New Bedford facilities department requests staffing, faces vacancies as utilities moved to new cost center

Director Jennifer Viera told the City Council on June 5 that the Department of Facilities and Fleet Management (DFFM) is proposing a FY26 budget reduced by $1.3 million after utilities and the Ziterion were reallocated into separate cost centers. Viera said DFFM — which she described as “a multifaceted organization composed of approximately 80 committed professionals” — is proposing two new positions: an assistant project manager to serve as the city’s recycling coordinator and a second plumber, while eliminating one signal maintainer.

The assistant project manager position has been funded externally for eight years by a MassDEP grant, Viera said, and “with the grant term now expired, continued funding is necessary to retain this critical position.” She added that recycling is mandated in Massachusetts and said the coordinator oversees public workshops, educational materials and the recycling center. On the plumbing position, Viera said the department’s only licensed plumber will retire after 29 years and that relying on outside contractors is expensive: “Our current on call hourly rates exceed $160 per hour, which is more than the cost of employing 4 full time plumbers.” She said adding the plumber role results in a net cost of roughly $8,000 because the position is offset by eliminating the signal maintainer role.

Viera said 87 percent of the department’s budget is itemized, with the remaining 13 percent held for general repairs and unforeseen needs. The proposed personnel plan includes a 5 percent vacancy savings reserve. Councilors pressed for more specifics: Councilor Perera and Councilor Oliver asked whether large building repairs such as repointing City Hall should be put in the CIP rather than the operating budget. CFO Bob Ekstrom said the city’s capital policy typically capitalizes individual purchases above $20,000 and that some borderline projects are still run through the operating budget but can be moved to the CIP if necessary.

Councilors also pressed Viera on open positions and hiring challenges. Viera said DFFM currently lists about 10 vacancies and later said the department’s roster is roughly 78 positions (she cited 78 in one exchange). She identified two hard-to-fill jobs — a welder and a service writer — that require a commercial driver’s license (CDL) in their job descriptions. “The rate of pay is not enough for someone who holds a CDL license,” Viera said, and explained she is working with personnel to remove unnecessary CDL requirements from some job descriptions so the jobs can be filled.

Other budget lines drew questions: repairs and maintenance rose in the proposed budget to cover reclassified contractual services and to reflect inflation and new facilities; Viera offered to provide a vendor-level crosswalk to explain a roughly $659,000 equipment rental line and to break out a near-doubling in repairs and maintenance. Councilors also asked for a list of equipment vendors and documentation tying specific vendor line items to the aggregated totals.

Viera urged the council to consider the effect of cuts on front-line services, saying “there is no excess to cut, only core operations and critical personnel,” and flagged functions that would be affected by reductions, including cleanup of illegally dumped bulk items, abandoned property disposal and vehicle-accident response.

Ending: Viera closed by asking for thoughtful consideration of DFFM’s budget and offered to provide the detailed crosswalks and vacancy splits councilors requested. The council then moved to consider separate utilities, waste and theater cost centers.