WATERVILLE — Former Waterville City Clerk Patti Dubois was in her new job as Augusta’s city clerk about a week when Waterville City Manager Michael Roy announced Monday she will return to her former position in Waterville at the end of June.
Roy made the surprising announcement late Monday afternoon in an email to city employees, city councilors and Mayor Nick Isgro.
Roy also announced Matt Skehan, director of the Waterville Parks & Recreation Department, will become director of the Waterville Public Works Department when Mark Turner retires from the position July 2.
“I am very pleased to announce two personnel decisions that will both take effect in early July,” Roy wrote in the email. “First, Patti Dubois has decided to return to work for the city of Waterville. Patti was and will now again be a critical part of our management team. She is dedicated, loyal and recognized as a leader in her field on a statewide basis. We are all happy she will be back.”
Of Skehan’s changing role with the city, Roy said: “Although those will be big shoes to fill, Matt has been with the city for 13 years, and is very familiar with the working of the Public Works Department. He will continue his role as recreation director, with Bobbie-Jo Green stepping up to provide additional help with recreation planning and programs.”
Green serves as Waterville’s human resources director and has been recreation coordinator for several years.
“After 14 years, Mark’s last day will be July 2, and it will be sad to see us lose such a conscientious city employee,” Roy said. “As a supervisor, I can tell you that I never had to worry about where Mark was or what he was doing. He was on the scene and always looking to be part of the solution and not the problem. I will miss him, and I know the city as a whole will miss him, too. Good luck, Mark, and I hope you will take time to hop on your motorcycle and go for a nice long ride.”
Neither Dubois nor Augusta City Manager William Bridgeo returned telephone calls Monday seeking comment.
Roy said Dubois plans to remain in the city clerk’s position in Augusta to complete her two-week notice before returning June 29 to Waterville City Hall.
Asked why Dubois had decided to return to her former position in Waterville, Roy said he thought the Augusta job was not the right fit for her.
“I think that the management structure was just very different in Augusta — not better, not worse, but different,” Roy said, “Patti was used to the management structure here in terms of her position on a management level.”
When Dubois was chosen for the Augusta position, Bridgeo said she would start at the top of the city’s pay scale for city clerk, treasurer and tax collector — $94,000 a year. In Waterville, she was paid $78,000 a year, which was slated to increase to $82,000 on July 1. Roy said Monday she will receive that same pay, including the July 1 increase.
Augusta had been without a city clerk since earlier this year, when Barbara Geaghan left after a few months on the job. Bridgeo said recently he could not discuss why she left the post.
Dubois was city clerk in Waterville from 2001 to 2004, then left for the city clerk’s job in Bangor, which she held from 2004 to 2011, before returning to Waterville in 2011.
Turner’s salary is $84,000 a year, and Skehan’s salary as director of Public Works has yet to be determined, according to Roy.
Roy said Skehan now earns $73,000 a year as director of Parks & Recreation.
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