Burnet Appointed as Assistant Business Administator

It took an extra meeting, but Jim Burnet was appointed to the newly created position of assistant business administrator by the Borough Council on Monday night at Bayley-Ellard.

The position was officially created at the council's last meeting on Aug. 23, while the resolution to appoint Burnet was removed and delayed. Also removed at that meeting was the introduction of an ordinance to abolish Burnet's current position of Main Street Executive Director. That will appear on the Sept. 27 agenda.

Burnet was appointed by a vote of 5-1, as Sam Cerciello asked that the resolution be held out of the consent agenda and also voted no. Cerciello reiterated what he has said at a number of meetings, which is he doesn't think the timing is right to create the position while borough workers are taking wage freezes.

"I love Jim Burnet, I think he's doing a fantastic job, but I think the timing is bad to come up with this position," Cerciello said.

Cerciello was also the lone vote against the creation of the position at the last meeting.

At that meeting, the only person to speak up about the position was Lisa Ellis, who works closely with Burnet as a member of the Downtown Development Commission.

"Jim Burnet is one of the best things that has ever happened to Madison," Ellis, who is also the Board of Education president, said at that meeting. "Since Day 1, he has used his intelligence, passion and seemingly endless skill set to help transform the way Madison does business."

Two meetings ago on Aug. 9, two Madison Borough employees raised questions about the creation of the position when it was introduced.

"I was told we weren't allowed to promote or have positions filled," Vito Luppino, an employee in the sewer department, said at that meeting. "We didn't take an increase because we were helping out the town, and no one else has taken an increase so far. If he [assistant borough administrator] is going to do all the work on the eight pages on there, and have to do that in absence of the administrator, it seems the person is in the same position."

Jim Finelli was the other borough employee who asked questions, though they seemed to be more about clarifying where the money was coming from for the position, and what positions were being consolidated.

On Monday, Finelli and Ellis were in attendance again, as well as other borough employees and many Downtown Development Commission and Chamber of Commerce members. None of them, however, came to the podium. Clerk Elizabeth Osborne did say earlier in the meeting that the borough had received three letters from DDC members in support of Burnet's appointment.

Burnet's new duties will be to serve as the recycling coordinator, assistant business administrator, a liaison to businesses, a mentor to the new position of part-time recreation director, actively seek out new or expand upon existing shared service opportunities and fill the need of a liaison to the county for the local welfare assistance program.

According to the resolution, Burnet will make $95,000 in the new position. Burnet made $55,549.92 last year in his former position of Main Street Executive Director, which will be abolished.

Many council members have said the consolidation of the positions into one saves the borough money overall. Council President Jeannie Tsukamoto said that crunching the numbers after the consolidation of five positions shows even more would be saved than the $100,000 Borough Administrator Ray Codey previously suggested.

"If you look at the numbers this time, it's a net savings of $160,000," Tsukamoto said at a previous meeting.

One thing that was clarified on Monday night was the position's actual title. The ordinance that was introduced on Aug. 9 and voted into law on Aug. 23 had the wording "assistant borough administrator," while the resolution to appoint Burnet said "assistant business administrator." The title is, in fact, assistant business administrator.