Council approves emergency appointment for interim assistant city clerk

The Leominster City Council on Jan. 29 approved an emergency preamble to allow an immediate vote to appoint Diane Reardon as interim assistant city clerk following the recent retirement of longtime assistant clerk Maribel Perez.

Council President explained that the emergency preamble is intended to permit the council to act immediately in the interest of city operations and staffing. The president said the interim appointment would be for up to three months, with salary calculations based on the former assistant clerk's hourly pay. The president noted the hire would avoid the clerk needing to spend time training a new employee because Reardon had previously served in the same office.

Acting Ways & Means Chair Brandon Robbins recommended accepting the emergency preamble and asked the committee to check with its other member; members of the committee and council moved the matter forward. Robbins told the council he had interviewed Reardon and recommended the interim hiring "so that she can start working immediately to help the clerk." The clerk's office will follow up on a job description and a formal hiring process during the interim period.

During discussion councilors asked for clarification on whether additional staff were missing from the clerk's office; councilors were told the only vacant post was the assistant clerk position. Councilor Romero asked that Reardon's resume be shared with a councilor who was not present for the meeting. The council recorded a unanimous roll-call vote to accept the emergency preamble and to approve the interim appointment.

The appointment is an interim measure; the council said it will begin a hiring process for a permanent assistant clerk and review the job description while Reardon serves, with the maximum interim length discussed as three months.