Mayor and
board to research how much it would cost.
The village currently pays approximately $19,000 per employee for a
family policy. The employee is not
responsible for any of the premium. John
found a policy for $5,000. A savings of
$14,000 to the village. This has been
brought up at several meetings only to be tabled by the mayor to be discussed
at the next meeting. The village clerk
contacted John April 23rd to ask what day he started. He did not have a job folder, there are not
any board minutes to confirm his employment.
I hope the village residents that knew John will stand up
and take notice as the village was making great strides. Equipment that was neglected for years has
been serviced and repaired. Working in
conjunction with John and a fellow board member we saved the village at least
$40,000 by John doing the work of two people, not paying health insurance, and
delaying the hiring of a laborer which saved wages and benefits.
In closing, John Martin will be missed and it will show as
our village will be back to normal, disarray. Also, if people are not aware
taxes were raised in spite of a windfall the village received due to the new
tax assessment. At the April board
meeting the board approved the purchase of a new police car. They will tell you it was needed. FACT: The present car has had many repairs,
and only need to have the computer checked which was suppose to happen months
ago. Instead it was left running 8 hours
a day without being turned off so it wouldn’t have to be jumped to restart
it. Again, neglect and let’s buy something
else.
Mike Dibble
