Gov. Peter Shumlin and Deb Markowitz, secretary of the Agency of Natural Resources.
That move would take effect in December, when the workers from Barre would shift to offices at the National Life building in Montpelier, saving about $25,000, Alyssa Schuren, deputy commissioner of the DEC, said Friday.
Agency of Natural Resources Secretary Deb Markowitz on Friday said the Barre office is not being closed.
“The DEC staff who are moving to vacant space at National Life are only eight people out of 30 who work in the Barre office,” she said. “We thought this made sense since it is a waste of money to pay for space in Barre when we have extra room at our offices, only 10 miles away, at National Life.
“Overall, ANR was responsible for finding over a million dollars in savings to meet our budgetary goals,” said Markowitz. “My leadership team worked hard to meet these reduction goals while avoiding, in large part, staff cuts. Not an easy task!” she said in an email.
Concern over the transfer of the employees this week saw the Vermont State Employees Association (VSEA) call a meeting with Sen. Anthony Pollina, P/D-Washington.
Pollina wrote to David Mears, commissioner of DEC, expressing concern about how the move would impact “…State employees and their families, services available to people from surrounding communities and the Barre economy.”
“I understand this decision will likely be justified as the result of legislated budget cuts,” Pollina said in his letter to Mears. “I remind you that the Vermont State Employees Association offered several ideas to raise revenue to avoid cutting services and I am sure they are willing to explore savings to avoid any dislocation of Barre workers and services.”
The DEC received the letter Friday and would issue a response to Pollina on Monday, Schuren said.
VSEA spokesman Doug Gibson said Pollina’s letter represents the workers’ concerns expressed at Tuesday’s meeting.
“Anthony showed up as a senator representing the area and the workers,” said Gibson. “We’re very appreciative of him stepping up and showing support for these workers.”
The workers are trying to set a meeting with Mears and Markowitz, Gibson said.
According to information from the VSEA, DEC employees received an internal email from Mears about the plan to meet the budget cuts June 19.
Pollina on Friday said he hopes the decision can be revisited.
“First of all these are people, they’re not pawns, and they deserve to have a conversation before they are asked to move somewhere,” he said.
Pollina said there has been a lot of talk about putting (more) state offices in Barre, and this move is quietly taking state workers out of Barre instead.
“The concern is that’s going to lead to the closing of that office completely,” Pollina said. “I have nothing against Montpelier, but these are dollars that would have been spent in Barre, and that won’t be the case anymore.”
Cuts force other transfers
In addition to the Barre reassignments, another nine people will also be moved to other DEC positions, Schuren said.
She said the plan called for 10 jobs to be transferred across the state initially, but one job that was open will not be filled.
Those reassignments were referenced in the email from Mears as necessary due to the budget cuts.
“To meet this obligation, I am reorganizing the Regional Office Program of the Drinking Water and Groundwater Protection Division by reassigning the duties of ten people in that program. Over the coming months, they will be transferred into a different program or division and, in some cases, to a different location,” the email said.
Schuren said the $722,000 in cuts must come from programs funded through the state’s general fund.
The program from which those workers will be transferred is heavily funded by money from the general fund, said Schuren.
Of the DEC’s about $50 million budget, $9 million comes from the general fund, where the cuts must be made.
“The commissioner and I are deeply committed to making sure people have jobs within the department,” Schuren said. “We made sure that each one of those folks still had a job within the department. These are not personnel cuts, they are transfers to other positions.”
The workers will not lose any pay or benefits from the transfer, she said.
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