Carroll County Delegation OKs big raise for Seamans

OSSIPEE — A nearly 30% raise for County Executive Director Melissa Seamans was approved by the Carroll County legislative delegation at their marathon five-hour meeting last Friday.

Seamans' salary went from $103,000 to $130,000 a year.

Voting in favor were state Reps. Brian Taylor (R-Freedom), Joe Hamblen (R-Moultonborough), John MacDonald (R-Wolfeboro), Karel Crawford (R-Moultonborough), Katy Peternel (R-Wolfeboro), Tom Buco (D-Conway), Anita Burroughs (D-Bartlett), Steve Woodcock (D-Conway), Chris McAleer (D-Jackson), David Paige (D-Conway) and Lino Avellani (R-Wakefield).

Opposed were Michael Belcher (R-Wakefield), Jonathan Smith (R-Ossipee) and Richard Brown (R-Moultonborough).

Two county commissioners, chair Chuck McGee (R-Moultonborough) and Gene Chandler (R-Bartlett) attended the delegation meeting and argued for Seamans of Effingham to receive the raise. McGee said if Seamans were to quit, the county would be lucky to replace her for $140,000.

"Because of the fact that we do not technically have a county administrator or a finance director, our executive director functions in those capacities to some degree," said McGee.

"Having done an extensive survey of what people list for compensation in those positions, we feel what we recommended is appropriate, and I would respectfully ask you to approve our budget as submitted. It's not excessive," McGee told the delegation.

Chandler called Seamans "invaluable" and described her as a dedicated employee.

But some delegation members pushed back, asking about how her position has changed over the years. Smith, who is also a selectman in Ossipee, noted that she had been the delegation coordinator but stepped down from that role.

"If my town administrator walked into our selectmen's meeting and said, 'Effective this day, going forward, I am going to no longer participate in the municipal budget process, I am not going to do the paperwork or the administrative duties, etc.,' I would find that odd for my town administrator to do that without expecting a commensurate reduction in pay for relieving himself of all those duties," said Smith.

In June, Seamans, who was the delegation coordinator for 11 years, submitted a fiery resignation letter in which she told the state representatives she was sick of being disrespected by some of them.

In both the delegation coordinator role and as executive director, she earned $103,000 per year.

Prior to becoming executive director, she earned $200 per meeting as delegation coordinator, a post now held by Matt Sawyer, also of Effingham, who serves as Ossipee's town administrator.

Seamans said now has oversight of the finance department, along with other responsibilities.

"The commissioners, who are not elected to be here 365 days a year, rely on me to serve as their chief administrative officer for the county," said Seamans.

"I basically I oversee the day-to-day operations, the fiscal management and the interdepartmental collaborations and communication," she said.

McAleer said it's clear Seamans should be paid more for all she has been doing.

"She's not doing the delegation anymore, but she's doing all these other things that we don't need to hire a second or third person to do," he said. "Quite frankly, I would never do that job for $130,000. I'd be asking for a hell of a lot more, knowing what she does."

The delegation, a group of 15 local state representatives, also made decisions about the jail's solar project at the March 20 meeting.

The delegation was skeptical of a solar project that was designed to reduce the cost of power for the jail, and a majority of members refused to support it.

Earlier in the meeting, they heard from Wharton Sinkler of Sandwich about putting in a solar array at the jail. He said a 100-kilowatt array could provide about $30,000 a year in benefits to the county, and over the lifetime of the project, which is about 40 years, would generate about a million dollars for the county.

But based on the loan structure, the county would be in a deficit of $95,000 for two years, and in the 10th year, the county would see a $65,000 deficit.

"Solar projects like this, I've seen over the years, they always over-promise and under-deliver," said Smith. "And that is a fact."

A motion to recommend the project to commissioners failed 8-6. Voting against the solar project were Smith, Belcher, Brown, Hamblen, Crawford, MacDonald, Peternel and Avellani.

Voting in favor were Taylor, Buco, Woodcock, Burroughs and Paige.

The County Delegation Executive Committee is expected to finish the county budget on Wednesday. 

On April 3 at 2 p.m. the executive committee will set compensation for elected officials such as commissioners, the sheriff, county attorney and register of deeds. 

Governmentoversite.com contributed to this article.