City human services staff told the council they will repurpose the departing citizen center director’s salary to expand summer supervision, increase Spanish‑language coverage at Plug Pond, and add maintenance and recreation staff across parks and facilities.

Vinny (Human Services) explained the plan: the city will use the director’s vacated salary to add citizen center directors, labor supervisors, a site director for Plug Pond and certified security guards with Spanish language ability. “We found a lot of non‑English‑speaking patrons at the park last year — that made it difficult,” Vinny said; adding bilingual security and adult site directors is intended to reduce confusion and improve safety and customer service.

Ben, recreation director, told the council that summer staffing interviews show a larger, more diverse lifeguard and seasonal staff pool than in recent years and that the department expects to begin July operations with sufficient lifeguards and adult supervision. Ben also said the department will add skilled laborers to improve maintenance of city ballfields, playgrounds and satellite parks.

Mary, public health director, said human services and the citizen center remain an access point for social outreach, public health clinics and MassHealth enrollment support; the council heard that Mary’s team now includes a replacement social outreach worker who began last week and is pursuing MassHealth certification to assist residents in‑house.

The council asked where Plug Pond program expenses appear in the budget; staff pointed to the citizen center reorg pages and to a recreation line item in the budget book that uses some revolving fund revenue for seasonal program costs. Councilors also asked about coordination between the citizen center, recreation and public health for summer coverage; staff said they coordinated scheduling, lifeguard training, and shared outreach to bilingual patrons.

Nut graf: The reorganization is budget neutral, repurposing an existing salary line and some revolving‑fund receipts to shore up summer supervision, language access, and field maintenance across parks; the council approved the human services budget during the meeting.

Ending: Councilors thanked Vinny, Ben and Mary for the plan; the council approved the human services budget by roll call (motion by Councilor LePage, second by Councilor Tuohy).