Bluff council extends offers to two summer interns; third position deferred pending budget review

The Bluff Town Council voted to extend offers to two summer 2025 interns after reviewing three finalists.

The council approved extending 8-week internship offers to Samuel Bouchard and Josie Lott, with work capped at up to 30 hours per week. The motion to extend offers was made by an unnamed councilmember (Speaker 5) and seconded by another councilmember (Speaker 3); the presiding member recorded a voice tally reported as "4 0 1." Councilmembers 1 and 7 told the record they opposed the motion, and Speaker 2 verbally said "Aye" during the roll-call exchange. The transcript does not include a complete roll-call assigning every recorded vote to a specific member.

Council discussion before the motion focused on candidate fit, budget impact and program design. A staff summary presented three finalists: Josie (listed in the transcript as both "Josie Law" and later as "Josie Lott"), Thomas (transcribed variably as "Thomas Hayden" and "Thomas Hagen"), and Sam (Sam/Samuel Bouchard). Speaker 4, who led the interview summary, said the candidates performed well and described likely role fits: Josie for content development, one candidate for website and digital tasks, and another for technical project work.

Staff estimated several internship models and their costs: sample durations mentioned included a 12-week, 20-hours-per-week placement for Josie, an 8-week roughly 30-hours-per-week placement for Sam, and a possible up-to-12-week, 30-hours-per-week placement for Thomas. At $16 per hour, Speaker 4 gave a rough budget figure of $15,440 plus employer matching benefits for the mixed model discussed.

Several councilmembers said they preferred hiring local youth for community benefits and career experience but urged caution on the town budget and on preserving funding for existing positions such as the project manager and community center manager. A compromise proposed and approved at the meeting was to move forward with two intern offers now and revisit the third position after the council reviews the tentative budget on the 6th (as discussed during the meeting).

Speaker 4 said, "I will extend 8 week offers to Josie and Sam. Up to 30 hours." The council directed staff to make written offers consistent with those terms.

The council also discussed operational details such as start dates (one intern could begin the second week of June, others earlier), and whether internships should be capped at 30 hours per week or structured as shorter-term 8-week placements with potential extensions.

Next steps: staff will extend the offers to Josie Lott and Samuel Bouchard per the terms described and bring any decision about a third internship to the council after the tentative budget is available.